The new opensuse.org welcome page is terrible. It is impossible to even navigate to these forums from opensuse.org any more because the menu does not link to all the relevant sections. This could be done by adding the same menu to the opensuse.org welcome page, to include the “support” link.
Admitted that IMHO two menu item links have been switched ( Contribute - Conferences ), the links you’re talking about are there. So it is possible. But, feel free to step up and help out to improve things.
When I scroll down to the end of that page, skipping all the singin and dancing nonsense, there are three columns with links:
[Get software](https://software.opensuse.org/)
[Wiki](https://en.opensuse.org/Main_Page)
[Build Service](https://build.opensuse.org/)
[Social Network](https://connect.opensuse.org/)
[News](https://news.opensuse.org/)
[Forums](http://forums.opensuse.org/)
[Shop](http://shop.opensuse.org/)
[Blogs](http://lizards.opensuse.org/)
[EMAIL="press@opensuse.org"] Press [/EMAIL]
Forums amongst them.
Down scrolling to the end of a page to find the relevant links, in the same time skipping all sorts of ****, is done often by me on many home pages of many organisations and companies.
You don’t even have to scroll, the topmenu items can be used to navigate. But, like I already wrote, it seems that “Contribute” and “Conferences” are switched. I’ll get in touch with somebody to have this fixed. Or fix it myself if I’m allowed.
Correcting myself here. The two items are not switched.
Like Henk says, this kind of layout is quite common these days. Websites need to be working on different kinds of devices, various resolutions and so on. Footers are mostly used to provide detailed navigation.
And when I use the search function of my browser, assuming that somewhere there will be a link to “Forums”, i will land there at the end. No need to read much of the rest ;).
Ah, I see it now, thanks! I have never seen this type of layout before and would never have scrolled down to the bottom past all that distracting flashy stuff to get to navigation links. I think it would be simpler and more intuitive with more standard drop-down links at the top.
I am glad to meet someone who also believes in straight to the point web pages. I am also afraid we are a minority.
Hey hcvv:
>I am also afraid we are a minority.
Me! Me!
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Kim - 1/10/2017 1:48:23 PM
You may know I have created some Short Explanations in Dutch about Unix/Linux in the Dutch section here. I have the same articles as PDFs on a website of my own:
http://hcvv.home.xs4all.nl/KorteUitleg/
IMHO just what should be there (when you are able to read and understand Dutch), but at least one person we both know laughed: Looks like 30 years ago. I take that as a positive remark
Count me as part of that “minority”. Since I also do websites, I see that as a design flaw in the openSUSE site. However, I have stayed away from commenting on that since the new design was implemented: Someone put their heart and soul into the design and I did not want to take a chance on hurting feelings. I certainly had no urge to go there, try to get signed in with the privileges, and “fix” it … that can cause divisions.
Do we agree that a “Support” or “Links” or the like in the top menu, doing much the same as the other ones, but to the footer, would do the job? IMHO that would fix the issue. The redesign was necessary since the “old” main page did not render well on mobile devices. Like you, from what I read, I noticed but waited for others to complain or comment, for the sake of people putting their love for the openSUSE Project in it. I’d love to see that kind of attitude more present, instead of the “How the heck …”, “Cannot even …” etc. comments. There’s a huge difference between the “Lousy, buggy, stinks, does not work as I want it” approach and the “getting there, room for improvement” one. The first is a negative judgement, the latter IMNSHO an open invitation as in “Wanna help out”.
In my mind, the only thing that would improve that page is it being two
columns instead of one so I don’t have to scroll. I really think
people should look to Google as an example of how to build an effective
home page. I do hope this trend of extremely large text and graphics
scrolling on forever as a home page is just a passing fad that will go
away soon.
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Kim - 1/11/2017 8:03:49 AM
… you could also check my website’s home page.
… mind you, I have not done anything worthwhile on that site in a long time.
I had a discussion with a web designer 5 or 6 years ago where he said
in essence that content on a web page doesn’t matter. Design is
everything. It’s the web site design that determines the success of
the site. The content on the site is secondary. I told him that was
the biggest load of BS I’d ever heard. I’ve seen web design trends
come and go and I still think a plain site with concise content and
links in a minimalistic design is the best. But apparently I’m in the
miniority.
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Kim - 1/12/2017 8:21:01 AM
You are very much welcome Kim. :shake:
Glad to have you as a member of our group.lol!
If our minority keeps growing, will it be a bigger minority than the majority?
On Thu, 12 Jan 2017 15:26:11 +0000, kgroneman wrote:
> I had a discussion with a web designer 5 or 6 years ago where he said in
> essence that content on a web page doesn’t matter. Design is
> everything. It’s the web site design that determines the success of the
> site. The content on the site is secondary. I told him that was the
> biggest load of BS I’d ever heard. I’ve seen web design trends come
> and go and I still think a plain site with concise content and links in
> a minimalistic design is the best. But apparently I’m in the
> miniority.
You said “BS”?
I think whether the design or content is primary depends on the nature of
the site - if it’s a marketing site, then design is everything. But if
it’s a site with important content (say documentation or community
interaction), then the design is secondary so long as the design
facilitates access to the content. If the design gets in the way of
access to the content, then it’s important - but not in a good way.
I see more and more sites (and have a couple that I have some
responsibility for) that have nav links at the bottom, and the purpose
for doing that is so that the content has more real estate. A big
toolbar at the top of the page with lots of options gets in the way of
content usability.
Jim
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Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C
I respectfully disagree. All too often I find sites with superb layout, design and graphics that seem to answer “Why should I buy your product?” with “Because our website is gorgeous”, yet they utterly fail answer the more pertinent questions “What does your product do?” and “Why should I buy your product.” In fact I even see some that fail to answer “What is your product?”
What is the purpose of marketing if the product isn’t the main focus of the site?
I much prefer an attractive, maybe even striking site design, but design should never be the primary feature of a “Marketing Site”. Any marketing effort, be it a website, a TV ad, a simple pamphlet or a jingle that does not create sales has missed the target.