On Do, 2011-07-21 at 13:46 +0200, Murray Cumming wrote:
> On Thu, 2011-07-21 at 13:32 +0200, Patrick Ohly wrote:
> > On Do, 2011-07-21 at 11:10 +0200, Murray Cumming wrote:
> > > I suggest some simple structural changes to the website, to make things
> > > clearer:
> > > 
> > > 1. Remove the wiki link.
> > > 
> > > We should just accept that the website _is_ a wiki. That "main page"
> > > page has become a target of random user feedback. That's not the best
> > > place for it.
> > > 
> > > Partly because of the text sizes and layout, the comments look like main
> > > (rather random) content at first glance.
> > 
> > I agree that this is problematic. But technically there is a difference
> > between the rest of the web site and the Wiki part: normal users may
> > only edit the Wiki pages.
> > 
> > Are you suggesting that all pages should be editable by anyone?
> 
> Actually, yes, though I'd lock the front page. It needs you to be
> careful about only allowing edits when logged in and having some bot
> protection for new user creation. But that's probably a problem that you
> already have with the wiki pages.
> 
> If you want only a sub-section of the site to be user-editable then the
> distinction needs to be clearer. Personally, I think it leads to
> fragmentated content instead of improved content.

I agree. The Wiki feature was added later, we never got around to
integrating it properly.

I don't mind granting more people the right to edit pages. Spam has been
a problem only in the comments, not in Wiki pages themselves. But I
guess that's just a matter of time :-/

> > > 3. Add a real Downloads page.
> > > This is currently just a directory listing. There should be some brief
> > > text and a description of each binary and how to install it.
> > 
> > What kind of text and description would you expect for, e.g.,
> > http://downloads.syncevolution.org/syncevolution/evolution/syncevolution-evolution-1.1.99.5b-2.x86_64.rpm
> >  ?
> 
> I'd link to http://downloads.syncevolution.org/syncevolution/evolution/
> and describe it without referring to any particular version.

So in other words, a page which wraps downloads.syncevolution.org and
lists the currently relevant files?

> > > 2. Remove comments.
> > > The comments don't seem like the best way to deal with feedback, and
> > > they distract from the main contact. Even in the best case, old comments
> > > will still be there after their feedback has been dealt with by
> > > improvements in the page itself, distracting from that content and
> > > giving the initial impression that those problems still exist.
> > 
> > Just to be sure, you suggest to remove obsolete comments, not the
> > comment feature itself, right?
> 
> I'm suggesting removing comments, though you are the best judge of how
> it has been used so far.

Laissez-faire and preserving everything except for spam comments.

> At the very least, I would change the text layout so that comments are
> clearly separate.

Yes, agreed.

> > Would it make sense to move comments to an "archive" or "discussion"
> > page?
> 
> Yes, restricting comments to a single discussion page would be an
> improvement. But I really doubt that it's a good way to handle feedback.

Indeed, it should only be used for comments which are obviously not
referring to the current page or became obsolete.

> >  Many users left comments randomly anyway, without directly
> > referring to the current page.
> 
> Yes, which makes things seem neglected.

Which is the case to some extend. I could use help on an on-going basis
for keeping the web site in good order.  I know from past experience
that I will not always have the time to do this myself.

-- 
Best Regards, Patrick Ohly

The content of this message is my personal opinion only and although
I am an employee of Intel, the statements I make here in no way
represent Intel's position on the issue, nor am I authorized to speak
on behalf of Intel on this matter.


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