Textpattern CMS support forum
You are not logged in. Register | Login | Help
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
#196 2008-09-15 18:03:36
Re: TxP.com home page
[Currently ignoring driz for lack of respect]
Offline
#197 2008-09-15 18:13:19
Re: TxP.com home page
Browser shares on textpattern.com in August 2008:
Firefox: 59 %
Internet Explorer: 21 %
Safari: 12 %
Opera: 4 %
Chrome: 2 %
IE drilldown:
IE 7.0: 67 %
IE 6.0: 32 %
IE 8.0: 1 %
Conclusio: We will have to target IE6.0 at least to the extent that visitors won’t have to bear more than a slight degradation.
Offline
#198 2008-09-15 18:20:05
Re: TxP.com home page
driz wrote:
Well of course it is :S it’s IE6! And their’s no way I’m adding hacks to something like this.
OK, it’s not working as I think you intended in Firefox 3.01 either (unless you intend a lot of dead gray space above the fold). So exactly which browser are we supposed to be using?
TextPattern user since 04/04/04
Offline
#199 2008-09-15 18:37:41
Re: TxP.com home page
I coded this in Coda, and previewed it in Firefox and Safari (both latest versions) looks the same to me :S
But anyways this was merely to support my idea about using the logo as a background image for the h1 rather than actual text and trying to style it using CSS. x
ooo and in reply to your q, what do u mean by fold?
Last edited by driz (2008-09-15 18:40:29)
~ Cameron
Offline
#200 2008-09-15 19:36:12
Re: TxP.com home page
driz wrote:
I coded this in Coda, and previewed it in Firefox and Safari (both latest versions) looks the same to me :S
ooo and in reply to your q, what do u mean by fold?
“Above the fold” is an old newspaper term. Stories and photos that appeared above the fold had more importance, as they were what showed when the paper was in the rack, or in a stack. They were what ‘sold” the paper.
On the web, “the fold” is far more variable, but it generally refers to the amount on screen real estate you can see on a web site when it first loads, without scrolling. On my site, the current stats for “window height” are (in pixels):
97% > 410
95% > 450
94% > 475
93% > 500
92% > 520
89% > 540
86% > 560
77% > 580
67% > 598
53% > 630
For “window width”:
99% > 584
98% > 744
97% > 770
92% > 850
88% > 920
87% > 960
83% > 1000
46% > 1096
Obviously these are moving targets, as people upgrade to better computers and larger monitors. But from the above, you could generalize that an area of 920 × 500 pixels will be the viewable “above the fold” area for about 90% of visitors (at least, using my site’s stats). The “87% solution” would be 960 × 560, etc.
TextPattern user since 04/04/04
Offline
#201 2008-09-15 19:48:35
Re: TxP.com home page
Well the part I coded was the H1, Ribbon and Navigation, everything else is by the original designer. I’m not sure why your getting the scrollpane sliced up like that :S But either ways that wasn’t my focus :) I was focusing on the design of the header part.
Last edited by driz (2008-09-15 19:56:42)
~ Cameron
Offline
#202 2008-09-16 07:50:05
Re: TxP.com home page
driz wrote:
But either ways that wasn’t my focus :) I was focusing on the design of the header part.
It’s irrelevant to focus on the CSS (thus design) for the header part (or anything else) yet because Matthieu — the site’s designer — hasn’t yet shown us what it’s going to be. :)
When he does, then the CSS squabbling may commence, inevitably.
Offline
#203 2008-09-16 08:09:40
Re: TxP.com home page
driz wrote: Do we really need to fill the entire homepage with information about Textpattern? The answer is no.
The concensus with everybody here is that the home page is not overloaded with text. In that respect you’re a little late to the party. The problem, if you’ve been following this thread with half your attention, is that people want the home page to say different things. A compromise is needed, and I think we’re getting closer on what it will be.
driz wrote: The site shouldn’t feel like a massive pitch, quite a few of the visitors will be current Txp users.
The intro text (left of demo block), also having been called elevator pitch, should be the only real pitch, per se. The “Michelangelo…” line will not be used so I suggest people stop using it pronto! As a substitute for visual context, I recommend putting this in any further wireframes/mockups/demos, even if it is to be changed later…
Textpattern is a versatile, elegant and easy-to-use content management system. It is the catalyst between imagination and reality in web publishing. If site creation done right with maximum efficiency is your cup of tea, Textpattern is for you.
Right under that pitch should be a single link: “Features”. There should be no features lead-in text, just the link. The link goes to the Features location where facts are presented in systematic, concise list fashion (a la Red Giant Product Features, merci Bloke).
Replacing the former features column, as depicted in wireframes/mockups/demos to this point, should be Bloke’s great idea for Reasons To Try. Maybe we don’t need to list 20 reasons, even if there are that many. Pick a top ten power list for conciseness.
driz wrote: It would be nice to see some info for us regular visitors, so show the latest posts from the weblog, some recent posts from the forum, the TextBook should be really in focus, a good 220×128 image linking it would be good.
If the main menu is done right, you don’t need home page content to promote any of those three things. I absolutely do not agree about seeing forum posts on the .com site. Imagine if some of your posts showed up there, for example. Not wise. In any case, adding this pollution would be counter to the more sensible notion of less content on the home page.
