Mailing List Archive

I think it’s just great, Phillip. The only other suggestions that I
have are fiddly things that are irrelevant at this stage, best saved
for when it’s built out as HTML/CSS. This will constitute a huge
improvement and modernization of the website. I’m excited to see it.

Best,
Waldo


On Nov 20, 2009, at 7:15 PM, Phillip Smith wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I've prepared version 2 of the front page mock-up with the following
> changes based on your input:
>
> + PHP and MySQL logos
> + Big buttons for download and try a demo
> + Stronger visuals for the "Recent project activity" and "Bricolage
> Planet"
> + Less text heavy (though, I'm leaving most of that work until we
> can see it with the final text / copy)
>
> New version:
> http://bricolage.indevelopment.ca/
>
> Old version:
> http://bricolage.indevelopment.ca/index-v1.html
>
> ... And the slideshow will come when things are all HTML-ified. :-)
>
> Let me know if I've missed anything, and if you have any other
> comments. I'll hopefully post some other pages in the coming days.
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Phillip.
>
> --
> Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY
> BANDWIDTH
> www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com

On Nov 21, 2009, at 9:48 AM, Waldo Jaquith wrote:

> I think it’s just great, Phillip. The only other suggestions that I have are fiddly things that are irrelevant at this stage, best saved for when it’s built out as HTML/CSS. This will constitute a huge improvement and modernization of the website. I’m excited to see it.

+1 Same here, just fiddly stuff (like bullets in "Recent project activity" and "Bricolage Planet"). Nicely done, thanks!

David

Dear All,

The mockup looks good. It change the feel for the website from
community-oriented to a professional one.

Here is my 2 cents:

Like the "mason/apache/posgresql" banner. I think it is very important for
developers like me who installed bricolage from scratch.

One thing that came to mind immediately is the "Build for serious hackers"
box. If you are aiming the site at developers that is a BIG plus. However,
let's not forget the word "hacker" is a negative word for everyone else.
Unlike the current site, the mock up appears to be targetting both
developers and their boss/customers. That is a good development. However,
will the word "hacker" scare them off? Another thing to consider is does
this put off hackers who thinks they are "novices" and cannot be trained to
be "serious" hackers?

One important catch line to me is "Create a Bricolage CMS to what you want,
not working around what we offers". That is the second most important point
which sold Bricolage to me.

Since the biggest point that sold Bricolage to me is the ability to
consistently maintain a high quality website with consistency across
different elements [.In my case, the difficulty to ensure all academic
publication carries page number, doi and pubmed links, pdf], I will put "A
perfectionist's dream" first. I think most web managers have strong emphasis
on quality.

Also, can we please mention professional consultancy available from
commercial companies like Kineticode on the page as well. It is an important
information for people who like Bricolage, but do not have the expertise to
create one. We want to put them at ease immediately.

Finally, one other thing that is worth considering is to put a copy of the
bricolage engine for the new site as one of the demo. Users will be allowed
to play with the content. However, one will need a big banner or watermark
saying this is just a demo based on the BricolageCMS site and not the real
thing,

HTH
Cinly

2009/11/21 David E. Wheeler <david@kineticode.com>

> On Nov 21, 2009, at 9:48 AM, Waldo Jaquith wrote:
>
> > I think it’s just great, Phillip. The only other suggestions that I have
> are fiddly things that are irrelevant at this stage, best saved for when
> it’s built out as HTML/CSS. This will constitute a huge improvement and
> modernization of the website. I’m excited to see it.
>
> +1 Same here, just fiddly stuff (like bullets in "Recent project activity"
> and "Bricolage Planet"). Nicely done, thanks!
>
> David
>
>


--
Best Regards,
Cinly

*****
I promise to take all due care and respect for you email, BUT will not agree
to abide to any T&C you care to attach to the email. This applies especially
if this is a reply to your email containing one.

On 21-Nov-09, at 10:37 PM, Cinly Ooi wrote:

> Here is my 2 cents:


Many thanks to all who commented, as always. :-)

--
Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com

I'm finally getting a chance for some feedback.

First, I like the changes that were made in this version. The layout is very nice and clean. Aaron suggested a while back that it might be a good idea to skin Bric 2 with the colors/theme of this design. Are we (David?) all on board with that? I've still got the css work that I did a while ago hanging around, so I could help, do it, or pass it on.

Some suggestions on the new design, first on the copy:

1) I recognize that a large part of marketing is taking an inherent weakness and promoting it as a strength, but I really want to lol when I read about how great it is that Bricolage doesn't ship with decent default templates. IMHO, that's not an advantage to tout! While it's indeed awesome that Bric won't restrict your creativity, let's instead say something like "Let your creativity flow with unlimited document modeling options and custom templates that work exactly the way your organization wants."
2) No bullshit? Those of us who have tried to merely install the product know that is not true. And besides, my midwestern puritanical values would rather not have profanity in Bricolage's most recognizable tagline. Maybe replace BS with "customizable" or something that alludes to extreme flexibility.
3) Oh, and bric_queued is not "built like a tank". It slowly chokes and dies when overloaded with stories. A lot.
4) Anyone who gets their hands on Bricolage will waste A LOT of time figuring out the right way to do it. Yes, Bricolage is bad ass once you learn it. But it's not iTunes we're talking about here.
5) One man's total freedom is another's gulag of pain.

