Redoing the mainpage
In my opinion the current main page doesn't serve us well. Some things that I would like to see in the new version:
- Big link to Special:FirstSteps
- More prominent display of our projects
- Refined target of this wiki
- Some latest news. Maybe from twitter?
- Some other highlights of this wiki, what?
Any other opinions?
Something to ponder:
- Who are the target audience of the front page?
- I think that those are new translators and people who want to know what translatewiki.net is about
Also, how about a video recording which shows how to translate and tells little about the process overall?
I made a draft at Main Page/draft. Please feel free to comment.
Notes: at least the Get started should/will be replaced with nicer button. The links the main page refers to should be written, of course.
One problem in the current draft: It is not obvious what Get started refers to. Must mention that it is about becoming a translators or something.
I really like the draft, except for the upper left part (the one in green text). It just seems a bit too "shouty" if you know what I mean... Maybe try to tone it down i little bit.
Otherwise, the big footer with the icons is really nice, and i also really like the upper right part.
The shouty part will stay. This is one of the best aspects of the new main page proposal. Elements that call to action are a must if that is what you want (effective buttons 101).
When viewed through IE8 a green button looks strange - see screenshot http://s001.radikal.ru/i196/1004/ae/e7eee96ac457.jpg And I do not fully understand where to migrate the current multilanguage MainPage content?
You appear to be watching it in Monobook skin. That's not our default skin; in Modern - as well as in Vector - it looks just fine. I've tried to reproduce this with Monobook in both IE8 and Firefox 3.6, but neither browser shows the dents that are visible on the screenshot...
The multilanguage main page that we currently have will be obsolete and require retranslation for the new main page. The multi language component has not been implemented yet, but will be as soon as or before it goes live.
I'm sorry, very important detail: my screen resolution is 1680x1050 ;) This effect occurs when a screen resolution ~1440 and more...
Cannot reproduce in full screen mode at 1440*900. In two weeks I'll be getting my new MBP with 1680*1050.
Just thought of a way to reproduce. I reduced my font size while in full screen mode. That give a little hint. I don't think this is a real issue. If you have a solution, please feel free to implement it.
The new main page draft looks really good. I have a suggestion:
If the language of the user (that is, logged-in users) is known, show the following details for each project: (1) the % completion (2) the number (or %) of messages to be translated/defuzzied (if any) with a link directly leading to the translate page.
For the moment that's too expensive in CPU processing. We need to concentrate on the message first, and whenever we have CPU and disk IO in abundance, we can think of making that type of statistics available. As we are assuming that translators do not have the main page as entry point, we mainly focus the main page contents to those yet unknown with translatewiki.
P.s. feel free to make textual changes, and well ones will stay in as long as they are concise and on topic :)
This new design definitely looks hot. I must honestly admit that it took me some time to figure out how exactly to translate here, an issue that this design might solve.
I like new design, except that hovering effect over "start translating". IMHO setting it to default Red will be great
I prefer the green color on the button, it's more inviting. I find red more of a warning-color. Sort of like pushing a button you might regret pushing... If it has to change color, then maybe to a darker shade of green?
I suggested red as more catchy ;). Yes, but it has a warning tone. Anyway I think that big colour change on mouse over is not eye friendly. A simple glow effect can do better.
Let's not argue over the colour of the bikeshed. We're still looking for someone who would be able to create two short videos (max. 90 seconds). The first showing how to (a) register an account, (b) set language in preferences, (c) create a basic user page, (d) request permissions, (e) confirm e-mail address. The second would deal with with the initial steps in the translation process. (a) click "Translation tool" in the menu (b) pick a group to work on, (c) selecting a message to translate (d) saving/go to next navigation (e) use of translation hints (all options: Translation Memory, Google Translate and Apertium). If you have the tools to create any or all of these videos, we would highly appreciate your skills.