\[design\] Feathercoin.com Website Redesign project \* Discusion
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I’m a little late to this thread, sorry.
Having had my head under the hood of the SMF CMS… my first thoughts are porting to a stronger future proof CMS.
Three come to mind: Wordpress / Joomla /Drupal
Wordpress is great but is essentially a glorified blogging system with some ace bells and whistles now. Has a strong forum in BBpress [url=http://bbpress.org/]http://bbpress.org/[/url]
Joomla is a solid and robus CMS, easy to use once you get stuck in and has thousands of addons from cart systems to blogging and forums.
Drupal, I believe is almost the standard for CMS’s to aspire to be… I haven’t really got stuck in to Drupal.
Any of the 3 options will require a DB port to the new system, this may need to be written… but it may be already be available. I personally believe bridging forums etc if we move to a new CMS is a bad idea. So it is all or nothing for me if we port.
I can’t really get involved in skinning the theme till we decide on the CMS to be honest.
I would like to add that I have not seen a single SMF theme that begins to compare with themes available for Joomla or Wordpress.
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+1 Entimp.
Joomla is real nice. Drupal is fine if you want to do a LOT of customization, but it falls down in a lot of places really badly. Other than that, I agree with everything your saying.
I don’t know that a database port is a requirement, more of a nice to have. So long as you keep the old forums online, it’s possible to just start fresh.
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[quote name=“Entimp” post=“42505” timestamp=“1386688932”]
I’m a little late to this thread, sorry.Having had my head under the hood of the SMF CMS… my first thoughts are porting to a stronger future proof CMS.
Three come to mind: Wordpress / Joomla /Drupal
Wordpress is great but is essentially a glorified blogging system with some ace bells and whistles now. Has a strong forum in BBpress [url=http://bbpress.org/]http://bbpress.org/[/url]
Joomla is a solid and robus CMS, easy to use once you get stuck in and has thousands of addons from cart systems to blogging and forums.
Drupal, I believe is almost the standard for CMS’s to aspire to be… I haven’t really got stuck in to Drupal.
Any of the 3 options will require a DB port to the new system, this may need to be written… but it may be already be available. I personally believe bridging forums etc if we move to a new CMS is a bad idea. So it is all or nothing for me if we port.
I can’t really get involved in skinning the theme till we decide on the CMS to be honest.
I would like to add that I have not seen a single SMF theme that begins to compare with themes available for Joomla or Wordpress.
[/quote]Discussing platforms for the new site, I’ve made good experiences with Zikula. It’s not a well known as Drupal or Joomla, but very flexible and powerful, which also may be a drawback, as it also can be complex, if you use too many different modules.
There are also hundreds of themes available.But my major question is, if you think about including a wiki module to store howto’s, handbooks, and tips and may be a FAQ module to handle all these ‘what is the best power supply’ and ‘which GPU should I buy’ type of questions.
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OH GOD yes please. Wiki me baby. Please!!!
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I think this is a fantastic idea. There is inherent value in quality web page design which the brain only recognizes on a subconscious level. Make people value feathercoin just by looking at the landing page! hah. I dont even think bitcoin accomplishes this yet it is still wildly successful. Just wanted to say +1 to thinking outside the box and increasing the appeal of feathercoin!
Initial judgements are important and weigh heavily on ones mind after the fact.
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[quote name=“Kevlar” post=“42318” timestamp=“1386639248”]
[quote author=chrisj link=topic=5671.msg42315#msg42315 date=1386638980]
[quote author=Pyxis link=topic=5671.msg42304#msg42304 date=1386637177]
[quote author=chrisj link=topic=5671.msg42253#msg42253 date=1386628456]
[quote author=mattmct link=topic=5671.msg42123#msg42123 date=1386614291]
As someone else mentioned, the video is great. It offers a friendly / positive / intelligent group with a lot of hope in feathercoin. I’m sure it was part of what convinced me to join and mine.But having said that, the current still image (of the video) that is shown to potential new users is a random guy (to the newbies) with a near empty pint glass, maybe not the most professional image to lead with. You should be able to change this image in YouTube admin…and lets face it, this is what people will see when they first find feathercoin.com
I run a pretty popular YouTube tech channel about a million views, I think I’m pretty good at YouTube optimisations (keywords etc) and would be happy to offer my help with that.
