[maemo-community] maemo.org redesign

[From: Quim Gil]

ext Andrew Flegg wrote:
> On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 11:31 PM, Andrew Flegg <andrew at bleb.org> wrote:
>> Here're my thoughts. No mockup yet; I'm no graphic designer, so it'll
>> take me a while.
> 
> I've attempted to do something with Inkscape:
> 
>     http://bleb.org/software/maemo/maemo-org_mockup.png

Honestly, I think this setting is difficult to digest both for newbies
and oldtimers. I started advocating for something similar but then when
getting into possible real mockups I just concluded that it was too much
for everybody.

Maybe this could be the seed for the Community page, since the audience
there is better defined and in fact you are well in line with the
discussion at http://wiki.maemo.org/Talk:Task:Improving_maemo.org/community

Any opinions about
http://wiki.maemo.org/Image:2898548020_f296152527_b.jpg ? No real design
layout there but that's not the point now.


> Key features:
> 
>> == Small links ==
>> Pervasive across *.maemo.org. [snip]
> 
> And I *mean* pervasive.

Yes, agreed. Header must be always the same.


> I've used the term 'Add-ons' rather than 'Downloads',

I didn't go through wording either in the mockup.

I think it's good to leave explicitly out graphic design and copy at
this stage, and concentrate on the layout structure and the content.
Then designers and writer will make wonders on top.



>> == Swarming ==
>> Below the above, we show the current activity in the community. This
>> is NOT just the latest content (seriously, most of the time that's not
>> that useful), but instead shows rolling averages of things like the
>> wiki, Bugzilla and the mailing lists; and top-rated news items. This
>> is to try and capture where the community is currently focused.

Agreed with the idea, the execution is not always simple. We can start
and improve, like we have been doing with the News karma. Latest is ok
as a default unless someone has something better to propose.

In any case we should avoid any manual work to refresh the home. With
the Pearl we are seeing that even a tiny work is easy to get delayed for
weeks causing a not very good impression at the end.


> Anyway, this is close to what's in my head at the moment. If nothing
> else, hopefully it'll inspire some discussion.

Even if the layouts between both proposals look very different, the
reasoning behind both mockups is pretty similar. I just think my mockup
works better as a starting point for a homepage that will satisfy
newcomers, regular contributors plus all those just jumping out of
curiosity and giving us a 20 seconds chance.

-- 
Quim Gil
marketing manager, open source
Maemo Software @ Nokia