A few notes

[Mat Colton]

Hi,
I'd like to tune in to the basic page/sidebar structure discussion.
AFAIU there are 3 basic styles: navigation left/right and on both sides. I go 
for right side navigation. Let me explain why. 
What is kde.org going to be? A portal type page (with headlines, appsy links, 
newsletter, polls, kde network link overview, whatever)? Well, then we should 
go for the both side version to be able to get all the information in there. 
But IMO kde.org should not be a portal page. Do not offer hundreds of links. 
Keep it real easy. Only basic classification: User Information, Developer 
Information, Sitemap, Search, latest press releases, stuff like that. KDE is 
too big to mention on one page anyway. :) I'm not trying to make a kde.org 
visit to a "100 click nightmare", but basic user interaction is ok IMO. 
So I hope that explains why i prefer a single sided navigation. Well, so why 
do I prefer the right side for the navigation? The content flow is more 
consistent. What are we looking for on web pages? The content. The navigation 
only helps us get there. So if we go for LTR (left to right) and use a left 
hand navigation menu the users read the navigation menu before the content. 
But the first thing a user wants is the content. If the desired information 
is not in the content or linked from there a user looks at the navigation. 
Test it for yourself. When you open a new page, do you keep your eyes fixed 
on where the navigation is or where the content is? 

IMO the content flow should be:
- Where am I? (Introduction)
- What is this? (Content)
- Alternative information

or in terms of layout:

- KDE.org header image, nothing above this, cause the is the site name
- Global opts : language, mirrors (right hand side of header image baseline)
- Path of current document (new lines)
- Content 
- Navigation, made of category links, search, site map and KDE home.
- Footer

That requires the navigation menu to be on the right side. Well, anyway, think 
of the content flow first, the make the design. Daniel said something of "use 
least suprise" which is actually true. But there are so many sites on the 
net, the ppl aren't "used" to any specific layout. ;)
So, that's all IMO, what do you think?
-- 
mat