[/quote]Hey thanks for your feedback. I just tried to change the still image and it hasn’t updated yet. I will leave it for a few hours and see if it updates.
Can you link me to your youtube channel, your help in the future will be much appreciated.
[/quote]I’m just confirming the update.
[/quote]Oh there is a massive delay in setting the thumbnail and it actually doing it. It is supposed to be the circuit board, not Ruth. *Facepalm*
[/quote]I was wondering. I mean Ruth is very photogenic, but you didn’t exactly capture her best likeness. I wouldn’t mind Ruth there at all… just maybe not frozen mid-word? Or a circuit-board. Whichever. :)
[/quote]I agree with Kevlar, please get me off that shot :o See attachment for a better choice :)
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Okay to get the ball rolling…
With Chris providing a dev workspace for the website reboot we will be able to get this train out of the station.
I will be setting up a Wordpress CMS and hopefully a Joomla one too.
Those who want to get involved please let me know by PM what experience you have with either or both platforms or if you can offer some design from a graphics point of view.
I will be heading this up as a joint project with Chris, iawgoM and myself taking lead roles in organisation and delagation. It must be stressed that this is a collaborative venture with all involved. So jump in if you wish to get involved.
The web servers and dev areas will be up and running in the next 24 hours.
Watch this space.
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[quote name=“Ruthie” post=“42678” timestamp=“1386706752”]
I agree with Kevlar, please get me off that shot :o See attachment for a better choice :)
[/quote]Well Ruthie, apparently your words have fallen on deaf ears because now you’re featured at the top of the page! ???
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I am not contributing with any opinion as there is too much opinions already.
This new page will be a disaster without 1 strong leader with sharp vision. -
There is a vision and there will be leadership… but it has to be a process of getting everyone involved who wishes to be.
The vision is currently a future proof cms that is inclusive of all the tools we currently have whilst trying to bring the forum under the same cms roof.
Do get involved.
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[quote name=“mirrax” post=“43536” timestamp=“1386875977”]
I am not contributing with any opinion as there is too much opinions already.
This new page will be a disaster without 1 strong leader with sharp vision.
[/quote]Let the democracy misunderstandings begin. #popcorn.
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And me, I want an Open code page where the new forum is crowd programmed by a 100 people and the best version cloned of to be voted with and made live.
The old forum still stand till the new one is “evolved”
Can we have an artificial intelligent Bot that we can train up to answer the simple questions, and do a feathercoin “presentation”?
Oh well, maybe next time…
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[quote name=“zerodrama” post=“43547” timestamp=“1386877965”]
[quote author=mirrax link=topic=5671.msg43536#msg43536 date=1386875977]
I am not contributing with any opinion as there is too much opinions already.
This new page will be a disaster without 1 strong leader with sharp vision.
[/quote]Let the democracy misunderstandings begin. #popcorn.
[/quote]That’s why you split people up in to teams. Otherwise you end up with a tyrant doing things without the permission of the community. Something as important as this needs consensus even if it is messy.
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Brilliant update to the Feathercoin download page, solved all the problems with finding the downloads easily.
Who did that - they need more REP++
[b]Constant improvement has been proved many times over, to be the most effective way to optimise a running system.[/b]
I am for small incremental improvements. Testing then fixing.
It is a common and costly error to do changes for their own sake, unless every other maintenance technique is not available.
One example I saw as a consultant was where the production department had asked maintenance to speed up a powder transport fan.
The maintenance man cleverly changed the size of a pulley wheel to make it go faster.
Fortunately, the mistake was noticed by the Engineer. There is a curve for fan air flow efficiency. The fan was set to run most efficiently at that speed. Speeding it up made the airflow slow down.
[b]Design out is the most risky maintenance strategy. …[/b]
I also think we should follow a software development standard.
Can we do that through Github? That is our best way to document changes and policy?
Peter needs to make some a Web site development folder, at Github, so people can (pull) download them and contribute patches.
[b]One way we could maximise forum member input would be[/b]
Each web site team has a Feathercoin web site A B C and members can comment? We pass stuff between teams, members can comment using “Your comments on the new web site” and members can vote up features. We use natural selection or breed the final site into the actual new site and archive the old site.
I[b] also agree, we do not port old data in. [/b]
Porting data can be a filtering Job as that can bring clarity and design influence, as important data is moved to the new site. The old discussions should also be viewed in their original context.
