Web Site Audit

I was asked to audit the Trinity web site and provide suggestions to list members. My comments are nothing formal or official and I don't have the last word. I also am not the webmaster. Hopefully my observations help improve the web site and hence, perception of the Trinity community. Everything I offer here is intended to be constructive! I like gray and light colored backgrounds. Great for readability. Dark backgrounds are challenging for many people to read. Gray is a good neutral color. In color schemes gray also represents dignity. =================================================== Consolidate navigation links. * Provide only one top level nav bar. Currently there are two and the smaller one is easy not to notice. * Rename the "Support" link to "Contact and Support." * Remove the "Screenshots" link from the nav bar (Will move the link to the main page body.). * Create a new link named "Get Trinity." * Move the "Development" link to the main nav bar. * Rename the "Development" link to "Developers." * Move the "News" link to the main nav bar. * Move the "Wiki" link to the main nav bar. * Combine the "Installation" and "Release Downloads" pages into "Get Trinity." * Move the "Contributors" page text to the "About" page. Refer to the etherpad draft, bottom. * Move the "Donate" link link to the "Contacts and Support" page. * Move the "Bugs" link to the "Contacts and Support" page. * Move the "Mailing Lists" link and page to the "Contacts and Support" page. * Move the "Documentation" link to the "Developers" page. * Move the "RFEs" link to the "Developers" page. * Move the "GIT" link to the "Developers" page. * Move the "Nightly Builds" and "Patches" links to the "Developers" page. * Move the "Related Projects" link to the "Developers" page. * Delete the "Community Content" link. (Part of the wiki.) =================================================== Top Level Nav Bar, all pages: Home About Get Trinity News Contact and Support Developers Wiki Make the link text larger. Consider repeating the top level nav bar at the bottom of every page. Visitors dislike scrolling back to the top of a page. Layout of the bottom nav bar can be different. =================================================== Some Page Cleanup: * Center the top level nav bar. * Use left-justified margins for text but center the layout on each page with wide outside margins. * On the main page, top of page, add an introduction/welcome statement. * On the main page, leave the most recent News item from the News page as is, after the intro statement. * On the main page, move the "Help Wanted!" ad to the "Developers" page. * On the main page, move the "Official Trinity Binaries" section to the "Get Trinity" page. * Main page should include new links, off to either side: "Get Trinity" (Yes, duplicates the "Get Trinity" link.). "Release Notes" (Same link as current.). "Screenshots" (Link removed from main nav bar and restored here.). * A new About page with FAQ is available for review in etherpad. * Need a few more screenshots. * The screenshot thumbnails should be a tad larger. * Screenshots should highlight good features of Trinity, not be casual screenshots. * Use links in the thumbnails to allow people to view a full screen size of the picture. * Use the new logo when approved by the team. * Refrain from using small or tiny text on any page. Leave fonts at default size. Let users adjust font sizes. =================================================== New page: * In the "Get Trinity" page, add a link to an Applications page providing descriptions of all apps in the repository. * New Applications page: divide the new page into sections based on the T-Menu. For the new Applications page, we can grab content from the old KDE 3 web site, but other apps in the repository will need to be written new. Descriptions need not be long and exhaustive. A paragraph or two and one or two screen shots will be adequate. We need this page very much. I agree to help. =================================================== At this point pages will need to be reviewed after rearranging. Perhaps a mockup site should be used until ready. I agree to help review mockups and changes. Considering the public attention Trinity has been receiving of late, I hope we move quickly to revamp the web site. I hope this helps! Darrell