Re: [Debconf-team] [rt.debconf.org #37] New www.debconf.org layout
* Joerg Jaspert (joerg@ganneff.de) [060626 22:38]:
> Hey team,
>
> as many already mentioned it would be nice to have www.debconf.org as a
> general "portal-like" site, not just a redirect to the running DebConf.
>
> So I just had a little chat with our webmaster, and we basically agreed
> on the following:
>
> - Have www as an own site, having the following content in it:
>
> - a paragraph (or two) what debconf is. maybe a bit about its history.
> - a list of all prior debconfs, table like, with dates and locations,
> and links to their sites (debconfX.debconf.org), and their
> galleries.
> - a set of contact email addresses, starting with the generic
> rt@debconf.org, going to press@debconf.org, website@, admin@,
> gallery-admins@, etc.
> (exact aliases need to be decided by us).
> - links to all other debconf sites we have running, like the gallery,
> the lists, media, whatever.
>
> IE - have it as a single point of information linking you to the right
> place.
>
> The content for this is easy to create, and later easy to extend, more
> important is the actual design and maybe a logo.
i am not sure how important that design really is. if you
explained more about the goal (when and in which situations to
use it, rather then the current debconf site, who should see it,
etc) we could decide if it is important and what message
(corporate identity wise) it should carry. If you want the portal
to be important and have it used a lot, it should *of course* fit
in with future debconf designs, otherwise you get the dreaded
patchwork effect that makes it a half-ass-job. That would
conflict with one of my two principal guidelines for debconfs,
which says that we should strive for professional appearence
and behaviour outwards. more on that you can find in an earlier
mail in this list, should you be interested in the other
guideline, too.
The alternative is to make an efford to integrate style and logo
of the brand "Debconf" into every coming debconf style (and
logo?). That would be nice, but i am unable to judge how hard
that is and if it would limit the future's designers freedom to
come up with a design for the coming debconf or if it would
perhaps even be a welcome guideline. We should ask someone who
knows. (yellow pages, anyone? :-)
> The design should be
> simple, but shouldnt look like a blog directly. :) And of course it will
> stay there "forever", ie it doesnt change with every DebConf, as thats
> confusing for the topic of this site, so it should be as neutral as
> possible to DebConfs. Feel free to point out better designs, just make
> sure they are free. :)
here you write that it should be neutral to Debconfs. So far all
logos of earlier debconfs had some form of swirl in it. so the
debian swirl could be such a logo and would come for free.
Concluding: If the portal, it's style and logo is important, do
it properly. a "little" design contest would most likely not be
enough. If it is not important, why have it? why introduce it and
create a generic Debconf brand in the first place? A way around
this could be to integrate the info you mention above into the
layout of future debconf websites.
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