Re: Breaking www.gnome.org down a bit

[Curtis Hovey <sinzui cox net>]

On Thu, 2004-09-16 at 03:02 +0200, Claus Schwarm wrote:
> On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 19:39:37 -0400
> Curtis Hovey <sinzui cox net> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Doing the same for our software projects seams a natural progression.
> > (I really must ignore my family and make the software map
> > replacement.) We may want a software.gnome.org in the future, just as
> > we have art. gnome.org now.  The projects pages may not be the same
> > thing as the softwaremap replacement--we want the replacement to
> > deliver a consistent brochure that is user-friendly, and can point
> > developers to the project's home.
> > 
> 
> You may like to have a look at the homepage of
> 
> http://developer.berlios.de/projects/gnome-apps/
> 
> It may not be _exactly_ what was planned, it's also in a small
> rewrite state right now, the content is partially incomplete or
> misorganzied, and it misses DOAP and maybe RDS functionality,
> but it's basically working.

It's very nice.  I like it more than the gnome-files site.  

> If somebody is able to state clear requirements for the
> software.gnome.org pages, or suggestions for improvement, or even GIMP
> made mockup's, I'm sure the issue could be discussed more effectivly.


Before getting to mockups, we do need to settle our requirements.  I've
got that on my own todo list.  The strictest requirement is that the
software site *not* be dynamic.  We are moving aways from interactive
applications for content features like this.  The search feature is a
different matter.  But the content only needs to be regenerated when the
database is updated.  What we are looking for is a catalog and index of
apps.  Each app gets a page, a brochure, to sell itself to users and
developers.

Writing without much consideration, I'd say we want to see a name, a one
line description, a paragraph to sell itself, a list of key features,
and a screenshot.  We need a sidebar for users that presents the
homepage url, the status of the app, GNOME versions, distro downloads,
and user-guide.  We need a sidebar for developers that lists the
maintain, contact info, repository info, langauge/APIs used.  We want a
simple single page, and www.apple.com/software may be a start of what we
want.

I think there are use cases for:
User downloads an app to complete some task.
User looks for an app for a pointer to documentation.
User checks for updates to an app he already has.
User wants to dress up their desktop...discovers art.gnome.org
Developer looks for an app that has features he wants to hack on.
Developer looks for an app that uses a language or API of interest.

-- 

__C U R T I S  C.  H O V E Y____________________
sinzui cox net
Guilty of stealing everything I am.