[VisCom] Update on brochures

[Frank Warmerdam]

Jason Birch wrote:
> B really.
> 
> A new user browsing the OSGeo site needs to be able to quickly see what
> projects are available and what they do, look at some case studies, read
> community bios, etc, before delving deeper into the projects that might
> meet their business needs.
> 
> By just providing links to the project home pages, we are exposing the
> users to many different site structures, and are dumping them out of the
> main osgeo site before they get a chance to get a good overview of what is
> available.  Creating approved summaries for each project--with a links to
> the main project page, related case studies, demos,  and community
> bios--allows us to ensure that users are given a consistent and fair
> representation of our projects, while allowing individual projects to
> structure their main web presense as best fits their needs.
> 
> The medium-term goal is to have the front page be focused on areas that
> potential users might be interested in, and give them paths through the
> site tailored to their needs.  We're trying to flesh this out here: 
> http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/WebCom_OSGeo_Site_Focus
> 
> ESRI actually does this fairly well in the "GIS: Getting Started" section
> on their main page: http://esri.com/  I have no problem stealing good
> ideas... as long as they're not patented :)

Jason,

I'm all for preparing introductory information that introduces the relative
roles and positioning of the different projects, but I think project specific
case studies, and community bios (not exactly sure what this is) belong on
the project pages rather than some high osgeo level pages that some direct
visitors to the project might never see.

It may be that the various projects can be encouraged to follow some
best practices to improve navigation from the project run main page.

Best regards,
-- 
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGF, http://osgeo.org