Upgrade bitcoin.org

[jim618]

I would change the word Vocabulary. Terminology sounds better.

I changed it, then I questioned what I see, and reversed it..

Don't you feel that "terminology" means the same, but is just less common speaking?

Terminology sounds more "scientific" but less "everyday words" to me.

Another possibility you could try is 'Glossary' (which has the advantage of being a little shorter).

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[marcus_of_augustus]

Just a suggestion, but you might ask one of the legal minds that loiter around here to pass an eye over it ...

e.g. ... claiming to "issue money" has been known to provoke the full fury of the state machinery.

Maybe disclaimers and etc. ... unless it is being hosted in an "undisclosed location" the site needs to be mindful of the jurisdiction of its hosting to the legal claims it is making on the web pages at a minimum.

[blockgenesis]

Just a suggestion, but you might ask one of the legal minds that loiter around here to pass an eye over it ...

e.g. ... claiming to "issue money" has been known to provoke the full fury of the state machinery.

Maybe disclaimers and etc. ... unless it is being hosted in an "undisclosed location" the site needs to be mindful of the jurisdiction of its hosting to the legal claims it is making on the web pages at a minimum.

Extremely interesting, is there any one here with enough legal knowledge to give good advises and do a revision of the texts?

I wanted to proceed this way -> Build the site -> Improve it through feedback -> Technical revision -> Legal revision

This is indeed a very important point and I would appreciate to have help on this.

[Mike Hearn]

Can you cite that please? I don't think there's any issue (pun intended).

There are specific laws that govern the issuance of currency. They impact organizations that issue backed currencies that are pegged to some other currency, and are intended to increase confidence (by letting people know that if the issuing org goes bankrupt they can still cash in their beenz/flooz/etc).

Although Bitcoin is issued, Bitcoin has no issuer. So there's no problem. Besides, you can't talk about currency without talking about where it comes from.

[just1nmc]

Sorry if this has come up before, but there doesn't seem to be information about buying bitcoins?

On the "How it works" page, it says "So all that is left to do that this point is to buy a few Bitcoins and to keep them safe."
It seems like half the trouble people run into is actually purchasing their first bitcoin; could a link be added there?

Totally true. Unfortunately, I doubt that bitcoin.org will be the right place to do promotion because of its official status. I think there is a need for a nice website to promote wallets, exchanges, merchant tools, merchants, and everything around this. Weusecoins already does this to a certain degree and we link to it. The wiki also contains a lot of information, but just cannot have the same qualities than a friendly website.

That's true. Could we put in a link to http://www.weusecoins.com/getting-started.php on the "How it works" page as a temporary solution? That way the readers at least know that weusecoins has information about buying bitcoins.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Can you cite that please? I don't think there's any issue (pun intended).

Although Bitcoin is issued, Bitcoin has issuer. So there's no problem. Besides, you can't talk about currency without talking about where it comes from.

Good pun, there is indeed an issue ... but I could be wrong. I don't have any problem with discussions of the issuance function or describing where the Bitcoin currency comes from.

Specifically, I saw that the current wording claims the network is  "... managing transactions and issuing money ...",  surely safer (and more correct) to say "... managing transactions and issuing Bitcoin ..." or "... managing transactions and issuing currency ..."?

I would advise to just stay as far away as possible from referring to bitcoin as "money" and you don't need to anyway. Anywhere you feel inclined to write "money" just substitute "Bitcoin". If nothing else it is unnecessarily pretentious anyway and opens it up to claims of false advertising/prospectus if the whole project collapses.

[blockgenesis]

I just got the same advise in the legal section of the forum. I've updated the page, thanks!

[Atheros]

Would someone please define for me what the problem with the existing website is?

And what is this new website's target audience?

[blockgenesis]

Would someone please define for me what the problem with the existing website is?

And what is this new website's target audience?

The answer is in the question, the previous website did have a restricted target audience. Being more developer orientated.

The new website aims to be accessible for the general public. And have a few specialized content for each user category (individual, organization, devs, enthusiasts), because each of those speak a different language.

