Per Moshe in post http://groups.drupal.org/node/20725#comment-75055 "I think some static FAQ pages and such are perfectly reasonable and much needed. I don't think anyone is married to the current homepage for that matter. Please do forge ahead."
And with that the topic is raised.
What benefit can we gain from having front-page links to static content on GDO? Currently all we have is a "about this site" link at the bottom of every page. Beyond that, all pages are reached only if you enter through a group or a search result.
Since the opportunity exists to create some "helper pages" what do you think we need?
1) One quick and easy answer for me is a Local Groups page. In this page we encourage the user to look for a group in their area, we also encourage them to check out meetup.com since so many groups are on there especially when they are a subset of a larger group. This would also be the proper page in which to encourage people to start local groups and point to the needed resources to do such a thing.
2) A link to D.O and some context: If a GDO page appeared on a search result and was followed, what would this anonymous user experience? If the user navigates to the front page, they see that the title section of GDO currently reads, "groups.drupal.org serves the Drupal community by providing a place for groups to organize, plan and work on projects. Real world local user groups in particular are encouraged to setup their online presence here." That is well written but is quite minimalistic. What's Drupal? Why doesn't this site explain it? Is there another place to go or should I go google this "Drupal" ?
I'm not a graphics guy so I can't suggest icons, drop shadows, gradient-buttons etc. I'm a content guy who knows that we have to SELL Drupal and the Drupal community at every turn. Establish the brand, reinforce the brand, handle objections preemptively, and always make information reachable.
I'v listed 2 static page ideas and rambled about the ideology behind net-branding.
Please comment on my post and/or suggest some other information that might need a static link to it from GDO front page.
Thank you, www.dougvann.com www.twitter.com/dougvann
Comments
Static Pages
I think that Meetup does a good job of introducing people to the concept of Drupal groups on their logged out page. It would be great if we could have a different page (or block) for logged out users with links to static pages that answered the following questions:
Comments Welcome
I am cross-posting this to relevant groups and asking for anyone's input.
As the above messages explain, we have an opportunity to put a better face forward with regard to Groups.Drupal.Org
Please consider replying to this post and offering your suggestions.
Prgoress on the Static Pages Goal
Hey gang, (( this post has its origin at http://groups.drupal.org/local-user-group-organizers ))
The GDO to D6 move has been good for GDO. I believe most issues have been addressed and the effort continues to ring more benefits from the move.
In the original post above, i proposed two links. The 2nd one has already been applied.
The 1st one, a local-groups page, is, in my mind, essential. Juliakm proposed some questions that should be covered in that page. So here's what I want to do.
I've created a new tab for our site and named it "static." This is where we can house our conversations about this topic. Any post tagged with "static" will appear under that tab.
After I submit this post I will create a new Wiki page where I'd like for us to collaborate on what the local groups page content would be. There's no guarantee that the page we create will get published, but the response so far has been positive.
Here we go!