New Mozilla.org Website Beta

Discussion of general topics about Mozilla Firefox
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Greg K Nicholson
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Post by Greg K Nicholson »

DWright wrote:Whilst browsing through bugzilla, I came across http://fxfeeds.mozillazine.org/ which in turn points to http://website-beta.mozilla.org/product ... marks.html

RSS comes in many flavours, including "RSS 0.9, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, and Atom

Atom isn't RSS.
Yamaguchi
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Joined: August 14th, 2004, 9:16 pm
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Re: the site should be self-complete.

Post by Yamaguchi »

MXN wrote:
  • Satoru, maybe you could contact the person who maintains the <a href="http://ryuzi.dyndns.org/mozillazine/html/modules/news/" rel="bookmark" hreflang="ja" title="mozillaZine 日本語版 – mozillaZine 和訳">Japanese translation of mozillaZine</a>. The site also has <a href="http://ryuzi.dyndns.org/mozillazine/html/backend.php" rel="bookmark" hreflang="ja" title="mozillaZine 日本語版">an RSS feed</a>.

After posting my previous message, I've realized that, too. :wink: I think the team will be able to solve the problem.
MXN wrote:
  • Are there any Japanese-language blogs about Mozilla out there? If there are, maybe you can set up some kind of Planet Mozilla, Japanese Edition.

That could infringe the trademark policy ruled by Mozilla Foundation for localized web site, couldn't it? Although we need to see how Mozilla Foundation will regulate the localization of the web site, we will have a talk on this within Mozilla Japan how to sort this out.

Thanks,

YAMAGUCHI Satoru
The Japanese Translation Team
andkon
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Post by andkon »

Here's some new text the website-beta has:

"Firefox is the safer, faster, better web browser with exciting new features such as tabbed browsing and integrated search. Get rid of pop-ups, spyware, viruses and other nuisances. “Firefox: wired. IE: expired.” - Wired, Sep 04"

Safer, faster, better? Come on now, that sounds kinda weak... This phrase also links to the products page, which essentially has the same huge color block that says: "Firefox 0.9 is the award winning preview of Mozilla's next generation browser. Firefox empowers you to browse faster, more safely, and more efficiently than with any other browser."

What's the need for 1) bad phrases and 2) linking to essentially the same giant block?
Greg K Nicholson
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Post by Greg K Nicholson »

"safer, faster, better" - comparitives need to be "than" something specific. Simply "safer, faster, better" suggests "than everything", so I'd go for "safest, fastest, best".
Greg K Nicholson
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Post by Greg K Nicholson »

PS: the Firefox Why and Camino pages still don't have the new (or any) template.
andkon
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Post by andkon »

Greg K Nicholson wrote:PS: the Firefox Why and Camino pages still don't have the new (or any) template.


I would also suggest to completely redo the entire text on the why page, as there's too many meaningless phrases.

I did a critique of an older why page, though I never got it online until now. I hope good use of it can be made now: http://www.andkon.com/stuf/firefoxwhy/Firefox.html

(It is outdated, but still has a few good pointers.)
idearius
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Consistency - Consistency - Consistency

Post by idearius »

andkon wrote:I don't want to be rude, but I think that Mozilla.org needs to focus first on content (replacing text, creating flash demos, making an overal userfriendly atmosphere, etc) before it creates a new design. As <a href="http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=116174">I said</a>, making a new design before the content is finalized is like painting a house before the walls are put in.


Exactly! It's ok to aim at improving things, but it's of no use to start from zero every time. Not only you loose much of the accumulated knowledge, but you force users to waste their time learning the same thing over and over again.

Usability is helped by familiarity, and familiarity is key on any marketing effort.

A 2 or 3 year old design could deserve a radical makeover, but not one that's less than a year old. If you're constantly making changes to the website, make them gradual, letting users find their way with ease. Marketing people at Mozilla surely agree that you must not change the company logo or colors often. If they are wisely chosen, they last for years. This time, not only the Mozilla Suite logo was changed, but the general website palette was completely substituted:

Image vs Image

Image vs Image

A few more things could be improved (like screen real estate and graphics usage), but the above mentioned are the most critical issues I believe must be addressed in order to help finally consolidate the Mozilla brand.
Last edited by idearius on November 7th, 2008, 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Gen
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SunBird screenshots missing

Post by Gen »

dmellem
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Post by dmellem »

I'm not sure my comments will be seen 12 pages in, but I don't care for the new web site. There seems to be less information on the main page and it doesn't scale to the full screen width (50%+ of it is blank!!). My biggest complaint is the big gaps and waste of screen.

The older designs were easier to use and didn't force me to a 70em screen when the actual width of my screen is nearer to 160em at 100% zoom.

-Dan
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Foxtrot
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Post by Foxtrot »

cfrachel wrote:Marketing people at Mozilla surely agree that you must not change the company logo or colors often. If they are wisely chosen, they last for years. This time, not only the Mozilla Suite logo was changed, but the general website palette was completely substituted.

Then again, this is a crucial period in time for Mozilla. They have to make ready for the release of Firefox 1.0, which should be ready sometime this year. I feel safe in expressing my opinion that the old site wasn't too good, and that a change before Firefox 1.0 was in order so as to not scare off new endusers that have become interested in the product.
andkon wrote:As I said, making a new design before the content is finalized is like painting a house before the walls are put in.

I agree that this is very important, as I've expressed before. However, is a design is flexible (as any design should be IMO) you will be able to insert the content afterwards and it will turn out good anyway. Basically, good content and design shouldn't have to be tailored to each other, but should fit seamlessly. That way, it shouldn't matter which comes first.

As for content, I'd suggest making a new topic about it (maybe I will?) but here are some pointers:<ul>
<li>Make sure the enduser understands that Mozilla.org distributes free software, and that donating, or buying products, are not necessary in order to get the full product.</li>
<li>Be truthful. If Mozilla.org claims that Firefox is "faster" or "fastest", then you'll find that there are, in fact, three browsers claiming this: Opera, Avant, and hypothetically Firefox.</li>
<li>Focus on the good bits. Point out that you have a support forum, that you have extensions (show the best/most popular ones), and that Firefox is free.</li>
<li>Encourage feedback to the browser, so that the user feels involved and appreciated. Don't make it too obtrusive or persuasive, , but point it out as an option, and respond politely, not with "I'd rather DIE than implement this in Firefox".</li>
<li>Show the features rather than talk about them. For all I know, flash demos could be on the way. If they aren't, that's a huge mistake. If you don't like flash demos, then that's fine. Use images instead.</li>
</ul>
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." -Douglas Adams
andkon
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Post by andkon »

Foxtrot wrote:<ul><li>Show the features rather than talk about them. For all I know, flash demos could be on the way. If they aren't, that's a huge mistake. If you don't like flash demos, then that's fine. Use images instead.</li>
</ul>


Oh, they're coming, though I believe Andkon.com will be the first to showcase them ;-)
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