New website theme, when to roll out?

[Gregory Meyer]

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 3:46 PM, Mark Kretschmann <kretschmann at kde.org> wrote:

>  emunkki (Pasi Lallinaho) has designed a new website theme for us. It's
>  been worked on for quite a while and went through many iterations, and
>  I think the latest mockup looks really neat:
>
>  http://projects.knome.ath.cx/amarok/WWW/
>
I like it very much.  Although I see merits in both arguments, I think
it is slightly better to go now.  Launching a new site at the same
time as a new product has the potential of causing a support
nightmare, as people get used to navigating the new site at the same
time they are looking for the new program.  I also think that this
could further whet the appetite's of the faithful as it is a visible
sign of progress.

>  Now a heated discussion has started about the right time for going
>  live with the new theme. I (and also Ian Monroe) would like to see
>  this implemented soon. Let me summarize our reasons:
>
Will there be fisticuffs?

>  1) Release early, release often
>  2) The old site is getting *very* long in the tooth. It demotivates me
>  just to look at it.
>  3) The new theme seems ready to go, design wise.
>  4) New site can provide us with some extra PR buzz, independent of the
>  Amarok 2.0 release.
>
Maintaining a buzz is also preferable to binging as binging can make one sick.

>  However, some Amarokers oppose this plan; E.g. Lydia and Harald would
>  like to wait until the Amarok 2.0 release to roll out the new theme.
>  They believe everything has to be perfectly fine tuned (like adapting
>  the wiki and forum themes), and that it would create better PR to
>  release the new theme along with Amarok 2.0 final (which as we all
>  know will take quite some time).
>
>  I've become a bit tired of discussing this on IRC, so I'd like us to
>  make a decision here. Please voice your opinion :)
>
I vote for roll it out now.