[IAEP] Sugar Labs Website Revamp IRC Mtg 1-8-12 11:00amEST(16:00UTC)

[Christian Marc Schmidt]

Hi all:

We had a meeting today on IRC to discuss the state of the website and in
particular the content. We reviewed the current design (static mocks here:
http://www.christianmarcschmidt.com/projects/sugarlabs), and the document I
put together to help us gather content (http://bit.ly/zaszwW). Several
people attended, but for those of you who couldn't make it, I've attached
the transcript here.

We then had a productive follow-up Skype meeting with Gerald, Caryl, John
and myself, and will reconvene in a few weeks to take stock in where we are.

In the meantime, *please send me any references to content* that we might
use for the website. In particular, we are looking for* video
tutorials*(any language), and materials we could use to put together
*case studies* from Sugar/OLPC deployments.

Thanks in advance!


Christian


On Sun, Jan 8, 2012 at 11:21 AM, Christian Marc Schmidt <
christianmarc at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all
>
> We met today on IRC to discuss the website design and content, but not
> many were present. It is important that we get your feedback as the work on
> the website progresses. Therefor, I am looking to reschedule our meeting to
> another time that works for everyone. See John's original email below: We
> are looking for feedback on the design as well as volunteers to help us
> generate content for the new website.
>
> Does this coming Saturday 14th at 11:00am EST/16:00 UTC work for everyone?
> Or is a time during the week better? Suggestions welcome.
>
> Thank you,
>
>
> Christian
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 4:10 PM, John Tierney <jtis4stx at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  Hello All,
>>
>> Happy New Year! As the New Year starts we are making another effort to
>> restart the
>> Sugar Labs Website Revamp.
>>
>> Designer and community member Christian Marc Schmidt has put together a
>> Design Template along with a
>> Sugar Labs Website Refresh: Content Document. These two documents along
>> with the work and content
>> gathering done by RIT Co-op students Mike Devine and JT Mengel last year
>> will hopefully give us solid basis
>> to start from.
>>
>> Our Kick-off IRC meeting will take place this Sunday Jan. 8th
>> on#sugar-meeting at 11:00amEST(16:00UTC),
>> after the Design Meeting surrounding "Write To Journal Anytime" taking
>> place at 10:00amEST.
>>
>> Please join us if you are available-our key shortcoming last year in our
>> attempt was a lack of content to effectively
>> create the new site. All help is Welcome and needed.
>>
>> Because this is in the Building and Design stage please email me at:
>> jtis4stx at hotmail.com to get links to the preview
>> documents if you are interested in being part of the process.
>>
>> Our First Step is to give Christian the Thumbs Up/Make Enhancements to
>> the Design.
>>
>> Our Second Step will look to get individual community members to take
>> responsibility in "Content Gathering Areas" that flow out of
>> the documents Christian has prepared.
>>
>> Our Third Step is to execute Content Gathering
>>
>> Upon receiving enough content Christian will then commence the build
>> phase.
>>
>> We hope you can join us on Sunday and look forward to working with the
>> community to do this important
>> work. Please let us know of your interest in taking part in this
>> important endeavor.
>>
>> Appreciate the Collaboration!
>> John Tierney
>>
>> P.S. Please get into the hands of those who will be best able to
>> assist-Thank You!
>>
>
>
>
> --
> anything at christianmarcschmidt.com
> 917/ 575 0013
>
> http://www.christianmarcschmidt.com
> http://www.facebook.com/christianmarcschmidt
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/christianmarcschmidt
> http://twitter.com/cms_
> Skype: christianmarcschmidt
>
>


