[jdev] Proposal : Community site

[Will Kamishlian]

On Thu, 2 Sep 2004 12:59:10 -0500 (CDT)
"Thomas Charron" <tcharron at ductape.net> wrote:

> > I would suggest to build a community site whereas community means for
> > me that it offers users a wide range of services (certainly all built
> > upon jabber if possible) additionally to those end-user informations.
> > Users would a have:
> <SNIP>
> 
>   Nearly every point you listed has, at one point or another, been part
>   of
> Jabber.org.  I just wanted to pipe up and point that out..

It is true that some of the intended content overlaps with what is
currently on jabber.org; however, I think the difference is one of
perspective and intended audience.

Jabber.org is designed to promote Jabber in general (protocols, software,
documentation, etc.) from the perspective of the JSF.  As such, I think
that jabber.org is friendlier to developers than it is to end-users. A
proposed users community, on the other hand, would be designed to promote
end use of Jabber from the perspective of Jabber end-users.

As a model, I would suggest many of the elements found on gentoo.org.  The
Gentoo site is one of the reasons why I am such a big Gentoo fan.  The
site is geared primarily toward end-users, although much developer
information can be found there (if you look for it).

The forums on gentoo.org are especially friendly, and they have done much
to promote a feeling of community among Gentoo users.  This feeling of
community has led to vast improvements in the website over the past few
years as members have stepped up to improve the site in terms of content
and appearance.

To that end, I would suggest the following:

- Build internationalization support in
- Do not use a wiki
- Make it look as professional as possible
- Include discussion forums
- Use a well-known application server

Internationalization support needs to be built in because it will be much
too hard to convert a site at a later date.  I would not suggest a wiki
format because the site should look as professional as possible (to
attract new members), because the site should be stable, and because many
end users are not familiar with wikis.  User comments and suggestions
about the site itself can be discussed in forums, which should be included
to give users a place to share information.  Lastly, I would suggest use
of a well-known application server, such as PHP, because as new members
become active, it will be easier to find people to whom maintenance can be
delegated.

-Will