Just refer at my initial post for the list of enhancements.

[blockgenesis]

Another possibility you could try is 'Glossary' (which has the advantage of being a little shorter).

Good one. But I don't see one that has a real advantage over the other. And there is already a bunch of links that points to vocabulary (and vocabulaire in the french version). So unless there is a real problem with "vocabulary", I would concentrate on other priorities. Like adding more extensive contents and making sure that our texts don't present legal risks.

[blockgenesis]

deepceleron : What are you thinking about my idea to add your content as the "extended How it works" page? I saved your work in order to adapt it later.

[Atheros]

The answer is in the question, the previous website did have a restricted target audience. Being more developer orientated.

The new website aims to be accessible for the general public. And have a few specialized content for each user category (individual, organization, devs, enthusiasts), because each of those speak a different language.

Just refer at my initial post for the list of enhancements.

Well then the Bitcoin Wiki is superior.

Let us review.

- Help develop sustainable Bitcoin ecosystem everywhere in the world, in all languages. The wiki is already multilingual.
- Publish official specification, documentation and recommandations. The wiki already has a working specification and documentation. If it needs a better specification then the wiki is the perfect place for it.
- Present a good summary about Bitcoin that is contextual to the visitor category interests. The wiki has links on the right hand side that are clear, and range from 'Introduction' for the newbies to 'Software' and 'Mining' for the more knowledgeable to Developer Info and the RPC reverence for developers.
- Try to put a end on the "cannot get to explain Bitcoin correctly" problem that happens once every minute in the world. Again, the wiki has a good introduction.
- Protect Bitcoin better against "misunderstandings, misinterpretations and misrepresentations" (from the Foundation mission statement). The wiki already has a myths page as well as a host of other resources.

So far the Wiki meets all of your goals. I think that you don't like the current bitcoin.org website because it is not an information resource but at least it is professional and attractive and it links to the Wiki in important places. People complain that they don't understand Bitcoin not because there are not clear and understandable resources available but because those people are intellectually lazy.

[blockgenesis]

Well then the Bitcoin Wiki is superior.

Ah, I see. You think that the current website aims to replace the wiki? It's not the case. We still link to it everywhere. And it is indeed a nice and precious resource.

Comparing the website against the wiki is meaningless, both achieve different goals. The wiki can go much more in depth. The website is more accessible for the masses and is a better place for a concise and accessible presentation. (And not everyone understand how softwares and finance works, it's not a matter of laziness).

I do like the current website (and recycled all its content BTW).

[Atheros]

We can indeed try to improve what we have. Thank you for trying.

I understand that you do not intend to replace the wiki.

[blockgenesis]

We can indeed try to improve what we have. I do not think we should not so thank you for trying.

I understand that you do not intend to replace the wiki.

If you have any suggestion or specific feedback (positive or negative), I will take it into account. For sure it can't please everyone. But I'm always trying to get the best possible result and to take all feedback. The website has already been reviewed, fixed and improved by many people.

[dr_nix]

You might also want to consider hiding your computer's IP address so that it cannot be logged using a tool like Tor.

To me this reads as if Tor is the tool that is used to log ip addresses.

I'd change this to:

You might also want to consider hiding your computer's IP address so that it cannot be logged by others. You can use a tool like Tor to accomplish this.

[blockgenesis]

You might also want to consider hiding your computer's IP address so that it cannot be logged using a tool like Tor.

To me this reads as if Tor is the tool that is used to log ip addresses.

I'd change this to:

You might also want to consider hiding your computer's IP address so that it cannot be logged by others. You can use a tool like Tor to accomplish this.

Ah, that's right. Thanks! Will fix it!

[hazek]

A few minor suggestions (I'll highlight what I changed):

From the how it works page:

The basics for a new user:

As a new user, you only need to choose a wallet that you will install on your computer or on your mobile phone. Once your wallet is created, you have your first Bitcoin address and you can create more whenever you need one. You can disclose one of your Bitcoin addresses to your friends so that they can pay you. The same way, you can pay your friends if they give you their addresses. In fact, this is pretty similar to how email works. So all that is left to do that this point is to buy a few Bitcoins and to keep them safe. As a user, you are not required to understand the rest of the technical details.

