Re: New website announcement - Mailing list pgsql-www

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pgsql-www-owner@postgresql.org
> [mailto:pgsql-www-owner@postgresql.org] On Behalf Of Emily Boyd
> Sent: 18 December 2004 09:25
> To: pgsql-www@postgresql.org
> Subject: [pgsql-www] New website announcement
>
> Hi,

Hello,

> Please see the proposed new website announcement:
>
> http://wwwmaster.postgresql.org
>
> As this is the most prominent text on the page, and we can't
> assume that
> every visitor to the website is already familiar with PostgreSQL, a
> description of PostgreSQL has been incorporated into the announcement.

Agreed.

> Also note that instead of listing the names of everyone who worked on
> the website, the announcement links to a (yet to be written) news
> article, "About the new website." It does not seem appropriate or
> relevant to be listing names on the front page: when 8.0 is released,
> would you be putting "Thanks to Marc, Bruce, Jan, Tom, Josh,
> Peter, etc,
> etc" there? None of the previous release announcements have listed
> individuals. While it's important to acknowledge everyone's
> hard work on
> the website, it would be more appropriate to give full credit to
> everyone involved in a longer news article, and not fill the
> front page
> of the site with a long list of names.

It was 3 names I included which I wouldn't exactly call a long list
(apologies for missing you btw, I didn't realise you were so involved
until Omar pointed it out). There is little precedent for that kind of
message on the site, but please bear in mind that this is a community
project, so many people might be interested to know who did the bulk of
the work. Still, I'm easy - it can just as well go in a news article.

I still think that the description of PostgreSQL needs to be in a
separate box btw. I have little doubt that that announcement area will
be used for other announcements in the future, and the description is
bound to get lost as people get fed up with trying to work it into their
text.

> On the topic of giving credit to those involved with the website,
> perhaps a listing of "website contributors" could be added to the
> developer profiles page, as it seems the most appropriate place on the
> site. Any thoughts on this?

There is a list of website contributers on the advocacy site atm - I
guess it got missed when the content was moved. The developers page
seems find to me - perhaps a second box to the right of the long 'other
contributers' box?

> Regarding the elephant image, it was designed to be used for important
> announcements (you'll notice it's a trumpeting elephant), and seems
> ideal to herald the release of 8.0. It's fine to use it to
> announce the
> new website, and it's been added back in. However, this means
> that when
> the release of 8.0 comes around in a couple of weeks, the
> elephant will
> have already been used to "announce" the new website, and the
> same image
> will have to be reused (i.e. nothing would change on the front page to
> announce 8.0, apart from the "Out Now!" text). The elephant won't have
> the same impact that it would've had if it was just used for the 8.0
> release, which is IMHO the more important announcement that the
> community is waiting for. Just something to consider.

The elephant is a great image for the page and really sets it off. I
think most of us who are not designers won't necessarily pick up on it's
significance though. Whatever we do, there should be something there -
with nothing the page just looks bland.

> We *can* have different elephant-themed images for different types of
> announcements (to keep the site looking fresh for major
> announcements).

Yup :-) (I should really start reading on before replying!)

> However, it's worth noting that the current stock photo cost $100.
> Therefore, it's probably best if we try to use that image for maximum
> impact by reserving it for only the most important announcements, such
> as the 8.0 release. Unless anyone on this list would like to fund a
> library of elephant stock photography, that is ;)

Not at $100 a pop - that buys 1U of rack space for at least a couple of
months in .uk! I'm sure we can source some less expensive images though.

BTW, did you see the discussion on the user survey? Any thoughts on how
it might be incorporated on the front page?

Regards, Dave.