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#193 2008-09-15 14:47:10
Re: TxP.com home page
I think all this text is going to be overload and it’s going feel like a newspaper! Do we really need to fill the entire homepage with information about Textpattern? The answer is no. The homepage should have little to no text, it should be more of a portal linking to the different sections of the site in question. So for example, the home should have a simple nav, the logo, some intro text, and some links.
The site shouldn’t feel like a massive pitch, quite a few of the visitors will be current Txp users, imagine you went into your local car dealership to grab a part and you were shown a cataglog and feature guide and had to listen to someone pitch a car at you! You’d be like Hi i’m already a customer. Same with a site like Textpatter, yes they’re should be a pitch, but more so a small pitch and a link to a full feature section where NEW users can find out what the hell Textpattern is.
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.
Remember a home page is really the reception, you say hi and find where to go next, not sit their listening to someone tell you everything on the site in one mouthful of almost useless information.
Just some points to think about, hope they can be digested. x
Last edited by driz (2008-09-15 15:21:45)
~ Cameron
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#194 2008-09-15 17:36:18
Re: TxP.com home page
driz wrote:
I had a play with the design: http://www.simplecandy.com/txphome/txp-home.html
I think the H1 is much better as the main brand logo, and i think dropping the border on the header has made it feel less cramped, and i also think you should use a subtle grey and have white ontop for emphasis of certain areas. x
It’s a mess in IE6.
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#195 2008-09-15 17:58:38
Re: TxP.com home page
MattD wrote:
bq.. It’s a mess in IE6.
Well of course it is :S it’s IE6! And their’s no way I’m adding hacks to something like this. (Why are you using ie6 anyways?)
~ Cameron
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#196 2008-09-15 18:03:36
Re: TxP.com home page
[Currently ignoring driz for lack of respect]
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#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.
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#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
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#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
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#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
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#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
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#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.
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#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)
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#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.
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