As a new user, you only need to choose a wallet that you will install on your computer or on your mobile phone. Once you have your wallet installed, it will automatically generate your first Bitcoin address and you can create more whenever you need one. You can disclose one of your Bitcoin addresses to your friends so that they can pay you or vice versa, you can pay your friends if they give you their addresses. In fact, this is pretty similar to how email works. So all that is left to do at this point is to get some bitcoins and to keep them safe. In order to start using Bitcoin, you are not required to understand the rest of the technical details.

Blockchain:

The entire Bitcoin network relies on the blockchain. The blockchain is a shared public transaction log, in chronological order. All confirmed transactions are included in the blockchain with no exception so that new transactions can be verified to be spending bitcoins that are actually owned by the spender. The integrity of the blockchain is enforced with cryptography.

The entire Bitcoin network relies on the blockchain. The blockchain is a shared public chronological log of all past transactions. All valid transactions are included in the blockchain with no exception so that it can be verified the new transactions are spending bitcoins that are actually owned by the spender. The validity of the blockchain itself is determined with cryptography.

Transaction:

A transaction is a transfer of value between Bitcoin addresses that gets included in the blockchain. Bitcoin wallets keep a secret piece of data called a private key for each Bitcoin address. Private keys are used to sign transactions, providing a mathematical proof that they come from the owner of the addresses. The signature also prevents the transaction from being altered by anybody once it has been issued. All transactions are broadcast between users and confirmed by the network in the following minutes, through a process called mining.

A transaction is a transfer of bitcoins between Bitcoin addresses. Bitcoin wallets keep a secret piece of data called a private key for each Bitcoin address. Private keys are used to sign transactions, providing a mathematical proof of ownership for the bitcoins being sent. The signature also prevents the transaction from being altered by anybody once it has been carried out. All valid transactions are broadcasted between users and confirmed by the network through a process called mining in the following minutes.

Mining:

Mining is a distributed consensus system that is used to include and confirm waiting transactions in the blockchain. It enforces a chronological order in the blockchain, protects the neutrality of the network, and stops different computers disagreeing on the state of the system. To be confirmed, transactions must be packed in a block that fits very strict cryptographic rules that will be verified by the network. These rules prevent any previous block from being modified because it would invalidate all following blocks. It creates the equivalent of a competitive lottery that prevents any individual from easily adding new blocks consecutively in the blockchain. This way, no individuals can control what is included in the blockchain or replace parts of the blockchain and roll back their own spends.

Mining is a distributed consensus system that is used to include new transactions into the blockchain thereby confirming they are valid. It determines a chronological order in the blockchain, protects the decentralization of the network, and allows different computers part of the network to agree on the state of Bitcoin. In order to be confirmed, transactions must be packaged into blocks that fit very strict cryptographic rules which allow the network to determine the validity of those blocks. These rules prevent any previous block from being modified because doing so would invalidate all the following blocks. Mining also creates the equivalent of a competitive lottery that prevents any individual from easily adding new blocks consecutively into the blockchain. This way, no individual or a small group of individuals can control what is included into the blockchain or replace parts of the blockchain and roll back their own spends or spend bitcoins they don't own.

[evoorhees]

I really like the layout and much of the content of this new site, however I do not like the graphics/design work. I think it looks less professional than the current design of bitcoin.org.

Bitcoin.org deserves utterly brilliant graphic design. It should be stunning. I'm willing to put up the funds to make this happen, up to $8,000. Can whomever is in charge of this new site version get in touch with me if they'd like to take my offer? Evoorhees on skype is probably best.

[hazek]

Can whomever is in charge of this new site version get in touch with me if they'd like to take my offer? Evoorhees on skype is probably best.

Erik I 100% agree with you. However it's open source development, so all you have to do is hire a good designer and point him towards: https://github.com/bitcoin-org/bitcoin.org and then make sure his work gets pulled.