"Getting Started" Page Rework Proposal

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Hi everyone! A while ago I started reviewing some of the documentation pages and worked a bit on the Getting Started page.

I wanted to share with you my conclusions and ask for your opinions.

Proposed changes:

  • Introductory paragraph should be shorter.
    • A version of the following could be used: “Welcome! Regardless of if you need a collaborative intranet, a knowledge base, a CMS, a Website Creation tool or an entirely different thing, XWiki’s got you covered.”
  • The download link has low visibility. It should be remade intro a button that sits in the upper part of the page.
  • Since people are looking to get started with XWiki, they may want to know more about other features present in the software. An outline button that takes the user to the features page could be placed next to the download button.
    • (If other means of redirecting users to the download and the features pages are identified, those could be used instead)
  • The numbered guide is redundant since part of it is also available in the image. (e.g.: editing and page creation is also explained in the screenshot).
  • Current image on the page should be updated. More images could also be added to better showcase the capabilities of XWiki.
  • A video/gif of the software could also be used instead or alongside the images.
  • The current notice at the end of the page that redirects users to support is helpful, but it’s current form isn’t ideal. It links to the support page on XWiki.org, and then to two headers from the same page. One link is enough.
    • Additionally, it could also redirect users to the contributing page, and encourage them to get involved.
    • A version of the following text could be used: “Need more help or you’d like to get in touch? Please visit the Support page. Want to get involved? Please visit the Contributing page.”
  • There should be less text over all on the page. At the moment text is used to introduce links to other resources. Those links could be grouped in categories and put inside cards.

Proposed categories & links:

That’s about it regarding my opinions. Now I’m interested in what you think!

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Hello, thank you @gabrielc to work on this! Let me answer to some points below.

I think the English phrasing could be improved “Regardless of if” is quite heavy :wink:

However the most important part to me is that:

  • This page is not a page to explain what XWiki is. The home page of XWiki.org is there for that. This is a page to get you started, not to explain why you should use XWiki.
  • I don’t like that we do too much “bad marketing”, like using exclamation marks, or arguable sentences like “XWiki’s got you covered”. This is of course not true, there are plenty of cases where XWiki doesn’t have you covered. I’d like that we remain factual.

There’s already a huge “Download” button in the upper part of the page. No need to add another one.

This is not the primary goal of this page which is to get you started, not to learn about extra features of XWiki. It’s supposed to show how the very basics of getting started with XWiki. There’s already a link to the features at the bottom, which is the right place IMO.

I disagree. Without the numbers in the text part, you cannot reference the numbers in the image. And no, “editing” is not explained in the screenshot. You can clearly see that the text under point 2 is a lot more explanatory than the “Edit” button text from the image (if that’s what you meant by “already explained”).

Yes, it’s missing the new “notification” content menu.

However I don’t agree about adding more images. Again this page is only for getting started. Each doc for each feature is supposed to have screenshots and text to explain how these features work.

Again, I don’t think this would be good:

  • It’s very hard to maintain
  • It doesn’t bring much.

Note that we already have a video section that we’re failing to maintain at https://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Documentation/UserGuide/ (they’re all outdated!).

Sounds good to me.

I don’t agree, this is not the purpose of the getting started page. We already have a “Contribute” top level menu + in the footer + in lots of other places.

Globally I don’t like to make our pages harder to read and more complex by adding tons of links not related to the topic at hand.

Hard to reply without seeing what you mean. But I don’t think we should add what you proposed as it’s way too complex for a getting started page. You’re trying to stuff too many things on this page. It’s not a user reference doc! We have the user documentation page for this, especially the features page…

TBH I’m not sure to understand why you’re focusing on this page. It’s one of our best page IMO (it just needs a new screenshot and new number for the “notifications” menu). OTOH almost all our other pages require a lot more work than the getting started page :slight_smile:

Said differently, I think you’re trying to solve small problems when we have a lot of larger problems:

  • outdated videos, decide what to do with them
  • Loading...
  • And plenty more.

I’m sorry for my feedback which can be felt as negative. Please prove me wrong if I said some things not correct in my replies. I appreciate a lot that you want to improve xwiki.org, I really do. What I propose to you if you want, is to do a brainstorming together to see the places and domains that we need to improve the most on xwiki.org, and so that you could focus on them, WDYT?

Thanks again

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This reply might be the shortest. But I assume improvements may be started for the “Getting Started” space by replacing old images/videos or extending them by uploading more for the best first user experience with XWiki.

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Hi Vincent!

I think this would be the best course of action as well. I’ll follow up privately so we can schedule a meeting.
And thanks for all the feedback as is!