Hi Brendan, Thanks a lot for raising this issue. And yes, help with improving it is very welcome!
With respect to the practicalities: I'm administrating both the website and the launchpad project pages. I would propose some kind of collaboration to draft a new webpage, and when it is ready to go live, I'll just push it to the server. At the moment the website is part of the code archive together with a script in "tools/" to run it as a local server for testing. So changing the website can be justs a new branch on launchpad. But I'm also open to other tools / sites for collaboration. Couple of resources that could be used: * https://www.openhub.net/p/zim -- visualize the project activity stats -- especially a ticker like the "stats" widget ( https://www.openhub.net/p/zim/widgets) could help * http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~jaap.karssenberg/zim/pyzim/files -- this give more of a "live" code view * https://lists.launchpad.net/zim-wiki/ -- mailing list archive, you are right, the search function went AWOL :( seems launchpad has it's best days behind it .... workaround might be to use google with the query "site: https://lists.launchpad.net/zim-wiki"; * https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zim+desktop+wiki -- results in quite a few screencasts about zim, including those made by regulars on this list :) Apart from the things you raise I have also still in my mind to re-structure the website based on your "getting work done in zim" presentation and my own slide desk. Changing it to a format that "sucks you in" by showing how to use it. Ideal case I would want the same structure for both manual and the website, but I realize the website needs some additional info people look for that does not belong in a manual. Anyway, let's fix the easy stuff first before doing a full re-structuring. Regards, Jaap On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 6:54 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > In the Zim chat room I had two people wander in independent of each other > and ask if the project was dead, in the past 12 hours. > > There are some problems with Zim's web presence: > > - How do you find release dates, starting from http://zim-wiki.org/ > <http://zim-wiki.org/index.html> ? > - You have to click on Contribute, then the first link on that page > gets to the Launchpad project. Then you click Code, then lp:zim, then > Browse the Code, then CHANGELOG.txt. > - If you don't think to look at Contribute, or you're not a > habitual Launchpad user, you will probably fail to find the changelog > this > way. > - If you open the project URL from Contribute, then go to the Code > tab, and then actually read the paragraph at the top of > https://code.launchpad.net/zim , then Zim REALLY looks dead: > http://zim-wiki.org/bzr/pyzim/ . If you don't know Bazaar, you'd > assume this shared folder is empty and the ".bzr" subfolder is just > junk. > - The Downloads page has dead links to "Source" and "Packages". > Actually no they're headings, but they look like links that got > unlinkified. > - Zim is a desktop wiki. What is this "Wiki" page? The information > scent < > https://www.nngroup.com/articles/wrong-information-scent-costs-sales/ > > of that top-level navigation link is nil. People aren't clicking it. > > > Recommendations: > > - Immediately create a "History" or "Change log" top-level page on > http://zim-wiki.org/ that is a placeholder directing the user to view > > http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~jaap.karssenberg/zim/pyzim/view/head:/CHANGELOG.txt > (or > transcludes it directly into the page on the main web site). > - Maybe make a comment about the release cadence of the project on the > Downloads page. > - Fix this paragraph on the Launchpad project's Code page: "Zim hosts > its code at http://www.zim-wiki.org/bzr/pyzim."; It needs to say > something about the fact that this is a Bazaar repo, not the kind of live > web view you'd expect from GitHub or BitBucket. > - Rename the "Wiki" navigation link on the main web site to > "User-Contributed Documentation" or "Community Documentation". > - Add a top-level page for "Mailing List" that points to the mailing > list home page AND to directly to the mailing list search form. (Wait ... > CAN you search the mailing list archive? I can't find it.) > - A chat room user wanted a screencast that demonstrates critical > features of Zim. Something like that must be in the mailing list archive > somewhere. It should be saved in a safe location and promoted on > http://zim-wiki.org/ > > > Who is in charge of the main web site and the Launchpad pages? Is there > anything I can do to help with these communication issues that are driving > users away? > > And I hope no one is offended by this post. I'm trying to be helpful and > point out that we are probably losing prospective users due to a few design > issues in our public web presence. > > Brendan Kidwell > > > _______________________________________________ > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~zim-wiki > Post to : [email protected] > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~zim-wiki > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > >
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