davorg writes "As mentioned in KM's journal, the Perl Foundation's website has had a makeover. Amongst the new things to be found are the July 2002 newsletter and a nicely produced press kit (in PDF). Communication is key."
Communication
yDNA Barak on 2002-08-03T01:32:01
Now just send that information (via Snail Mail) to everyone who as given to TPF. And maybe a few copies to significant corporations who (aren't being investigated by the SEC and) benefit from using Perl.
Re:Communication
Elian on 2002-08-03T04:07:47
We're working on snail mail contacts. There are serious expense issues ('specially to out-of-country addresses) but things are in the works.
Re:Communication
yDNA Barak on 2002-08-03T04:24:37
Like I said to gnat, let me know what I can do to help. I expect a portion of my donated funds to go toward communication and advocacy/advertising. If it isn't already, I propose making it a TPF budget item.
Re:Communication
There are serious expense issues ('specially to out-of-country addresses) but things are in the works.
Can't we organise some system where we transmit the snail mail to helpful people locally across the net and get them to print and post. Of course, I realise it's not quite the easy...
A few points (maybe pedantic, but ...)
It's great that the Perl Foundation is taking steps to improve its communication
but there a few problems with this new site design.
Here goes:
- Whitespace: when I view the site in Mozilla, around 60% of the space is just plain white. Surely this space could have been used for something? No doubt the intention is that this space will be filled, but it looks a bit plain "as is". See this screen shot for an illustration.
- Some of the "links" in the left-hand column are not actually links at all (e.g. "FAQ", "Meeting Minutes"). Presumably this is because these sections have not been made yet, but it doesn't seem very professional.
- Some of the bullet point options are not gramatically correct given the heading, e.g. "The Perl Foundation coordinates the efforts of numerous grass-roots Perl-based groups including: [...] Holds the copyright on Perl 6 and Parrot." This doesn't make sense.
- Inconsistent capitalisation of acronyms: "Press Kit (pdf)" (emphasis added) and "Syndication (RDF)" (emphasis added).
- Finally, my pet hate: "small fonts disease". Many web sites have text in very small fonts. It's not visible in my screenshot, but the copyright text at the bottom of the page is in a font size < 10 points, making it difficult to read.
I'm sure many will consider my comments slightly pedantic, but IMHO having simple little errors like these can really lower the standard of a site. Does anyone with web design and usability experience wish to comment?
Re:A few points (maybe pedantic, but ...)
KM on 2002-08-04T00:35:26
Thanks for the comments. I'll take them into consideration. Of course, before the site went live a 'beta' version was viewed by many people. As with most projects, if you ask 100 people if they like X, you get 100 different opinions on X. At some point, the design becomes what it is :)
I don't consider any comments pathetic. But, I do think sending comments to me directly (via the address on the website) would be more effective.
