New PHP SOA Community user interface!

Hi all,

  As you may or may not have seen, I have put in place an
alternate
user interface for the php community on osoa.org (see the
current
breaking news section) with the intention of making the site
more
organised and accessible to users (especially newcomers).
Being a
newcomer myself, I was given the task of evaluating the
current setup
focusing mainly on layout and content from a new user
perspective.

Here are some of the points I thought are worth
highlighting:

- Firstly, the homepage is too long and cluttered. This made
it
difficult to differentiate between the different sections
provided
thus failing to entice me into further reading.

- The left hand side menu panel was very useful in providing
shortcuts
to certain sections and should be maintained for frequent
users.
However a search function would be useful for less frequent
users who
may not know where a certain page is situated.

- A lot of the content was concise and to the point and with
the use
of diagrams, helped me grasp a better understanding of the
technology.  However, some of the longer documents could do
with a
contents section to provide speedy access to relevant parts
whilst
providing an overview of what is to be covered.

- Although there are some technical FAQs for both SDO and
SCA, there
weren't any general FAQs providing answers to broader
questions about
the technology and the community.

- A glossary of terms would also be helpful for those people
who view
the site for the first time because I ended up having to
google plenty
of acronyms and other terms.

- Although I liked the concise information on the
technologies, there
needs to be a balance on how much information to provide.
For example
the SCA for PHP page contains a very small explanation about
the SCA
technology whilst the SDO for PHP page contains a larger
amount
information on SDO which was much more suitable and
informative.


    The new alternative user interface I have provided on
the wiki
takes some of these points into account, especially in terms
of the
layout as I am no expert on the technology so I haven't been
able to
provide changes to the content as such. Changes to content
can be made
later after people's initial thoughts are heard about the
new
interface.

    The actual user interface itself is inspired by
www.projectzero.org
which provides a clean interface its users. Although we are
limited by
the capabilities of the wiki, similar effects can be
achieved
providing a suitable and usable interface for all users. I
have
organised the content into 3 sections; Getting Started,
Learn More and
Community. These are intended to entice people into further
reading
and give the site a bit more structure. Obviously, frequent
users may
not want to navigate through these sections everytime they
want to
access a page so the left hand side menu remains present
(although
some changes could be made to it) and a search function is
provided.
Content boxes containing links to sections within a page
have been
added to provide easier navigation requiring less scrolling
of pages.

   Anyway, its up there on the site now and your thoughts
are more
than welcome. The idea is on improving the site for all
users so
constructive criticism is encouraged!


Tom


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Tom,

First a link, for readers who don't even remember where to
find the 
wiki: htt
p://osoa.org/display/PHP/Test+SOA+PHP+Homepage

I do like your new layout. It's great that you've
investigated advanced 
Confluence features and added the search box - this will be
really 
useful. It's actually very helpful that you haven't
attempted to improve 
the content at the same time as changing its presentation -
this lets us 
focus on the layout rather than worry about the details.

I did fix some link problems - the Community link and the
"More details" 
links on the Getting Started page were only working for a
logged-in 
user, not for an anonymous user. Looks like you copied some
pages from 
the Test space into the PHP space but didn't update the
links accordingly?

I think it will be much easier for people to find the
information they 
need with the new layout. As for the new sections that you
think are 
needed - feel free to add them as placeholders, as this is
always a good 
way to encourage users to start supplying content.

I think we should switch over to Tom's new layout asap.


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Anybody else have any thoughts??

