Based on the current site, I'd suggest a nice big fancy rounded/
shadowed "Download" button under the G logo, in say green (make it
stand out but not ugly). The box would work, but we''d have to
replace the G logo, as the combination would be unaesthetic... er ugly.
I don't quite understand to the "Tooling" and "Docs" comment from
looking that the link... but I do like the directory projects "green"
for our "Download" link ;-)
But I think we are on the same page... make the site much, much, much
easier for casual folks to actually find the bits they are interested
in and download them, while still providing the indepth information
that you and I expect to find on a project webpage.
--jason
On Dec 5, 2008, at 12:05 AM, Donald Woods wrote:
Agree that we need a more prominent "Download" graphic/button on the
home page. Maybe using the Box logo and adding "Download Now" text
under the existing "Apache Geronimo" text would suffice.
Also, I've been thinking that we need similar "Tooling" and "Docs"
graphics. Sort of like the Apache DS project has -
http://directory.apache.org/
-Donald
Jason Dillon wrote:
I think that the current download link is fine for more savvy
folks. So defs leave that there.
However I think that we should add a new big-ass download button
under the big-ass G logo saying "Download" which takes you to a
page that *picks* the latest distribution for you to download (with
not much else on the page), sans some links to how to use it, and a
link to the current download page for more download options.
The current link in the side-nav is not predominate, so it may
cause some users some searching to find it, smart ones finding it
sooner than others... but even I was like where is the download
link earlier today when I needed the latest G dist to test with. I
found it shortly, but thats me... from looking at other sites,
javaee and really other tools, a lot of them have a big-ass simple
to find "Download" or "Download Me Now" button, so the brain
doesn't have to work... just click.
I wrote this email because we are lacking that "feature"... it
should be simple to add it and its to the groups benefit...
I'm trying to think like someone who hasn't been in open-source for
years and years, dug the net for rpms, recompiled kernels with
patches I've found on nntp... more like if I told my mom about G,
could she figure it out with out an hour long skype conference?
Okay, probably not... but right now I'd probably still need to have
a 30m chat to explain the download link and the difference between
javaee/little-g/frame+jetty/tomcat... er shit, okay bad example
cause that would still take me a long as time to explain to my
mom... but you get my drift?
--jason
On Dec 4, 2008, at 11:33 PM, Joe Bohn wrote:
Are you proposing this "in addition to" or "instead of" the
current Downloads link under Overview on the left?
If we do add or replace the link I think it should continue to
point to the overall download page: http://geronimo.apache.org/downloads.html
Joe
Jason Dillon wrote:
I think that the main G page ( http://geronimo.apache.org/ ) is
missing a rather large nice looking "Download" button. I think
it would fit really nicely under the big G logo.
IMO it would be good if this link took you directly to the latest
releases download page, that being here right now:
http://geronimo.apache.org/apache-geronimo-v213-release.html
And somewhat related the "Java EE 5 Certified" section for
downloads seems a bit crunched up the by text on the right. I've
got a 30" display and a*reasonable* size browser screen and it
still is hard to read.
I'd like to see that "Apache Geronimo v2.1.3 have passed..." text
below the table, above "Download Sample ..." which should really
help:
* * *
Anyways, its not like its hard to find Downloads, then under
Latest Release -> Apache Geronimo v2.1.3 Release...
Its just that it seems like the *norm* for sites to include that
big-ass overpowering "Download" button on the first page that
users see to take them directly to the page where they get the
good stuff.
Also, somewhat related... might confuse some users as to which
distribution they should download... TAR or ZIP? Jetty or
Tomcat... JavaEE or Little... wtf... which one... okay screw it
I'll go look at...
I know a lot of us know how to find what we want... and IMO the
site is tailored to that (short of the icky formatting noted
above, I had to read the thing a few times to find the right
dist). But is the site really for you or me? ie.... non-
average joes (and no plumber comments here please)? I don't
think it is... the main goal besides providing a consistent
navigable informative experience is to make it fricken simple for
anyone to quickly grab a copy of G and play with it.
IMO the site right now doesn't do that... but I'd like to see
it. Say I'm a virgin user, heard about this cool free G-thing...
so I go hit the website. I really don't care about *anything*
short of how do I download the *right* version, install it and
start to play with it, so I can then go to my boss and say hey
look at this cool stuff we can use.
* * *
Basically, if we can make a Download button on the main page,
which takes the user to an uber simple page with the link to the
dist they want, it could help a lot. That page should have a
link to the suggested download, and then a page to the current
release page in case they want more options.
Can't decide if its jetty or tomcat? Well make it random them,
cause they both work the same... but IMO the added option just
confuses people. After they understand more by playing with it
they will get that the web stuff is pluggable or they won't care
and keep using whatever we suggested (randomly) for them.
* * *
Confluence driven site does present some issues here, but we can
create a custom usermacro to handle so Its definitely possible.
Okay... me shuts up now... hope y'all didn't tune out... I think
this is important, even though my ranting style might be hard for
some to grok.
:-\
--jason