And on interface:

6) The link to documentation needs to be more prominent. Also the link to the API browser needs to be right on the top of the page, and maybe even highlighted. If you're doing work in Bric, you're spending a lot of time there. It needs to be easy to get to.
7) I realize this site is aimed at noobs, but the Development link should still be more prominent. Finding other templates in particular needs to be easy.
8) I know the point of the commit feed is to show activity, but the flip side of that is people get to see nasty bug fixes on the home page. Just something to think about.

Anyway, now that Scott's not here, someone had to be the curmudgeon. Hugs!

That's all for now, i'll probably have more later.

-Matt



On Nov 20, 2009, at 4:15 PM, Phillip Smith wrote:

>
> Hello!
>
> I've prepared version 2 of the front page mock-up with the following changes based on your input:
>
> + PHP and MySQL logos
> + Big buttons for download and try a demo
> + Stronger visuals for the "Recent project activity" and "Bricolage Planet"
> + Less text heavy (though, I'm leaving most of that work until we can see it with the final text / copy)
>
> New version:
> http://bricolage.indevelopment.ca/
>
> Old version:
> http://bricolage.indevelopment.ca/index-v1.html
>
> ... And the slideshow will come when things are all HTML-ified. :-)
>
> Let me know if I've missed anything, and if you have any other comments. I'll hopefully post some other pages in the coming days.
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Phillip.
>
> --
> Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
> www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Many thanks for this, Matt.

I'm back from vacation and anxious to get this finished up; I'll post
updates shortly.

Phillip.

On 5-Dec-09, at 3:42 PM, Matthew Rolf wrote:

> I'm finally getting a chance for some feedback.
>
> First, I like the changes that were made in this version. The layout
> is very nice and clean. Aaron suggested a while back that it might
> be a good idea to skin Bric 2 with the colors/theme of this design.
> Are we (David?) all on board with that? I've still got the css work
> that I did a while ago hanging around, so I could help, do it, or
> pass it on.
>
> Some suggestions on the new design, first on the copy:
>
> 1) I recognize that a large part of marketing is taking an inherent
> weakness and promoting it as a strength, but I really want to lol
> when I read about how great it is that Bricolage doesn't ship with
> decent default templates. IMHO, that's not an advantage to tout!
> While it's indeed awesome that Bric won't restrict your creativity,
> let's instead say something like "Let your creativity flow with
> unlimited document modeling options and custom templates that work
> exactly the way your organization wants."
> 2) No bullshit? Those of us who have tried to merely install the
> product know that is not true. And besides, my midwestern
> puritanical values would rather not have profanity in Bricolage's
> most recognizable tagline. Maybe replace BS with "customizable" or
> something that alludes to extreme flexibility.
> 3) Oh, and bric_queued is not "built like a tank". It slowly
> chokes and dies when overloaded with stories. A lot.
> 4) Anyone who gets their hands on Bricolage will waste A LOT of time
> figuring out the right way to do it. Yes, Bricolage is bad ass once
> you learn it. But it's not iTunes we're talking about here.
> 5) One man's total freedom is another's gulag of pain.
>
> And on interface:
>
> 6) The link to documentation needs to be more prominent. Also the
> link to the API browser needs to be right on the top of the page,
> and maybe even highlighted. If you're doing work in Bric, you're
> spending a lot of time there. It needs to be easy to get to.
> 7) I realize this site is aimed at noobs, but the Development link
> should still be more prominent. Finding other templates in
> particular needs to be easy.
> 8) I know the point of the commit feed is to show activity, but the
> flip side of that is people get to see nasty bug fixes on the home
> page. Just something to think about.
>
> Anyway, now that Scott's not here, someone had to be the
> curmudgeon. Hugs!
>
> That's all for now, i'll probably have more later.
>
> -Matt
>
>
>
> On Nov 20, 2009, at 4:15 PM, Phillip Smith wrote:
>
>>
>> Hello!
>>
>> I've prepared version 2 of the front page mock-up with the
>> following changes based on your input:
>>
>> + PHP and MySQL logos
>> + Big buttons for download and try a demo
>> + Stronger visuals for the "Recent project activity" and "Bricolage
>> Planet"
>> + Less text heavy (though, I'm leaving most of that work until we
>> can see it with the final text / copy)
>>
>> New version:
>> http://bricolage.indevelopment.ca/
>>
>> Old version:
>> http://bricolage.indevelopment.ca/index-v1.html
>>
>> ... And the slideshow will come when things are all HTML-ified. :-)
>>
>> Let me know if I've missed anything, and if you have any other
>> comments. I'll hopefully post some other pages in the coming days.
>>
>> Many thanks in advance,
>>
>> Phillip.
>>
>> --
>> Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY
>> BANDWIDTH
>> www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

--
Phillip Smith // Simplifier of Technology // COMMUNITY BANDWIDTH
www.communitybandwidth.ca // www.phillipadsmith.com