new Home Page text?

[Sean DALY]

Yes, I will look at every page again thanks

I thought of another benefit we might want to work in: the number of
languages. Language availability is often the first question asked in
non- en locales.


On Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 11:33 PM, Walter Bender <walter.bender at gmail.com> wrote:
> I just sent Christian slight changes to Sean's rewrite. I'll be
> looking at the rest of the pages over the next 24 hours as well. Sean,
> would you have time to do the same?
>
> -walter
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 1, 2009 at 2:28 PM, David Farning <dfarning at sugarlabs.org> wrote:
>> Please let me know, if and when you want me to push changes to www-testing.sl.o.
>>
>> I will be offline most of the week, but I think I will be able to:
>> 1.  Create git repo for the landing page. I think the convention is
>> slo-www at git.sugarlabs.org.
>> 2.  Give Christian push access to sunjammer.
>>
>> david
>>
>> 2009/2/28 Sean DALY <sdaly.be at gmail.com>:
>>> Thanks for this Walter
>>>
>>> The key word for me in your message is "invitation"... the goal of the
>>> static site has to be not only to explain the Sugar project, but to
>>> invite parents and teachers to try it. In a certain sense, if we can
>>> get prospective deployers to install and try Sugar and have positive
>>> experiences with kids, the platform itself will be the invitation to
>>> go further and deploy for active use.
>>>
>>> What usually works for a site like this is:
>>> 1) A big friendly logo, with slogan summing up the project in several words.
>>> 2) A big fat button for 1-click download, often dynamically adjusted
>>> to the client platform when technically feasible.
>>> 3) A few concise phrases communicating the benefits, often indicating
>>> the benefits exclusive to the project.
>>> 4) Easy-to-find links to more in-depth information, about us,
>>> alternate downloads, wiki, support, contact, etc.
>>>
>>> What may be different about our site is that the kid-to-grownup ratio
>>> may be higher... so presenting more like a book does makes sense I
>>> think
>>>
>>> From a marketing standpoint, where is Sugar in relation to the above?
>>> 1) The logo work is ready (yay!) and the work of building up the
>>> brand's values is before us.
>>> 2) We're not yet able to offer 1-click download with ease-of-use
>>> simple enough for most people :-(
>>> 3) However, we *can* work up the few concise phrases showing how
>>> special Sugar is, and which will lead into the site. I think the
>>> static homepage works as it is, but could be even more effective with
>>> fewer phrases. Some switching around may be better (This is where your
>>> suggestions come in, see below). A key component is the call to
>>> action, (which really is just a call to click further into the site
>>> and ultimately tru Sugar).
>>> 4) And, navigation just needs some improvement to link to the existing
>>> content in particular the rich wiki.
>>>
>>>
>>> I like the "Sugar Learning Platform" phrase, but I still think we need
>>> to do star marketing on the Activities. (Capitalizing the word is one
>>> way to confer that special status; there will surely be other ways.)
>>> Sugar's Activities will sell the platform, in my view.
>>>
>>>
>>> If I could take inspiration from what you wrote... trying to be
>>> concise, inviting, factual yet optimistic, with call to action:
>>>
>>> ***************************
>>> The award-winning Sugar Learning Platform promotes collaborative
>>> learning through Activities which encourage critical thinking, the
>>> heart of a quality education.
>>>
>>> Designed from the ground up especially for children, Sugar and its
>>> Activities offer a real alternative to traditional office-metaphor
>>> business software.
>>>
>>> Sugar is the core component of a worldwide effort to provide every
>>> child with equal opportunity for a quality education and is used every
>>> school day by almost one million children in over 40 countries.
>>>
>>> Originally developed for the One Laptop Per Child XO-1 netbook, Sugar
>>> now runs on most computers. Try it with a child today - it's free!
>>> ***************************
>>>
>>> Is something like this what we want, instead of the existing homepage text?
>>>
>>> As an idea, text like the above on the homepage... and the exisiting
>>> homepage text folded into the about/overview page?
>>>
>>> In my view, this choice is not critical (yet) but it would be great if
>>> the site could be live for the 0.84 launch when we will likely have
>>> higher-than-usual educator visits with our planned PR push.
>>>
>>> thanks
>>>
>>> Sean
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 3:36 PM, Walter Bender <walter.bender at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> In keeping with some of your thoughts about reworking the home page, I
>>>> hobbled together some new text--hopefully not all meaningless jargon.
>>>> Hey marketing team, we could use some feedback.
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>>
>>>> The Sugar Learning Platform promotes collaborative learning through
>>>> rich-media expression. It is an alternative to the ubiquitous
>>>> "desktop" metaphor that has dominated computing since the 1970s. (We
>>>> are motivated in part by the observation that children are not office
>>>> workers and nothing in their future will resemble office work from
>>>> 30-years ago.) Sugar is the core component of a worldwide effort to
>>>> provide every child with the opportunity for a quality education—it is
>>>> currently used by almost one-million children worldwide.
>>>>
>>>> Many schools have invested in computers for their classrooms and an
>>>> increasing number of households also have computers, but to date the
>>>> impact of this investment on our children's learning has been
>>>> marginal. With the Sugar Learning Platform, we can recoup that
>>>> investment by engaging children in the "hard fun" of critical
>>>> thinking, which is at the heart of a quality education. Originally
>>>> developed for the One Laptop per Child XO-1 netbook, Sugar is now runs
>>>> on most computers.
>>>>
>>>> [some statement to invite them in to the site to learn more?]
>>>>
>>>> ---
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -walter
>>>> --
>>>> Walter Bender
>>>> Sugar Labs
>>>> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/marketing
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Marketing mailing list
>>> Marketing at lists.sugarlabs.org
>>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/marketing
>>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Walter Bender
> Sugar Labs
> http://www.sugarlabs.org
>