On Aug 9, 11:41 am, Caroline Maynard <c...php.net> wrote:
> Tom,
>
> First a link, for readers who don't even remember where
to find the
> wiki:htt
p://osoa.org/display/PHP/Test+SOA+PHP+Homepage
>
> I do like your new layout. It's great that you've
investigated advanced
> Confluence features and added the search box - this
will be really
> useful. It's actually very helpful that you haven't
attempted to improve
> the content at the same time as changing its
presentation - this lets us
> focus on the layout rather than worry about the
details.
>
> I did fix some link problems - the Community link and
the "More details"
> links on the Getting Started page were only working for
a logged-in
> user, not for an anonymous user. Looks like you copied
some pages from
> the Test space into the PHP space but didn't update the
links accordingly?
>
> I think it will be much easier for people to find the
information they
> need with the new layout. As for the new sections that
you think are
> needed - feel free to add them as placeholders, as this
is always a good
> way to encourage users to start supplying content.
>
> I think we should switch over to Tom's new layout
asap.


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tomfoster29googlemail.com wrote:
> Anybody else have any thoughts??

I've said my piece, but please would others respond too, as
I'm 
reluctant to edit the wiki while the information is in two
different places.


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On 24 Aug, 14:49, Caroline Maynard <c...php.net> wrote:
> tomfoste...googlemail.com wrote:
> > Anybody else have any thoughts??
>
> I've said my piece, but please would others respond
too, as I'm
> reluctant to edit the wiki while the information is in
two different places.

Hi, just took a look a the new layout. Nice work Tom. I
think we
should switch over to this. In particular I like how it
makes the
front page much cleaner. If we switch over then we can
shuffle the
current content to the right places and hopefully add a bit
more in
the spirit of this more streamlined look  We also
need to sort out
the menu on the left as we move over to the new look. How
about we try
and match with

Homepage
Getting Started
SCA
  Download
  Documentation
SDO
  Download
  Documentation
Community

Regards

Simon



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On Aug 25, 11:31 am, simonsl...googlemail.com wrote:
> On 24 Aug, 14:49, Caroline Maynard <c...php.net> wrote:
>
> > tomfoste...googlemail.com wrote:
> > > Anybody else have any thoughts??
>
> > I've said my piece, but please would others
respond too, as I'm
> > reluctant to edit the wiki while the information
is in two different places.
>
> Hi, just took a look a the new layout. Nice work Tom. I
think we
> should switch over to this. In particular I like how it
makes the
> front page much cleaner. If we switch over then we can
shuffle the
> current content to the right places and hopefully add a
bit more in
> the spirit of this more streamlined look  We also
need to sort out
> the menu on the left as we move over to the new look.
How about we try
> and match with
>
> Homepage
> Getting Started
> SCA
>   Download
>   Documentation
> SDO
>   Download
>   Documentation
> Community
>


That can easily be done. I can implement the new interface
whenever I
get the go ahead, a few more comments would help but people
seem to be
pleased with the new interface so far.

Tom


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Hi Tom,
The new interface looks great, and just got some content for
you.
I finished the documentation for binding.message, and i
think you can
help me post it to web space.
you should be able to find it from files in word format,
named
msbindingdoc.doc

Thanks

Jack

On 28 Aug, 14:15, "tomfoste...googlemail.com"
<tomfoste...googlemail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 25, 11:31 am, simonsl...googlemail.com wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 24 Aug, 14:49, Caroline Maynard <c...php.net> wrote:
>
> > > tomfoste...googlemail.com wrote:
> > > > Anybody else have any thoughts??
>
> > > I've said my piece, but please would others
respond too, as I'm
> > > reluctant to edit the wiki while the
information is in two different places.
>
> > Hi, just took a look a the new layout. Nice work
Tom. I think we
> > should switch over to this. In particular I like
how it makes the
> > front page much cleaner. If we switch over then we
can shuffle the
> > current content to the right places and hopefully
add a bit more in
> > the spirit of this more streamlined look  We also
need to sort out
> > the menu on the left as we move over to the new
look. How about we try
> > and match with
>
> > Homepage
> > Getting Started
> > SCA
> >   Download
> >   Documentation
> > SDO
> >   Download
> >   Documentation
> > Community
>
> That can easily be done. I can implement the new
interface whenever I
> get the go ahead, a few more comments would help but
people seem to be
> pleased with the new interface so far.
>
> Tom- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


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