[Imc-uk-useability] working on startpage changes

[WietsE]

Genny wrote:
> Indymedia uk looks fantastic in Wietse's sketches (especially the photos) and I'd like to propose 
> that the whole of the site should be in a hand-written/hand-drawn style. :o))
>   

Haha, now there's an idea..

> Here are my first thoughts.  Sorry if it's lots of questions - they are just things which occurred 
> to me as I looked through the proposal - I'm not demanding answers!
>
> (1); (9) What happens to older features?  Do they completely disappear or will there be a link in 
> section 1 or 9 to take you to a features page with more features going back further?  I'd like to 
> think there'd be an accessible archive of a fair number of recent features.
>   

Yes. The main feature shows on top, the most recent 5 orso just under it 
on the startpage and the older once in the archive. This can currently 
be found here: http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/feature/archive.html

> (2); (8) Does this mean that recent promoted items will appear twice on the front page, once on the 
> open newswire 2, and once on the promoted newswire 8?  Given limited frontpage space, I'm not sure 
> this is a good idea if that's what will happen.  But the obvious solution of unpromoted newswire in 
> one column and promoted in the other doesn't seem like a great idea either as it will give 
> unpromoted news a lot of prominence on the front page in a column undiluted by promoted news.
>   

Well the idea is that the promoted newswire has more prominance as it's 
in the middle column. In my proposed design the newswire in the right 
column will stay open, so no promoted item in there. In my opinion 
having an open newswire is essential to what Indymedia is about. It is 
empowering to see your article appear on the top of the wire soon after 
you've posted it. This startpage design does give a lot more space to 
the users contributions and breaks down the old hierarchy between 'users 
articles on the wire' and the 'features compiled by the collective'. A 
very good development imho.

> (3) Yeah, think this is important to keep near top of front page.
>
> (4) Drop-down menu sounds like a very good idea here.
>
> (5) Yeah
>
> (6) This needs to go somewhere, but as a non-techie who took a long time to sort out secure browsing 
> on indymedia uk, I'd like to maybe work with a techie to write more non-techie friendly instructions.
>   

That sounds like a really good idea !

> (7) Only today, I made the mistake of printing something direct from an indymedia page and realised 
> just how long it is.  Drop down menu for this would be MUCH better in my view.
>
> (8); (9): What I said already.
>
> (10) Good idea, and maybe have a link on the next page/s to more examples rather than just linking 
> to one feature.
>   

Yeah there could be pages with just video, one with just audio and so 
forth.

> (11) Does this mean that the regions/topics featured will be those which have most recently added 
> new features to their pages?  

Yes. This is to ensure the startpage is up to date with the latest 
stuff, and also gives all regions (and topics) a chance to appear. There 
are 14/15 regions, 21 topics and 17 action topics just from this year. 
Also it should act as an encouragement for regional sites to work on 
features.

> Will there be a set number of regions and topics (eg 3 of each) or will it be possible that at a given time there might be six regions featured and no topics?

I'd say there are always 3 regions and 3 topics featured.

> Will there be links to all regions/topics from here?  If not, then maybe section 4 should have headings 
> "all regions" and "all topics"?
>   

Yes, this is something to think about. I'd say they can be found in the 
drop down menu (4) where under major reports you can also click through 
to 'past major reports'

> (12) Ah, think that answers one of my questions in 11 above.
>
> (13) How will this be selected? Will it be automatic or need to be updated manually or is that a 
> techie question?
>   

That's up for discussion. I'm not sure what other sites do with this 
feature, such as nyc.indymedia.org

> (14) Is there a possibility that 1 and 14 will have the same content?  If it is, then maybe it's not 
> good use of frontpage space, so can it be avoided somehow?  I may have asked this question because I 
> don't know  the difference between features and major reports. :o)
>   

A feature is when we get together on the mailing lists and the chatroom 
to write a 'feature' article together, which will link to articles from 
the newswire and will appear in the middle column.

Major reports (also known as action topics) is when we collect reports 
from a specific event (such as G8 or Climate Camp) with a limited 
duration and create a special page for them. Have a look at previous 
ones: http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/index.html

They're really like topic pages but for specific actions, events or 
campaigns.

> (15) Selected, or just the most recent?
>   

Most recent, syndicated from the 'other press' newswire, which should be 
articles which have only other press ticked and thus not appear in any 
other topic etc.


Cool, nice one for giving your thoughts !

Cheers, Wietse