[drupal-devel] drupal.org front page should be for potential users, not developers

[Nedjo Rogers]

I'm thinking we need to fundamentally rethink drupal.org.  As things stand,
the front page (indeed, the site as a whole) reads as if it were primarily
aimed at two groups: (a) drupal developers, and (b) drupal users.

What's missing is the obvious: potential drupal users.

The main reason people come to drupal.org for the first time is, I assume,
because they have heard of drupal and want to evaluate it for potential use.
It's true that there is a one-sentence summary and an "about drupal" link
near the top of the page.  But that's it.  The rest is drupal techies.

* "Drupal 4.6.0 released" and a bunch of specific technical info.
* The nodes promoted to the front page, which is a mish-mash of, mainly,
highly internal-interest posts.
* Side panel blocks that are at first glance almost incomprehensible.
 - "Navigation" that starts with "CVS messages", whatever that means.
 - Forum topics that are full of technical jargon and give the impression
   there's a ton of thorny problems in the software.
 - And "Drupal talk", culled from who knows where, which is full of random
   musings often not about Drupal at all.
 - By the time you get to "Support Drupal" at the bottom, the average
first-time
   user is probably asking, "Why?"

And then look at the page title.  "Community plumbing".  Pardon?

I'm not saying the info we present isn't useful (okay, except the "Drupal
talk", which I'd put in the "eccentric curiosity" category).  But it's not
what we should have as a public face.

I'm suggesting we need:

* a front page that provides people with the information to make a decision
"Why would I choose Drupal".
* sections, linked from the front page (e.g., through top-of-page links) for
(a) developers (module development, core development, etc.) and (b) users
(tips, questions, etc.).

In practice, have a look at plone.org.  They, I believe, are doing this
right.

In the short term, I suggest:

* move the recent nodes listing to a side block of titles, ideally broken
down by subject (e.g., one block for "news", etc.)
* dedicate most of the content space to highlighting the features and
advantages of drupal
* change to the page title to something catchy and understandable

Thoughts?

Nedjo