-- 
anything at christianmarcschmidt.com
917/ 575 0013

http://www.christianmarcschmidt.com
http://www.facebook.com/christianmarcschmidt
http://www.linkedin.com/in/christianmarcschmidt
http://twitter.com/cms_
Skype: christianmarcschmidt
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JT4sugar: Please announce yourselves if you are here for Website revamp meeting
[4:04pm] christianmarcsch: +1
[4:04pm] manusheel joined the chat room.
[4:07pm] JT4sugar: Please announce yourselves if you are here for Website revamp meeting
[4:09pm] silbe left the chat room. (Ping timeout: 252 seconds)
[4:10pm] JT4sugar: christianmarcsch, Did you see that Sugar received some good exposure at CES with the XO 3
[4:10pm] manusheel: Greetings. I am Manu Sheel Gupta. Interesting in learning about everything related to Sugar. Did contribute in the past under Walter's (2006-2009) and David's (2010) assistance.
[4:10pm] christianmarcsch: JT4sugar: I didn't see much--do you have a link?
[4:10pm] christianmarcsch: hi manusheel
[4:11pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Hi Chris. Hope you are doing great.
[4:12pm] christianmarcsch: manusheel: very well thanks 
[4:12pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Glad to hear 
[4:12pm] JT4sugar: christianmarcsch, http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/olpcs-xo-3-0-tablet-hands-on/
[4:13pm] christianmarcsch: JT4sugar: very nice
[4:13pm] christianmarcsch: JT4sugar: the spiral works pretty well
[4:13pm] JT4sugar: christianmarcsch, Interview with Ed Mc http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/11/live-from-the-engadget-ces-stage-an-interview-with-olpc/
[4:14pm] christianmarcsch: JT4sugar: i would be interested in testing sugar on a touch screen
[4:14pm] GeraldA joined the chat room.
[4:15pm] Icarito_mobile left the chat room. (Ping timeout: 260 seconds)
[4:16pm] JT4sugar: christianmarcsch, You should email Chris Ball and Adam Holt at OLPC and see if they can get you an XO 3 for testing
[4:16pm] JT4sugar: GeraldA, Hi Gerald
[4:16pm] GeraldA: JT4sugar, Howdy John
[4:16pm] christianmarcsch: hi GeraldA
[4:17pm] ? satellit_ listening but have to leave in 45 min....
[4:17pm] christianmarcsch: JT4sugar: not sure if we have critical mass yet
[4:17pm] JT4sugar: christianmarcsch, If you want to start showing your links and ask for feedback from Gerald and Satellit we can take this into 12noon Skype call
[4:18pm] christianmarcsch: JT4sugar: sounds good
[4:18pm] christianmarcsch: alright folks, thanks for attending
[4:18pm] christianmarcsch: as you know from john's email, we have made progress on the design of a new website for sugar labs
[4:18pm] christianmarcsch: however while the design has progressed, we are still missing much of the content
[4:19pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Can you share the links with me at manu<at>laptop<dot>org? Will be happy to share feedback.
[4:19pm] christianmarcsch: this meeting is a chance to review the design, and then more importantly to discuss where and how we might source the content
[4:19pm] christianmarcsch: manusheel: yes, sure. i will also post right here
[4:19pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Thanks.
[4:20pm] christianmarcsch: please visit this link to view a shared document we have put together for content gathering purposes:
[4:20pm] christianmarcsch: http://bit.ly/zaszwW
[4:20pm] christianmarcsch: and also, here is a link to the latest design comps: http://christianmarcschmidt.com/projects/sugarlabs/
[4:21pm] christianmarcsch: i will start by writing a few words about the design, and then we can go over into the content doc
[4:21pm] christianmarcsch: the driver for the redesign was to focus more on the content
[4:21pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Great. Thanks.
[4:22pm] christianmarcsch: the initial design of the sugar labs website was considered a somewhat temporary solution until we had better content
[4:22pm] christianmarcsch: and therefor it fell short in a number of ways over time
[4:22pm] christianmarcsch: it turned out very text heavy and not particularly current or informative
[4:23pm] GeraldA: I also think it has been burdened by having to serve too many different audiences
