[maemo-community] maemo.org redesign

[From: Jussi.H Makinen]

># maemo.nokia.com

    >* We do need some sense of how this page will link to maemo.org
in order to design a cohesive link back to it.

maemo.nokia.com will link back to maemo.org by first introducing what
the community is and what it does. There will be like an community
introduction page on maemo.nokia.com (written by a council / council
member) and also the best of the community works will be displayed in
our "maemo gallery". Here also an rss feed of latest / most downloaded
applications is in place. So, there won't be a straight up link in the
frontpage to maemo.org, this would not serve any purpose without first
introducing maemo software and the purpose of the community.

However, in the maemo.org frontpage, I would see it as extremely
important to be a visible place for maemo.nokia.com banner (+ most
preferably a bit more upfront than in Tim's second mockup :)  and also
if you are going to make an introduction to what maemo sw is, there
needs to be link to also stating something "learn more about the maemo
experience here".

I've gotten the early drafts from our ad agency about the
maemo.nokia.com and I'll look into how much I could share about this
with you early on.

' Jussi

On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 6:44 PM, ext Tim <tim at samoff.com> wrote:
> Just got another idea that I'll try to work on tonight.
>
> T.
>
> ---
> Weblog ~ http://tim.samoff.com
> Kidblog ~ http://kc.samoff.com
> Photography ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/timsamoff
> Film ~ http://www.youtube.com/timsamoff
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Subject: Re: maemo.org redesign
> From:  Tim <tim at samoff.com>
> To: "Dave Neary" <maemo-community at maemo.org>,"List for community
> development" <maemo-community at maemo.org>
> Date: 10/06/2008 8:11 am
>
>
> Hi,
>
> A couple of comments from me:
>
>> I believe we're close to that at this stage - we have a quality proposal
>> from Tim
>
> (Although I wish we had a few more proposals from different people) I think
> there needs to be one or two more iterations containing, at least, a rough
> approximation of what everyone is asking for before we proceed with
> integration.
>
>> we have to go from design to web page, with Midgard
>
> In my experience, every CMS requires a little bit of ramp up in order to
> mold the design to the CMS's particularities... Even Wordpress requires a
> little manual tweaking of certain items to get it to conform to some
> designs. And, in my experience, Midgard is not the easiest of the plethora
> of CMSes to do this with (although, my experience is pretty slim regarding
> Midgard). I.e., dealing with specific code tags, hard-coded design elements
> (if any), etc., always present a variety of a$$-placed pains to designers.
> ;)
>
>> Agreed, this would be the signed-in homepage
>
> I still think there needs to be _one_ page for all users (signed-in or not).
> Other info can appear on other pages (e.g., /home or whatever).
>
>> I hope we can all agree on what I proposed last week - maemo.org is a
>> site aimed at potential Maemo community members
>
> I hope this is the case... And, I (as a "community member" rather than a
> "developer") hope we can keep our sights on this. In fact, having and
> keeping a vision is the only way that this new dite will be acheived in any
> form (usable or not). Which brings me to some random thoughts...
>
>> http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=global&lang=none
>
> Personally, as a "Web2.0" designer, I prefer sites like:
>
> cssdrive.com
> cssbeauty.com
> cssheroes.com
> etc.
>
> In any case, as you'll see, most of these center on simple, beautiful design
> rather than information overload. And, as a designer, I appreciate that sort
> of approach.
>
> As a user, I might look a a few other types of sites (e.g., Flickr,
> Facebook, Twitter -- just to name a few). These are _highly_ dynamic sites
> that show little to know dynamic content on their home pages... Of course,
> these are also sites that have separate pages for logged-in/logged-out. (I
> can be persuaded.) :p
>
> Of course, as a member of the Maemo Community, I understand that there is a
> diverse mix of user-types and we need to appease, at leaset, a couple of
> those: regular users & developers. So, there needs to be something that
> draws each of those Maemo archetypes into the community... A mix of simple,
> beautiful design and some quasi-technical information as well.
>
> This is why I tend to lean toward the first of my designs a little more than
> the second (admittedly knowing that it still needs work). But, understanding
> the goals of Nokia Maemo, I think the second design is the way to proceed.
> Still, we need to think more simply. We need to put ourselves in the shoes
> of someone who has very little knowledge of what "Maemo" is. We need to be
