Textpattern CMS support forum
You are not logged in. Register | Login | Help
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
#289 2008-09-28 07:00:25
Re: TxP.com home page
In terms of content, “Reasons to try Textpattern” and “Reasons not to try Textpattern” should both go. Reasons to love Textpattern should stay.
I am not sure about Demo and Support, but I think Demo is about showing a new site that uses TXP, a la We Love TXP. Support I don’t quite get, because that suggests that new TXP users are going to get support, or worse that one has to pay for TXP.
Footer – I would not put a breadcrumb there, if anywhere, in the internal pages above the content. Links – licence, copyright etc should go there I guess.
Offline
#290 2008-09-28 09:34:59
- redbot
- Plugin Author
- Registered: 2006-02-14
- Posts: 1,410
Re: TxP.com home page
I like it and I think it hardly could be better, given the uncertainty about the content.
FWIW I share the same doubts expressed by squaredeye about some content.
Offline
#291 2008-09-28 10:13:09
Re: TxP.com home page
My thought on Matthew’s lovely new design:-
I’m not sure why there’s a “login or Register” block. Those that have access to the site admin would presumably have this Bookmarked and to allow all and sundry to “Register” will cause a headache for the Administrators which I am well aware of from running Textgarden. I think this block could be replaced by the orange bar in the final “coloured” design to maintain the layout structure.
I may be wrong here but I presume the “Demo” points to a vanilla Textpattern set-up so that people can view the front and back ends as installed? I think this could be a simple link rather than a block, probably in the footer.
If the “Demo” block is removed then the “Support” block can go full width but in any case maybe rename it “Free Community Support” as this is what it is, free and community-based.
I would remove the “Reasons not to try Textpattern” block and make the block above it taller so that more positive reasons can be viewed at once without the need for scrolling.
The Footer would contain section links, content copyright, demo link and the logo.
EDIT This is just an idea I had whilst writing the above but the “Promotional” block – couldn’t this link to the (probably non-existent at the moment) Textpattern Flickr account showing thumbs of maybe 4 or 6 sites designed with TXP using an appropriately designed Flickr badge? This way you could actually showcase an unlimited number of sites which would display randomly on each page-load. Just an idea though. :)
Last edited by thebombsite (2008-09-28 10:37:05)
Stuart
In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.
Offline
#292 2008-09-28 20:43:45
Re: TxP.com home page
Matthew. I think you misunderstood. The Home page on the wiki is two or more versions not just one. But looking at comments, I think we all have different interpretations of what each other is talking about. So I’ve cut, copied and pasted from your image to show the content elements as I understand them – ie, the top part of the Home page on wiki. Perhaps others could do likewise and show us how they understand the home page elements as well?
Notes:- promo space will probably include demo, if there is to be one.
- support and other things will be clearly accessible via links in the Reasons To Love Textpattern section. Items with links will show first, and therefore not need to be scrolled to.
- footer? copywrite etc. Links to community sites maybe?
- the integrated menu has still not been addressed. So I’ve added my rough layout. I showed my thoughts about menu and submenu titles previously but here they are again so you get my meaning. home : weblog : docs : forum : assist
- to repeat to be sure. These menu items have not been agreed or even discussed by anyone so far but it’s about time they were.
Last edited by zero (2008-09-28 21:14:15)
Offline
#293 2008-09-29 11:41:54
Re: TxP.com home page
Well. Hmm. Whether I misunderstood or if the content wasn’t clearly communicated is probably irrelevant to our task. I feel lik the content is not ready for a true mockup as I had suspected it would be.
In order for me to properly do my job as designer (as opposed to IA or copy-editor for instance) proficiently, I really need to know the content for the following reasons, and in the following ways:
- To establish size, shape, and orientation of the layout.
- To establish hierarchy of all the given elements
- To deal with physical relationships of elements on the page
- I need to know relationships (what elements belong in what “chunks” of content)
- I need to know hierarchy
- I need to know motive or goal (if possible, and where applicable)
Is there any way we can do the following things before I repost:
- Reorganize the homepage content to reflect “chunks of information”
- label the content with hierarchy or use the appropriate html tags to show hierarchy (h1-h6)
- If any information is intended to be, or should not be in rotation or otherwise have a behavior element (like a slideshow) applied to it, please notate it somewhere
- Lets do address the navigation system. This is imperative.
Great job all! I think we’re moving toward a solution.
Matthew
- I am Squared Eye and I
am launchinghave launched Pattern Tap
Offline
#294 2008-09-29 12:57:20
Re: TxP.com home page
Is this better now? Note it is just the top section and stops at THE END. Nobody seems to be objecting to my proposed navigation, so I’d say go with it unless somebody says otherwise. I’ve link externally to a demo. This might be changed later if someone wants to make an on-site demo to replace it. Some people want interface images in the promo space, so this might also be an option to be added later, provided bandwidth, accessibility, ease of use etc are OK.