[4:23pm] christianmarcsch: these became the goals for the redesign--i led a workshop in new york with mike and JT, two students from RIT, where we discussed how to reshape the website to make it more visual, more current, and more informative
[4:24pm] christianmarcsch: GeraldA: that may also have contributed
[4:24pm] christianmarcsch: the current design starts with a modular homepage (slide 1), that can change dynamically as content is added
[4:25pm] christianmarcsch: the content shown in the current mocks is placeholder
[4:25pm] christianmarcsch: then, if you click ahead to slide 5 (click the right half of the screen to advance)...
[4:26pm] christianmarcsch: ?a series of case studies will showcase the benefits of sugar in the classroom, through real-life case studies
[4:26pm] christianmarcsch: we may mix in a few quotes from educators as well
[4:27pm] christianmarcsch: slide 7 shows a set of the most popular activities, linking off to the wiki for more information on each
[4:27pm] christianmarcsch: (sorry, that was slide 6)
[4:27pm] Ariel_Calzada joined the chat room.
[4:28pm] christianmarcsch: while slide 7 shows a set of video tutorials, many of which already exist, that help understand basic functionality in sugar
[4:28pm] christianmarcsch: there are a few other mainly static text pages that explain the sugar labs mission, and how to get involved in the community
[4:29pm] christianmarcsch: there is also a page where we will aggregate names and images of the people involved
[4:30pm] christianmarcsch: but essentially, the three sections i just described, homepage, case studies, activities, and tutorials, are what we need the most help gathering content for
[4:30pm] christianmarcsch: though also for the static text pages we are looking for help producing the writing and accompanying imagery
[4:30pm] christianmarcsch: i'll pause there for a few minutes before moving on
[4:30pm] christianmarcsch: do you have any thoughts before we look at the content document?
[4:32pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Chris, this is excellent. Will email you the case studies, posters and content we prepared from our side sometime this weekend.
[4:32pm] christianmarcsch: that would be fantastic manusheel
[4:32pm] GeraldA: This looks really good to me.
[4:32pm] GeraldA: I can also help provide content
[4:32pm] christianmarcsch: thanks GeraldA
[4:33pm] christianmarcsch: content is our biggest issue
[4:33pm] GeraldA: Of course
[4:33pm] christianmarcsch: once we have critical mass of content, i will be able to start on the coding
[4:33pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Do we plan to embed videos from website like youtube and others, or upload them?
[4:33pm] GeraldA: I am also thinking that we may invite community produced content
[4:34pm] christianmarcsch: but before we start writing the code for the site, it is important to understand if the content will require any changes to the design
[4:34pm] GeraldA: For example, some of my students have created tutorials
[4:34pm] christianmarcsch: manusheel: we were thinking of embedding them
[4:34pm] christianmarcsch: GeraldA: that would be excellent
[4:34pm] christianmarcsch: GeraldA: in fact, that was always the desire
[4:35pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Great.
[4:35pm] GeraldA: It is my feeling that there is a good deal of content already in existence in the various deployments.
[4:35pm] satellit_: for tutorials look at the annotated set of screen-shots I am working on http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Creation_Kit#Introduction_to_the_Sugar_Interface It is getting a number of hits every day on both english and spanish language versions
[4:35pm] GeraldA: Perhaps we can start to gather that. I would be willing to coordinate.
[4:35pm] christianmarcsch: GeraldA: thanks so much, that would be a great step forward
[4:36pm] christianmarcsch: in addition to the tutorials GeraldA mentions, the case studies are a major component that will require some editorial work
[4:36pm] christianmarcsch: slide 5 has an example
[4:36pm] christianmarcsch: they appear as overlays, with a number of slides
[4:37pm] dirakx joined the chat room.
[4:37pm] GeraldA: Agreed
[4:37pm] christianmarcsch: each slide could be used to tell a story about a particular class, project, activity, or student group
[4:37pm] JT_4sugar joined the chat room.
[4:37pm] christianmarcsch: it is similar in intent to the olpc "stories" section,
