[Pydotorg-redesign] idea I had (expressed in the wrong forum)

[Laura Creighton]

I am envisioning the new python website as having a separate section
for IT Managers, Programmers, Educators, Journalists -- what have you --
wherever we want to have a special focused message about how Python is
good for their particular needs. Then I had this idea for the bottom
of the page. Something like:

Journalist? (or whoevers pages we are in at this time).
Help us improve our website. Click here to tell us what worked for you,
what didn't, and your ideas, questions, comments and suggestions.

Then give them a way a) to mail us something and maybe b) a way to answer a
short poll about their experience. THey don't have to do this, but some
people love polls.

What do other people think of this idea?

Laura

[Laura Creighton]

My next idea that should have been here but wasn't, because I didn't
want to bring it up if it was diuscussed in the mail we weren't getting
is making a staging area. This is a complete copy of python.org with
one difference -- anybody can write to it. It also doesn't have to
be mirrored. Then when people such as journalists write articles
they would like to have on python.org, they can just add the links
to the staging area. Later amk or somebody can check and make sure
they aren't links to penis enlargers, and just swap the staged page
for the python.org one.

Knowing that something has changed in the staging area is a job for a bot,
as is checking stale links. (Which also could get fixed by the people
who find them in the staging area, assuming they know where the links
ought to point to). Oleg Broytmann has writen such a bot for the stale
(and changed I think) links see: http://phd.pp.ru/Software/Python/
I have never used it.

The idea is to build a vibrant and dynamic community around the website,
without burdening the site maintainers too much.

Laura

[Dylan Reinhardt]

Post by Laura Creighton
My next idea that should have been here but wasn't, because I didn't
want to bring it up if it was diuscussed in the mail we weren't getting
is making a staging area. This is a complete copy of python.org with
one difference -- anybody can write to it. It also doesn't have to
be mirrored. Then when people such as journalists write articles
they would like to have on python.org, they can just add the links
to the staging area. Later amk or somebody can check and make sure
they aren't links to penis enlargers, and just swap the staged page
for the python.org one.

Rather that reinvent the wheel, why not use an existing, best-of-breed
solution written in Python? Zope + Plone does this exact set of tasks
extremely well.

I previously offered to build a prototype. That offer stands.

Post by Laura Creighton
The idea is to build a vibrant and dynamic community around the website,
without burdening the site maintainers too much.

I couldn't agree more... this is one area where our current approach is
seriously lacking.

FWIW,

Dylan