Subject: Re: [vserver] Roadmap and Future ...
From: Dallas Kashuba <dallas@dreamhost.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2009 17:30:42 -0800


On Feb 28, 2009, at 1:09 AM, Herbert Poetzl wrote:

> On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 11:35:22PM +0000, Ed W wrote:
>> Dallas Kashuba wrote:
>>> Assuming, an updated website is deemed worth the time and effort  
>>> (I'm
>>> not convinced it is, but it couldn't hurt)...
>>
>> Everyone seems to be trying to redevelop what site we have already  
>> - I
>> think I was misunderstood on this point.  Please lets keep all our
>> current docs, but add a fancy front end for all the "what is  
>> vserver all
>> about" type content..
>>
>>> I agree that wordpress might be a good choice for the basic website.
>>> We are using it for the website of our own open-source project,  
>>> using
>>> an 'off the shelf' theme with some minor modifications:
>>>
>>> http://ceph.newdream.net/
>
> please don't get me wrong, the input is very appreciated,
> but I don not see that a great difference between this
> site/page and http://linux-vserver.org, except for the
> fact that the page is way to long ...
>
> I see a simple (granted nicely colored) icon, the sidebar
> with a lot of (partially unsorted) links and a content
> area, here containing postings (for us it contains the
> versions, which might not be the best idea, I agree)


I'll just say up front I don't have any issues with the aesthetic look  
of the current website. Somebody mentioned wordpress and I offered up  
the ceph page as an example of another open source project with a  
working wordpress site with a theme, that simply links to a mediawiki  
install.  A theme with wordpress gives you an instant 'design' without  
much or any work.

The actual length of the page is entirely based on whether or not you  
default to showing the 'blog' portion of the site or another page, and  
of course you can choose how many posts to show on the page at once  
and you can decide how much of each post is shown.  All that said,  
it's pretty much the 'blog way' to show a lot of content on each page  
because bandwidth is now cheap and time spent clicking links is not.   
It used to bug me but I've either become complacent or I've come over  
to agree... I'm not sure which.


>>> We are just linking out to the mediawiki wiki rather than making any
>>> attempt to incorporate it into wordpress.
>
>> Cool - do you have the ability to offer vserver something similar for
>> the front site?
>
> so, what am I missing here?
> this is curiosity not sarcasm, really :)
>
> TIA,
> Herbert


One key aspect of having a 'news' or 'blog' section front and center  
is it gives the immediate impression that the project is making  
regular progress.  I think that's a good thing, in general.

That can be done entirely within the existing mediawiki install,  
though.  I feel like all of this energy people are building up would  
be best put towards just updating and organizing the existing wiki,  
continuing the importing of the old wiki, and other things of that  
nature.


You may not be really missing anything.  I don't personally think the  
linux-vserver.org site needs to change the software its using  
(mediawiki is quite nice, in my opinion) or its visual look.  I do  
think the content could be organized better, but I'm also not sure  
that in of itself would really do anything much to solve the financial  
situation you started this thread with.  I guess the theory is a more  
modern website would attract more users, which would attract more  
developers, which would help you keep the project moving forward.

All that said, I think it's possible that a different website engine  
would perhaps provide a more flexible platform and potentially allow  
more people to keep the site updated and 'fresh' feeling.

	Dallas