> clear and succinct and present first-time visitors with a clear path into
> the community (i.e., an _extremely_ low wall of entry -- even lower than
> anyone who is thoroughly immersed within Maemo might care to admit).
>
> With this said, _my_ main goals (as a designer) are:
>
> Fit important content (how to join community, some dev info, how to download
> software) into browser window (with little/no scrolling). Additional content
> can be accessed with scrolling or maximizing the browser window.
> Make as many clickable items figer-clickable as possible.
> Make is perty. ;)
>
> Simple for me, eh?
>
> But, the main goals of Nokia Maemo and the "community" add many more layers:
>
> Make it dynamic (of which there are plenty of ways to do that):
>
> A variety of different downloads focuses (pearl, most popular, highest
> rated, etc.).
> User stats.
> News.
> etc.
> Really... How many pieces of dynamic content should really be on the home
> page?
>
> Static header of some sort (which we haven't even agreed on what the items
> in the header _should_ be -- and it's kind of hard to design anything around
> a bunch of "potential" items.
>
> So... What should these links be?
>
> Tagline...?
>
> Or use the one I appropriated and changed slightly...?
>
> RSS feeds...?
>
> Like... Which items on the home page need specific feeds? Or, should there
> just be one for the entire page?
>
> maemo.nokia.com
>
> We do need some sense of how this page will link to maemo.org in order to
> design a cohesive link back to it.
>
> General site language: All of the verbiage used so far is either taken from
> the current site or penned by me... Of course, anything can be designed
> around 'lorem ipsum,' but it's a little hard to change an element that one
> word fits in to accomodate an entire sentence:
>
> "Pearl" or "Featured Download"
> "Stars" or "Highest Rated"
> "News," "Latest News," "Community Chatter," "These are things that the
> community is talking about"...
> Static header content
> etc.
>
> I could probably go on, but I hope you'll see some of the challenges that
> face any designer... Saying things like "so and so's mockup can be changed
> to do this or that better" is always easier said -- especially when there is
> no 'real' content to base the statement off of.
>
> Yes, all designs can be changed... And, I hope they are (I'm an advocate of
> critique and change with all of my work). But, as a paid designer (in my
> real life), there are limits because of time/cost/etc. In a volunteer
> environment, we can offer advice for change forever... Which, imho, is not a
> good thing.
>
> Rambling now? Yes. So...
>
> How about if someone sits down and documents everything that actually
> _needs_ to be on the home page (and, if needed, the signed-in page as well).
> Capture the 'language' that needs to be used and the links that need to be
> present. Be sure to keep simplicity and finger-clickable buttons in mind
> (i.e., finger-clickable items -- being 'boxes' in a sense -- cannot contain
> as much text as something that is just a text-link).
>
> I've already done some of this, but no one has agreed on everything...
> Someone needs to be the deciding voice so that whomever the designer ends up
> being, they can just take the document and design (the pages) around it
> without having to come up with things on their own.
>
> Sorry for the long-windedness,
> Tim
>
> ---
> Weblog ~ http://tim.samoff.com
> Kidblog ~ http://kc.samoff.com
> Photography ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/timsamoff
> Film ~ http://www.youtube.com/timsamoff
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Subject: Re: maemo.org redesign
> From:  Dave Neary <dneary at maemo.org>
> To: "List for community development" <maemo-community at maemo.org>
> Date: 10/06/2008 2:50 am
>
>
> Hi,
>
> Quim Gil wrote:
>> ext Dave Neary wrote:
>>> I think we've gotten to the stage where we have most of a great plan,
>>> and with one or two small refinements, I'm happy to start moving on with
>>> implementation now - we have to go from design to web page,
>>
>> Wait, wait. I wouldn't code a line before there is an agreement on a
>> basic homepage mockup.
>
> I believe we're close to that at this stage - we have a quality proposal
> from Tim, with some outstanding comments requesting relatively minor
> changes which will make it better. I reckon we can get a final mock-up
> today.
>
>>> with Midgard.
>>
>> You mean with pure and standard XHTML & CSS (and/or whatever web stuff
>> we use). It's the CMS who has to adapt then to the layout, and not the
>> other way around.
>
>
> Absolutely agree on HTML + CSS. For dynamic content, integrating RSS
> feeds is there already as far as I can tell, but each page including
> dynamic content needs to be hand-crafted.
>
> Cheers,
> Dave.
>
> --
> maemo.org docsmaster
> Email: dneary at maemo.org
> Jabber: bolsh at jabber.org
>
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