Bug 204862 - Main page adequate for newbies?
Summary: Main page adequate for newbies?
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: www.kde.org
Classification: Websites
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Platform: Compiled Sources Unspecified
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: kde-www mailing-list
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2009-08-23 14:23 UTC by Georg Wittenburg
Modified: 2010-01-23 19:40 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Description Georg Wittenburg 2009-08-23 14:23:20 UTC
Version:            (using Devel)
Installed from:    Compiled sources

As www.kde.org is linked directly from SPIEGEL Online (http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/gadgets/0,1518,643986,00.html), Germany's most popular news site, I followed the link and now I'm wondering whether KDE gives the best possible first impression to newbies.

KDE as a software-focussed community, should have a screenshot of its major "product", currently KDE 4.3.0, prominently displayed on the main webpage, possibly linking directly to the release announcement. Rationale: Interested newcomers can safely be assumed to be predominatly interested in the software, not so much in the community aspect of KDE. If the website makes them "find" the software, that might be just two mouse clicks too much to keep them interested.

A prominent download link (possibly to a live CD) similar to the one at www.mozilla.com/firefox/ also feels like a must-have.

Further, in my very humble opinion, KDE is underselling itself, i.e. http://www.kde.org/whatiskde/project.php#usersview doesn't really make want to try KDE if I'm reasonably happy with Windows or MacOS (or even Gnome). Some of the arguments feel a bit dated, that is, they had some weight in the KDE 1.x and 2.x era but I wouldn't consider them distinctive features anymore. What about all the great things in KDE4 as cross-plattform support, hardware integration, ...?

As a side note, the screenshots at http://www.kde.org/screenshots/ don't include 4.3 at the moment.

Given that even major FOSS projects only rarely get a prominent link in main stream media, this feels a bit like a wasted opportinity...

Regards,

      Georg
Comment 1 Anne Wilson 2009-08-24 14:44:41 UTC
I am less than thrilled with the link to UserBase, too.  This is intended to be one of the major helps for new users, and while they may guess that Mailing Lists and Forums are such, a heading of 'Users' is not descriptive.

I would much prefer to see a sub-section on the lines of 'Getting Help' with Userbase, Lists and Forum in that section.
Comment 2 Vikram Dhillon 2010-01-23 02:55:07 UTC
The website has gone through significant changes and will continue to go through more in the very near future, the screenshots and such have already been fixed. So closing this one. Thanks.
Comment 3 Georg Wittenburg 2010-01-23 11:50:49 UTC
Hi all,

I'm not re-opening this bug to avoid lengthy discussions on a low priority item. However, I'd like to point out that given the current state of the the main KDE website (kde.org) I don't think the main issue is resolved (nor are bugs usually closed due to future work). If I can convince you, please re-open the bug yourself.

Please do a quick comparison of http://www.kde.org and http://www.getfirefox.com.

Major items on kde.org are:
- a statement about the KDE community and the software it produces
- a big logo linking to the release announcement of the latest major stable release
- a list of recent release announcements
- a list of latest news and applications

Major items on getfirefox.com are:
- a system-specific download link
- an interactive lists of advantages of the product, containing screenshots

My point is that newbies (i.e., those users clicking on a link to kde.org somewhere on the web) find hardly anything of interest on kde.org. We can't expect them to care about the community nor about release announcements or news, and only few of them will click on the big logo. In contrast, getfirefox.com provides a prominent link to what most newbies care about (the software) and a set of animated reasons why they should download it.

In my humble opinion, KDE is losing out on potential new users because the main website doesn't present the right information to them.
Comment 4 Anne Wilson 2010-01-23 13:59:21 UTC
Since the new site should be active within two weeks, perhaps you should wait to see it, before commenting further.
Comment 5 Georg Wittenburg 2010-01-23 15:45:46 UTC
> --- Comment #4 from Anne Wilson <cannewilson googlemail com>  2010-01-23
>  13:59:21 --- Since the new site should be active within two weeks, perhaps
>  you should wait to see it, before commenting further.

It wasn't made as explicit in Vikram's post that an entirely new site was on 
its way. If that's the case, of course you're right.
Comment 6 Vikram Dhillon 2010-01-23 18:58:33 UTC
@ Georg Wittenburg:
Sorry about being ambiguous, right now the kde.org website is under heavy development, we are uploading screenshots, updating core site content and changing/moving pages, so hopefully soon (don't know the exact time) we will have a more user-friendly website. I suggest you should join the mailing list [1] and see for yourself :)

[1] kde-www@kde.org
Comment 7 Georg Wittenburg 2010-01-23 19:37:35 UTC
> --- Comment #6 from Vikram Dhillon <dhillonv10 gmail com>  2010-01-23
>  18:58:33 --- @ Georg Wittenburg:
> Sorry about being ambiguous, right now the kde.org website is under heavy
> development, we are uploading screenshots, updating core site content and
> changing/moving pages, so hopefully soon (don't know the exact time) we
>  will have a more user-friendly website.

Great, looking forward! :)


>  I suggest you should join the
>  mailing list [1] and see for yourself :)
> [1] kde-www@kde.org

Thanks for the pointer. I might get more involved in the second half of this 
year, but right now I really can't make it. BTW, according to 
http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-www&r=1&w=2, the kde-www list is dead since 2008.

Take care!

    Georg
Comment 8 Vikram Dhillon 2010-01-23 19:40:00 UTC
@ Georg:
Thanks for bringing up the mailing list being dead part, will fix that too :)