discussion? where? well, not here...

[marko faas]

Hallo,

On Sat, 2002-11-23 at 02:01, Mat Colton wrote:

<snip>
I like your requirements, Mat, but I would like to go a step back. Who
do we expect to use the homepage the most? (we haven't really discussed
this, we just went off with the graphic design without thinking first)

I have argued a couple of months ago that there are several main user
groups so we should have several entry's to accomodate them (like
suse.com has done). That wasn't acceptable, so we have to make sure
everybody is served in another way.

I estimate that the main visitor groups of KDE are:
- Newbies
- Current Users

I guess developers will go directly to develop when they are developing.
We should accomodate a link to their respective communities, but the
developers ending up at kde.org behave as current users.

What do they want to have?

* We could have a jumppage, like http://www.bbc.co.uk/ That is imho a
bit like "Chop down the big oak with the ribbon" and then point to to
forest were it stands in...
Currently, we have a kind of jump page.

* We could have a portal, like msn.com. You can find a mixture of
information and links. This site is a but cluttered, but the point is
that we would offer all kinds of goodies and explain where the links
will take you. Now, one has to know what KOffice is. 

There are a couple of other types of sites (like shop), but I think
those are not suited.

Imho, we are working on a portal.

So, what do we want to offer on the homepage?

My suggestion:
MUST HAVE:
* logo
* menu
* breadcrum (although that would break when you go to the KDE family)
* links to the KDE family
* a few announcements
* news (dot.kde.org)
* a few new applications (kdeapps)
* Events
* To facilitate the newbies, we have to explain about KDE. But do we
want to do that so extensively right on the first page? I think not. A
easy to find block or button: "New to KDE? Let us explain..." (where
explain is linked to a explaination site), is suffient imho. But it
should be VERY visible and stand out from the other links!

NICE TO HAVE:
* a ' the press about KDE' 
* I would prefer it if the family menu is also in the main content area
where one can get explainations about the application or community. 

I would stress that we have to find a way to explain EVERYTHING. So not
only: Events: LISA! But what, where, when, how (how much) in a short
paragraph and link to get more info. Visible metadata is very, very
important. Users must see what and why they click on something (Mat,
that's another one for the requirements).

The menu: 
Well, I think of three levels:

1. Introducing KDE
	1.1 FAQ
	1.2 Documentation
	1.3 Screenshots
	1.4 Myths about KDE (link right now, should be in kde.org)

2 KDE Software
	1.1 Stable Version
	1.2 Source Code
	1.3 KDE on CD-Rom
	1.4 Applications
If we do not find room on the homepage to put explaination about the
applications (which we might have to rename in KDE Programs to be
clearer), we should think about putting a link to a page with
explainations about the applications. If the visitor sees KDE software,
he might expect also other software besides KDE. If we do not put
something there, it might be a pain to find the software on the left
site. Not everybody would know what Konqueror or KOffice is. The links
on the right site are nothing more than shortcuts for those who know. So
they leave those who don't know out in the dark. Thus, a new page on
KDE.org where the major applications are explained ("No, you don't have
to download Konqueror if you installed KDE. Yes, you do have to install
Koffice as it is not part of the KDE distribution) and linked to.

3. KDE News
	3.1 Announcements
	3.2 Events
Here I would love to see a item 'news' too. That's only logical. Maybe a
smart hacker can create a page with css and xml-links to create
something like 'KDE in the press'. That's a page I would read for sure.
Would be great to have some of those links ons the homepage too.
I would love to incorperate dot.kde.org somehow too, so we can have a
menu entry 'news' at the main menu too.

4 KDE Development
	4.1 Send in a bug
	4.2 Get involved

5 KDE Goodies
	5.1 Clipart
	5.2 Templates
	5.3 Merchandise
	5.3 Books

6 About this site
	6.1 KDE people
	6.2 Mailinglists
	6.3 Donate
	6.4 Mirrors
	6.5 Contact 
	6.6 Sitemap


* IMPORTANT!!! *
WERE DO WE PUT THE THIRD LEVEL IN THE MENU???

Someone suggested to ident it, but that is impossible if we go ahead
with the right links-menu. to make it clearer: Suppose the Konqueror
site would like to use our design. Were are the konqueror specific
internal links are to be placed?

I would looove it when someone designs another page too. We really need
it, to get the flaws out of the homepage.

Anyway, the graphical design is very nice, but the usability is still a
mess, imho.

-- 
marko faas <argus at dds.nl>