General Comments
- Speaking as a dedicated user of Txp since summer 2004, I almost never go to the .com website except to visit the FAQs from time-to-time, and the occasional download (when I’m not using SVN). Even the weblog is off my radar for lack of compelling info (no offense meant, but my time is limited these days and my RSS runneth over, though I do have the RSS live-bookmarked). So IMHO, we do not need weblog scratch and forum blather polluting the home page. I’m sure most other heavy users don’t loiter on the home page either. The home page, rather, should be crafted with new people in mind, and with obvious links to the routine stuff if they want it.
- I’ll say it again, I like the black/white images, but love Blokes idea of something a bit more Sin City, where the images use hints of yellow, gold, sepia, or whatever here and there. Not too much, just hints. That would really be sharp as far as imagery goes.
- I think the “Reasons not to try” Txp is fun idea, but I personally would not use it here; it’s a bit too campy, and being too campy seems (to me) contrary to what this whole redesign is all about — looking more serious to the rest of the world. (Don’t take the word “serious” too literally, but I think you know what I’m trying to say.)
Last edited by Destry (2008-09-16 08:23:18)
Offline
#204 2008-09-16 12:16:10
Re: TxP.com home page
Destry wrote:
Textpattern is a versatile, elegant and easy-to-use content management system. It is the catalyst between imagination and reality in web publishing. If site creation done right with maximum efficiency is your cup of tea, Textpattern is for you.
We may have got it wrong, Destry, that is the ‘artisans’ sentence and this last sentence too. These were/are definitely aimed at site builders/designers/developers. But at the end of the day when the site is built Textpattern will be used for publishing content. I doubt if company marketing managers or whoever is responsible for producing content will care much about how efficiently the site can be built, but will want know how efficiently they can publish content. I don’t want to throw a spanner in the works at this late stage but it just struck me that perhaps we’ve been ignoring the importance of this other audience.
So possibly…- If site creation and content publishing done right with maximum efficiency is your cup of tea, Textpattern is for you.
Dozy P My attempt at music
Offline
#205 2008-09-16 12:38:51
Re: TxP.com home page
zero wrote:
If site creation and content publishing done right with maximum efficiency is your cup of tea, Textpattern is for you.
If you want to make that argument, then we could just as easily say we left out the developers who want to extend Txp, and we can’t add a third interest in the string (e.g.,… If site creation and content publishing and yadda yadda done… ) or it sounds clumsy (it already sounds a bit clumsy with two, especially repeating the word “publishing” in the total pitch).
I think if we cover the audience bases in a single bound, we get the best ring tone.
Maybe…
————————
Textpattern is a versatile, elegant and easy-to-use content management system. It is the catalyst between imagination and reality in web publishing. If sites done right with maximum efficiency is your cup of tea, Textpattern is for you.
————————
By making it fundamental like that, there’s no separation of audience. What are you using Txp for? To have a website, regardless of any other secondary objective. I think by saying “maximum efficiency” it’s implied that it will be easy (according to the pitch) whether you want to design, extend, or simply write. No need to spell out what is already implied, IMHO.
Offline
#206 2008-09-16 12:48:16
Re: TxP.com home page
I thought it was better yesterday. Something like:
Textpattern is a versatile, elegant and easy-to-use content management system. It is the catalyst between imagination and reality in web publishing. Textpattern is for people who want sites done right with maximum efficiency.
Dozy P My attempt at music
Offline
#207 2008-09-16 12:59:06
Re: TxP.com home page
Or…
Textpattern is for those who want great sites with the least amount of effort.
It’s just coming down to semantics now. The only thing left is deciding which rolls of the tongue better, and that is likely going to be a show of hands vote, unless our star copy writer shows up to dazzle us.
Offline
#208 2008-09-16 13:19:29
Re: TxP.com home page
zero wrote:
perhaps we’ve been ignoring the importance of this other audience
And perhaps whittling it down to something too generic without (relevant) ‘standout’ words in both meta tags and copy ignores the importance of yet another audience member: the search engine. A generic — yet factual and politically correct — statement becomes one-in-a-pool-of-many-systems all using similar words.
When all CMS’ are equal in the manner in which they present their public ‘textual’ face to search engines, what matters in terms of people finding TXP is popularity/quantity of inbound links; and we know how that reflects on the little guy!
/me flicks through phone book for “specialists in copy writing for Textpattern”
EDIT: P.S. there are some excellent thoughts from Kevin Potts in the lower half of that link up there.
Last edited by Bloke (2008-09-16 13:24:03)
The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.
Hire Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp
Offline
#209 2008-09-16 13:26:03
Re: TxP.com home page
Bloke wrote:
And perhaps whittling it down to something too generic without (relevant) ‘standout’ words in both meta tags and copy ignores the importance of yet another audience member: the search engine.
Good point, but unless Google has changed things, they put emphasis on headers before body copy. Being this is just the pitch and not true copy I don’t think simplicity is hurting anything in this case. The home page has headers, and keywords under those headers will be where to make it count.
I could go downstairs and ask the SEO folks, but I think it’s safe to say.
Ed. Looking at Kevin’s list of terms, we seem to be OK here having “content management system” and even better “web publishing.” Not bad being the pitch is as short as it is.
Last edited by Destry (2008-09-16 13:33:11)
Offline
#210 2008-09-16 13:33:06
Re: TxP.com home page
Destry wrote:
unless Google has changed things, they put emphasis on headers before body copy.
Okerly dokerly.
As you were!
The smd plugin menagerie — for when you need one more gribble of power from Textpattern. Bleeding-edge code available on GitHub.
Hire Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp
Offline