www.linuxmce.org improvements

[davegravy]

There are a few grammar and spelling errors that take away from the professional look and feel of the page. I'd like to suggest a few corrections, to whom can I send them?

[Murdock]

Here's what i've seen:

• Logins do not function after registration
• SVN explanation is blank http://www.linuxmce.org/index.php/developer/svn

[davegravy]

Ok, well we can just do a thread here for edits I suppose. Here are my suggestions.

Main Page

Gaming:

Remember the good old 80's? Remember the arcade games and long nights with your buddies? Where have all the console games gone? Just sit down in front of your Media Director, have it call your buddies, and start playing all the old stuff in any room you like....just like in the good old 80's.

Telecom:

(I think this section needs to focus on the advantages of the system over a POTS that most home users are used to... below is just a suggestion)

Wouldn't it be great if your telephone system would know if you are home, which room you are in, whether or not you want to accept phone calls, and cater to your preferences?! Wouldn't it be great if you could block calls from persistent telemarketer phone numbers, or take advantage of cheap long distance rates available in a multitude of Voice Over IP plans? With LinuxMCE all of this is possible, and more.

Climate:

You are watching your favorite movie and it is getting hotter and hotter. Let LinuxMCE control your temperature and your blinds automatically. In the morning, have your blinds go up, and in the evening, automatically down. With LinuxMCE, you can say goodbye to having too much sun in your Living Room while watching TV.

Lighting:

You've had a hard day, and have finally settled on the sofa for the night and begun listening to your favorite music. You forgot to turn of the lights in the garden, frontdoor, or 3rd floor of your flat? Hey, it doesn't matter! With a touch of your cellphone, you can control every light in your house.

Security:

Ever wanted to know what your kids are doing when you are not at home? Do you want to be notified whenever someone stumbles into your garden? Someone is at your front door, but you are not around: Wouldn't it be great if you could control your home as if you were there?

Media:

Store your audio and video collection in one central location on your home network and access it from any Media Director in your home, or stream it to any location over the internet. Record TV shows for later viewing. Watching a romantic movie in your living room with your loved one and want to move into your bedroom, but your hands are occupied with red wine? LinuxMCE detects the movement of the cell phone in your pocket, and your media instantly appears on your bedroom television exactly where you left off.

[jimbodude]

This website design has a lot more potential than the last one, but as davegravy mentions, it looks ridiculous with many small errors.

In addition to davegravy's suggestions I'd like add:
- Links to FAQ and other "Getting Started" type documentation on the download page instead of just a link to 0710 - in fact, it might be better to re-title "Download" to "Getting Started"
- Some design work on the News page - it looks a little off in Firefox 3.5, haven't tested others
- On the main "features" page, each category should be a link to the specific information
- The development needs a similar red-ink treatment to davegravy's work on the main page
- The developer/svn page needs to be written, or at least give a link to the repository
- More screenshots - a similar number to the videos section, possibly user-contributed

[jimbodude]

...
What I am wondering most about is the definitive requirement of two NICs - one for the internal LAN and one for the external LAN. There is no doubt about it in the wiki.
Only the FAQ mention that it might be possible to have the core with only one NIC.
...

...
I only needed the PC to act as a "media player" and not have any other functionality. I do not need it to serve files nor monitor anything. Also, that board only has one NIC.

...
Someone suggested that I use 804 because the machine was new and do a CD install.  I was able to get 804 installed and copied the ISO to the hard drive.  I did a fresh install of the two discs for both the 32 and 64 bit versions.  Every time I try to install LinuxMCE, I get an error message that says that the install failed because CD1 could not be cached. 
...

hmm, why do people not read the #@$(@$( directions?
...
You guys need to actually need to:

(1) read the directions
(2) actually understand what this system is meant to do. It is a smart home platform.

-Thom

The reason these fundamental network and setup issues are coming up often again is probably because the information is buried on the website.  The "Getting Started" stuff needs to be at the forefront with the "What LinuxMCE does for you" stuff.  Go to the website, pretend you're a noob - try to get information about installing LinuxMCE - all you get is a link to the 0710 installer, no FAQ, no Network Setup.

Before the new website, this stuff was right in your face - since the main page was basically a mask for the wiki.  Now the site actually has content on it - and it's much nicer - but it buries the important information which still lives on the wiki.

[dlewis]

I will work with Murcel (current site director) on making the changes mentioned above, along with other updates that need to be made.

[murcel]

Please can someone look through the site, and correct all the grammar things. as i am not a native, please send corrections to me and i will update asap.

thx
murcel

[murcel]

Here's what i've seen:

• Logins do not function after registration
• SVN explanation is blank http://www.linuxmce.org/index.php/developer/svn

Murdock,

the logins are func. but currently there is no bridge between forum, wiki and website. that will be corrected in the future, as we need a update of the forum software.
and i am currently working on an more interactive part of the site, where users can post their own content. just stay tuned

[murcel]

Ok, well we can just do a thread here for edits I suppose. Here are my suggestions.

Main Page

Gaming:

Remember the good old 80's? Remember the arcade games and long nights with your buddies? Where have all the console games gone? Just sit down in front of your Media Director, have it call your buddies, and start playing all the old stuff in any room you like....just like in the good old 80's.

Made the changes.

[davegravy]

Cool. Should do fine for the time being, but it would be great if we could get someone with more advertising/marketing prowess to take a pass at it down the road.

[dlewis]

<------- Advertising and Marketing Reviewer

[jimbodude]

Yes, that is much better Murcel, thanks.

My biggest concern is quickly directing people towards "Getting Started" type information - the site does not do that now.

I'd suggest adding links to the FAQ and installation guide from the Downloads page at a minimum - right now, users are directed to the Mirrors page, which is a few steps too far past the learning phase.

[los93sol]

Id like to suggest and volunteer to help man a live help desk so we can assist users getting their setup going.  This probably spawns into another project in the future, getting remote assistance going again.  What do you guys think about having live help?  I know it wouldve helped me out when I was starting.

[tschak909]

I had wanted to write the copy for the getting started section, unfortunately, I am stretched way too thin....

The copy in the Getting Started section should take serious cues from Apple documentation, be as plain and to the point as possible, people want to get from A to B very quickly, and want to get an overall feel for the system.

-Thom

[jimbodude]

Id like to suggest and volunteer to help man a live help desk so we can assist users getting their setup going.  This probably spawns into another project in the future, getting remote assistance going again.  What do you guys think about having live help?  I know it wouldve helped me out when I was starting.

Similar to... IRC chat?  I'm not sure we have the man-power to support a formal help desk, but if you can work that out, it sounds like a nice idea to me.  Between the forums and wiki, there is a ridiculous amount of documentation, and IRC had enough coverage for me - I don't think this effort is a "critical need", but it may help some.

I had wanted to write the copy for the getting started section, unfortunately, I am stretched way too thin....

The copy in the Getting Started section should take serious cues from Apple documentation, be as plain and to the point as possible, people want to get from A to B very quickly, and want to get an overall feel for the system.

-Thom

Yes, that would be nice.  In the mean time, the FAQ and install guide are a decent introduction, and need to be seen long before a "download here" link - this is not some picture editing software that you can learn as you go, so the "everyone just download and try this because it's free" tactics of many open source projects does not apply.  There's a fairly big time and hardware commitment to get this thing off the ground - education is needed before people go do it.