I would have loved to compare Feathercoins.com v1.0 to the upgrade to Feathercons.com v2.0. It was superb work, muchos kudos. Because so many ideas went into Feathercoin web site v2, and those were implemented by member hard work (emtimp?) there are actual complex reasons how the site was redesigned.
For instance, the idea for “Introductions” was because, too many newbies were arriving posting off topic. It was a brilliant idea, we can direct people to their destination in a complex and detailed web site. We can see if they know about forums, welcoming people in is more friendly and sets a cool tone …
[b]Document current web site at Github[/b]
Perhaps we can start by recording this current site?, reduced content (just main menus?). So we have a test sytem to trial potential features?
If this is organised correctly the “web dev teams” will end up have little web site work to do. It means they can be other skills, an Artist or copy writers editing. It will enable contribution by a wider population without the risk of failure (as patches can be revoked).
So, most work will be done in small chunks by forum members. They can contribute patches or the data so other members can make them in the discussion areas (Technical Discusion Web Site) sub section?..
There will need to be a technical person to sanity check any patches to the Github web site.
[b]Feathercoin has led the way in community involvement, let’s take it to the next level. [/b]
We also desperately need some members to get back concentrate on core activities as well, testing the new wallet client, the highest priority as far as I can see, after supporting new members.
I believe we are in a position to make real community action, by enabling everyone to get involved in the new web site enhancements, but also enforcing professional grade standards in the final product.
I certainly it is good opportunity for more members to get involved.
Hopefully there will still be a few Geeks members left as to assist in mining and support … ;)
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Some food for thought wrapper0feather. Alas my few days off work come to an end tonight, and xmas fast approaching I’m guessing much will go on the back burner till we are in to the new year.
Hopefully I can respond more to this post on Saturday. I’ve not had much experience of using tools like github but if it makes the changes happen fairly, more smoothly and efficiently then I am all for it.
Will get back to you soon.
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I not sure what you mean by Feathercoin 2.0, but I am sure I didn’t play too much of a role if anything in it. Just don’t want to steal someone elses thunder.
:)
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I think this could be an exciting development, it will go (very) fast enough if we set it up carefully.
All the best, I need a rest as well.
Remember normal times runs much slower than crypto!
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[quote name=“chrisj” post=“43587” timestamp=“1386880966”]
[quote author=zerodrama link=topic=5671.msg43547#msg43547 date=1386877965]
[quote author=mirrax link=topic=5671.msg43536#msg43536 date=1386875977]
I am not contributing with any opinion as there is too much opinions already.
This new page will be a disaster without 1 strong leader with sharp vision.
[/quote]Let the democracy misunderstandings begin. #popcorn.
[/quote]That’s why you split people up in to teams. Otherwise you end up with a tyrant doing things without the permission of the community. Something as important as this needs consensus even if it is messy.
[/quote]Sometimes.
Sometimes, a single person can do the job of 100 if they’re just allowed to go untethered.
I’m reminded of the story of the toothpaste factory that had a problem shipping empty boxes to customers. Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.
The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution, on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using some high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box weighing less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done.
A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!†â€" he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.
It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should have been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.
Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed. A few feet before it, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.
“Oh, that â€" one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rangâ€, says one of the workers.
Now the argument might be made that if the expensive solution hadn’t prompted someone to solve the new problem, the old problem wouldn’t have been addressed, but it’s equally easy to argue that if you had just put this one guy in charge and let him go, unconstrained by the process that had been accepted by the rest of the team as “the way to do things”, the expensive solution might never have even been considered.
Design by committee can work when all the committee members are experts, and all of them are working towards the same goal. Unfortunately, that’s simply not the case here, and realizing that, there needs to be someone who is empowered to make decisions and have them stick despite what others may feel is right. The opinion of a single expert needs to outweigh the opinion of any number of laymen, because the expert knows better than the laymen… that’s what makes them an expert.
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[quote name=“zerodrama” post=“43547” timestamp=“1386877965”]
Let the democracy misunderstandings begin. #popcorn.
[/quote]It’s not a democracy it’s a dialogue.
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I really do think there has to be a place for this in the redesign.
[url=http://youtu.be/0gNJio-Mau8]http://youtu.be/0gNJio-Mau8[/url]
It’s too good not to be included somewhere. All props to iawgoM. It’s amazing.
