Is the static content on the front page too long to notice the recent article below?
Some time ago we only had the slider images and a bit of text but now we added the additional AXIOM stages overview and that means you need to scroll down to see the latest news.
Is it a problem?
What could be a solution?
i think it is not a problem. people come to the website to get informations about the project und the first information someone needs is what the project is about. then they will scroll down and find informations about the newest activities.
Also there is the "Latest News" Widget on the top right.
You can add a new Menu Item "News" at first after apertus.
I think the whole website is too crowded. I've heard from several external people they have no clue how to navigate the website.
At the moment it doesn't really matter, but when the time comes when we will sell cameras, we need to keep the website as simple as possible, eg:
apertus.org should be just the landing page, static and simple, from there you can choose to go to:
The blog is imo too prominent right now, since only a fraction of visitors is interested in the BTS of the project. If you ARE interested, you will be looking for this content actively anyway.
Idk if we should keep the current design though, I for one kinda dislike the main font :P
I would vote for keeping everything under one roof.
We can restructure the website but I would not suggest to create separate websites unless there is no other way (like the webshop).
Also keep in mind that additional subdomains require additional SSL certs. So blog.apertus.org -> apertus.org/blog/ is simpler
For a redesign of the website we should create a new lab thread.
Well how much is a SSL certificate?
I just see it from a pragmatic point of view. I estimate at least 60% of people who visit this site are just interested in the cameras themselves. They look for prices, tech specs, availability, sample footage, design of the enclosure, sensor options, etc. They are in no way interested in the latest stage of the development of the image sensor frontend, nor in the current method of cooling, and so on.
Shouldn't we keep the website as simple as possible for the majority of the visitors?
The prices, tech specs, availability would be ideally put in the store imho.
Website : development, incubators, everything that is sometimes not written in stone yet (or ever :-)
Store : what you can buy now
I'm with Max. The separation of the website into shop, developers and blog would bring more clarity to the site. The majority of the users would use the shop site, with the camera specs and prices. If they want get more information they can look on the developer site, read the blog or subscribe the newsletter.
At the moment it isn't really accessible and easy to use.
(Have the blog its own page section and only there, not teased on every other page somewhere at the bottom/side, etc. - apply for all other things that are mixed and inserted into other pages somewhere)
I agree with Simon on the separation of the store and just camera details. The product page should be just a showroom for the AXIOMs, as in a introduction to new visitors, interested people and such.
foobar.apertus.org vs. apertus.org/foobar: I think we can only do one. At least there should be store.apertus.org and developers.apertus.org, since these two pages are the most "sandboxed".
Creating subdomains might be a bit more work in terms of maintenance, but I think it makes the most sense to support the growth and establishment of the whole apertus construct.
I think its time we take this to the next level :)
The shop makes sense to promote on a broad basis once the Beta goes officially into retail sales. This gives us a bit of time to prepare the website transition properly.
How should we do this?
Planning the structure with https://www.mindmup.com/#m:new ?
Separate Drupal install for prototyping?
Maybe we should consider a easier system than drupal.
And a responsive website would be cool somehow.
Is it hard to synchronize user accounts between two different backends?
I guess we first have to agree upon a common strategy before we start layouting a diagram :)
But I agree with Nils, drupal kinda seems a bit sluggish in terms of webshop. The stuff Sebastian showed me goes totally over my head...
I am open for suggestions but we know drupal rather well and it works quite well in most areas so finding something that is just "easier" doesn't really convince me yet.
Allright, let's leave it like that for now.
So have we agreed on a certain separation for the website? shop.apertus.org and the rest under one roof?
Yes, its currently not possible in any other way anyway. As drupal commerce is not really working out for us we started using opencart which works well and requires a separate "roof".
Have you considered Magento for the Shop?
We have a lot of customers using it and it works well.
Maybe LFS is also an option.
It used to be really fast, written in Python.
But i have no experience using it.
http://www.getlfs.com/
Firstly this is going off topic of this thread now and secondly we are not looking for another webshop solution.
So, currently the frontpage consists of following elements:
But what actually is needed is:
Nils showed me this website: https://www.teenageengineering.com
I really like the simplicity and straight forward integration of elements & pictures. Inspiration?
Bottom line: reduce news presence, increase camera domination+infos for customers.
Sounds good!
We could even let the AXIOM Alpha step into the background once the Beta is available.
I think its time to move this to a new lab task :)
Technical details :
-> so you can switch it all together when it's ready (new theme, new menu)
@getzi i agree on rethinking the communication out of different user-perspectives. and i like the idea of 'less information as absolutely possible' especially for new comers.
every user-group or use-purpose should have a selected amount of information.
groups:
A people who hear the first time from axiom and have no idea
B people who know what axiom is and who want just to be customer with all the comfort
C people who want to look behind the stage and consider contributing or contribute from time to time
D core members who do all the major work
the issue i was writing about in the posting T216 was about the same thing as getzi is writing here but for my 'user-group' C. i am often confused what is going on and which channel of communication do i miss..
Yea, phabricator is not the best in keeping me up to date. If i wouldn't get email notifications i would have no clue what is going on.
I'm trying to design a guide of some kind, but the longer i do it, the more flawed our current system seems to be.
Is there some kind of message board within phabricator?
@christophvarga do you think for group 'C' a page in the "About" menu on the main website would suffice? I somewhat don't think so. This group is kinda the most important one to the project, to keep the community growing, I reckon. We should make a "get involved"-button somewhere on the landing page. Currently it is kinda done here: http://apertus.org/contribute
But we should make this particular page a really simple and straightforward guide.
A whole other topic is the IRC...
@getzi "We should make a "get involved"-button somewhere on the landing page. "
absolutely, an invitation direct on the fist contact page would also show that it is an open and transparent project.
direct behind that button there should be an easy to understand explanation of the communication structure and the actual topics i think. this explanation should happen through clear and good design as through words. it should show an overview of the vivid community i think.
thanks for your work on renewing our communication strategies!