Re: redesigning www.php.net

First, I've read the few responses to this thread already... there are some good ideas in there. What follows is an email I just wrote on a flight to Austin for SXSW. I'm posting this on the php-webmaster list so it's in one place, but let me know if this belongs anywhere else as well. ------------------------------------------------------------ I'm very excited to potentially work with you all on improving PHP.net. I'll try to give a little bit of background and then get into what I hope we can achieve in this iteration. I'll include headings, so you can skip over anything you're not interested in. MY BACKGROUND My name is Daniel Burka and I'm currently the creative director at Digg.com and a partner in a company called silverorange. I wouldn't call myself a developer, but I've been working with and around PHP for many years, first at silverorange and of course at Digg. I've been a user interface designer for about 12 years and I've done many types of work. Around 2005, I was part of the Mozilla visual identity team that designed the Firefox brand and I was primarily responsible for redesigning the Mozilla.org website. Recently, I've been the primary UI designer of Digg from very early on and I did the UI work for a social site called Pownce. PRIORITIES (AS I SEE THEM) I'm glad Philip laid out the basic priorities for the redesign. I've learned a previous group worked on a redesign fairly recently that was essentially a visual redesign of the site – I want to avoid doing only visuals. At the same time, I want to set an achievable scope. The site hasn't been significantly changed in quite some time and if we try to do everything at once, it will be a long time yet until changes are made. I strongly suggest an iterative approach. So, what are the priorities? (in order of importance) 1) Refocus the interface: I believe the current site fails both new visitors and advanced developers. Let's find out why they come to the site and focus on their primary pathways. 2) Simplify the navigation/architecture: Too many links, too complicated. 3) Rework basic copywriting in major areas: More concise, more focused. 4) Establish formatting standards: As much as possible institute reusable visual elements and set standards. 5) Improve the aesthetic: More timeless, more spacing, more inviting. The visual design should support the content. NEXT STEPS 1) Start a communal area for communicating the project. The PHP Wiki? 2a) Start a research phase to find out how people currently use PHP.net. For instance, I'd like to run a survey on the PHP.net homepage for a few days and I'd like to delve into the site stats as much as makes sense. 2b) Get feedback from current site contributors and users. What things have you/they always wanted? 3) Settle on a _limited_ scope for the redesign. Include follow-up stages so good ideas are not discarded. 4) Start working on user interface concepts and gather feedback. 5) .... we'll go into detail as we get here. FOOTNOTES Phew, that's a long email. If you guys aren't ready to boot me from the ship, then I hope this is a conversation-starter and we can begin those next steps (or others if you have suggested changes). This is a very exciting project, I can't wait to get started. As I've explained to Philip, I'm fortunately/unfortunately very busy with my commitments to Digg. I'll do my best to be timely, but I apologize in advance if my responses are slow in coming. Cheers! Daniel

Hello everyone, The site (www.php.net) needs redesigned, mainly from a usability point of view. I propose we have Daniel Burka lead this charge because he has the experience and desire to do so. Daniel will introduce himself later but for now let's all think about the site and what we want it to do. This process will introduce changes to how the site behaves, so let's keep open minds and have everything on the table. For example, we'll be asking ourselves what's the main purpose of the site and what do we love/hate currently... like is information overload within the sidebars good? And while colors, rounded corners, <blink>, and awesome favicons will be discussed this seems secondary but of course important too. About a year ago we did briefly go through this process but didn't really focus on usability or desires and let others simply propose facelifts. So, although I'm not suggesting we tear the site apart or that it sucks, the times have changed and we can do better. What does everyone think? Start thinking, and please do not crosspost to other lists. Regards, Philip --PHP Webmaster List Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php