Offline
#295 2008-09-29 16:32:25
Re: TxP.com home page
Zero,
That does look better, though I’d like to hear from some of the others in the thread to see if this is what they had in mind as well. Thanks for spending time clarifying this for me.
Matthew
- I am Squared Eye and I
am launchinghave launched Pattern Tap
Offline
#296 2008-09-29 17:01:47
Re: TxP.com home page
zero wrote: Matthew. I think you misunderstood. The Home page on the wiki is two or more versions not just one.
This is exactly why I tried to discourage multiple versions. It’s confusing and, needless to say, unproductive.
I agree with masa and Matthieu there’s too much in the home page.
General Comments:
I hope all those scrollbars are just a bad dream, and we don’t actually see a home page filled with scrolling boxes like a Sharepoint portal interface. If you need scrollbars, then there is too much content, probably.
The elevator pitch seems to have one adjective too many. Seems bloated. Why not move the adjective “free” from the elevator pitch and put it in front of the “Download” link in the main nav — “Free Download”. If that seems funny, then maybe “free” isn’t really needing said. You can say free all over the download page if necessary.
The Reasons to Love Textpattern seems a bit pretentious. Maybe it’s just the word “love” which sounds too fanboy-ish. What happened to Reason to Use Textpattern? That, as a potential user, would speak more to my interest and is easier to swallow. Love is something you have to earn, not sell. Also, there’s nothing of substance in that text that indicates why I should love textpattern. First, it’s not “browser-based”, it’s web-based, which is not the same thing and hardly unique. They have a browser-based CMS, integrated with Firefox using XUL and other goodies. Users have to actually use FF to access the back-office. Outside of that, being multilingual and fully-featured is something dozens of systems can claim, so why am I in love again? That block is worthy of dropping.
In my mind, and since my wire from a while back, the Promo space is the demo space, they are not separate. Demos are not examples of web sites, they are demonstrations of using Textpattern’s back-office to do things from post configuration to publishing the first article. In this day and age we’re ideally talking about movies of some sort, but still slideshows could work too. If we don’t have demos, like every other system does these days, then Stuart’s idea of linking offsite to a Txp demo install is the only alternative, but it’s hardly the same thing for the visitor as they lose the one-on-one guide the demos would provide (also called “Tour”).
That’s a couple things.
Offline
#297 2008-09-29 18:17:52
Re: TxP.com home page
Not to say I’m right and you’re wrong, but lots of people say they love Textpattern. It’s a very positive word, imho. The opening ‘Reasons’ paragraph may not be unique but says and points to things important to visitors from all audiences. And we all may disagree about other points but I’m glad to see your points don’t necessitate a change in layout.
Like Matthew, I’d also like to hear what others think.
Offline
#298 2008-09-30 13:28:29
Re: TxP.com home page
Peter, there’s too much on that page (I agree with Destry on the scrollbars).
Love vs use. The aim is to get more users. I don’t think people want to hear why they should love TXP; they will decide that for themselves after they’ve been using TXP for a while. If this were a new music CD, as a potential listener, if I read a review, I wouldn’t want anyone to tell my why I should love that CD, but I would like to hear good reasons for listening to the CD, so I could then decide for myself if I like it or not.
“multiple authors can work through article revisions”
Did I miss something? TXP doesn’t have native support for article revisions.
Offline
#299 2008-09-30 14:20:31
Re: TxP.com home page
I mentioned once or twice before that I thought the extra ‘Reasons’ content should be accessible with dropdowns exactly like the TXP Network Links at the top of this forum page. But I was too lazy before to indicate that on the image so now I’ve changed it a bit to give a slightly more accurate idea. (You’ll need to refresh)
I thought ‘love’ would also indicate our enthusiasm and remind people we’re not in this for the money but as it’s 2 to 1 for ‘Use’ at the moment, I’ve changed that too. I don’t know where the ‘revisions’ bit came from but it must have meant ‘editing’. Anyway, that lot is just dummy text and the real content will come from here where perhaps Jonathan will refine it further. (And Jenny the copywriter completely rewrite it maybe :)
Offline
#300 2008-09-30 14:22:37
- masa
- Member
- From: Asturias, Spain
- Registered: 2005-11-25
- Posts: 1,091
Re: TxP.com home page
I agree with ruud on both accounts.
I think somewhere at the beginning of this thread people agreed that there was information overload on the current homepage – if anything the proposed, new design makes matters worse.
“Love” strikes me as too cutesy, picking a CMS isn’t an emotional decision.
It also makes it sound – no offense – like the whole show is run by a bunch of teenage/early-twenties fanboys. It just doesn’t come over as professional, sorry.
Offline