[4:37pm] christianmarcsch: (http://one.laptop.org/stories)
[4:37pm] christianmarcsch: though more focused on sugar specifically
[4:38pm] JT_4sugar: christianmarcsch, Would there be a way to build one page around Geralds students content and use that as a driver to collect more community content?
[4:38pm] christianmarcsch: thanks satellit_, taking a look now
[4:40pm] christianmarcsch: so, we can take a look at the shared content document
[4:40pm] JT4sugar left the chat room. (Ping timeout: 260 seconds)
[4:41pm] christianmarcsch: the idea is to create a shared resource that the community can contribute content to
[4:41pm] ? satellit_ sorry I have to go.....will look at backtrace ....new site looks great
[4:41pm] christianmarcsch: so it should serve as a template
[4:41pm] christianmarcsch: thanks satellit_!
[4:41pm] christianmarcsch: here is a link again to the google doc: http://bit.ly/zaszwW
[4:42pm] christianmarcsch: the document begins with some general explanation of design elements
[4:42pm] christianmarcsch: and then goes into sections broken up by pages of the site, following the order of the static mockup slides
[4:43pm] christianmarcsch: the tables that follow the screenshot and intro text for each section are meant to hold the content for each element of the page
[4:44pm] christianmarcsch: in some cases, the table calls are modules (like on the homepage), in other cases they are static content areas (page title, page intro, page body, etc.)
[4:44pm] christianmarcsch: our hope was that we could enlist volunteers to help us populate these sections
[4:48pm] christianmarcsch: have you had a chance to look at the document?
[4:48pm] christianmarcsch: does it make sense? should i give more explanation?
[4:49pm] GeraldA: I think the document is clear
[4:49pm] GeraldA: I think the flow of elements makes sense
[4:49pm] christianmarcsch: great
[4:49pm] GeraldA: and I think the table you provide allows others to contribute
[4:49pm] christianmarcsch: yes, it was the hope that this would serve as a shared document for the community to contribute content
[4:50pm] christianmarcsch: however, i think that we would best assign certain key individuals to sections of the site
[4:50pm] JT_4sugar: It would seem from the lack of feedback from our emails that the communication channels we are using are not getting to the deployments who have the content. When we do Skype maybe Caryl can help get this info to the OLPC world who are not following Sugar Channels
[4:50pm] GeraldA: I agree. There should be owners for the various sections
[4:51pm] GeraldA: JT_4sugar, I would also consider that to many people redesigning a website seems daunting (and rightly so)
[4:51pm] GeraldA: but Christian's model for suggesting and managing content seems reasonable
[4:52pm] manusheel: christianmarcsch - Nice, scalable model to contribute. Like the workflow.
[4:52pm] christianmarcsch: manusheel: great, that's good to hear
[4:52pm] JT_4sugar: GeraldA, What about pushing an Idea to SLOBs to have a paid internship for a college student to act as point person-this is going to take a lot of work and time?
[4:53pm] GeraldA: JT_4sugar. Will do.
[4:53pm] dirakx left the chat room. (Read error: Connection timed out)
[4:53pm] GeraldA: JT_4sugar, You and I also have some university contacts that may be worth pursuing as well.
[4:54pm] dirakx joined the chat room.
[4:54pm] manusheel: JT_4sugar - +1
[4:54pm] manusheel: There are many students, whom we got in touch with during OLPC Boston events, who would be interested in it.
[4:55pm] JT_4sugar: GeraldA, Yes if there was a paid internship to offer up I think finding a person who could truly follow through would be much easier
[4:55pm] christianmarcsch: JT_4sugar: i agree with that
[4:55pm] GeraldA: Here's maybe a stupid question, what about translations of the website. I ask because of our friends in Latin America.
[4:56pm] christianmarcsch: yes, ideally we would support multiple languages
[4:56pm] manusheel: JT_4sugar - In the meantime, if you can prepare a set of responsibilities, I can try and find a Sugar volunteer from SoaS deployments in India to do this.
[4:56pm] JT_4sugar: christianmarcsch, I think we should wrap up and get ready for Skype can you pull a log of this and after Skype send out a summary?
[4:56pm] christianmarcsch: JT_4sugar: sure