Upgrade bitcoin.org

[blockgenesis]

I just popped in to check the website redesign since it started. The changes are great!!! I like that there are fewer colors, and that it is more obvious which items can be clicked.

I agree, it's starting to look a lot better.

Nice to hear.

I tried to address what I read in all feedback I received.

Nothing prevents us to continue improve it. I think next major improvements will target extending and improving the content (and that will address a few other previous feedback).

But at least, I think we have something more serious now.

[defxor]

"And much more!" in a bullet list sounds like something from daytime tv shop channels. Besides that - great!

[fizzisist]

"And much more!" in a bullet list sounds like something from daytime tv shop channels. Besides that - great!

Agreed. Do you have an idea to improve it?

[blockgenesis]

I think there needs to be a better description of exactly what the Bitcoin foundation is, how it is structures, and how it fits in within the Bitcoin software.  If it is a non-profit then the tax returns should be posted.   Also, they post e-mail addresses and ask people to contact yet I had tried that in the past and nobody ever answered.  When I have seen those questions on here the responses have been rather defensive.  There seems to be a lot of questions arising over conflicts of interest so this is going to come up more and more.

The other issue is that when people download the software they are shown a number of ads and it is unclear what is actually being downloaded.  It is very easy to click one of these ads and think you are downloading Bitcoin when it is actually something else like pkzip.

Good points, thanks!

[Herodes]

I think there needs to be a better description of exactly what the Bitcoin foundation is, how it is structures, and how it fits in within the Bitcoin software.  If it is a non-profit then the tax returns should be posted.   Also, they post e-mail addresses and ask people to contact yet I had tried that in the past and nobody ever answered.  When I have seen those questions on here the responses have been rather defensive.  There seems to be a lot of questions arising over conflicts of interest so this is going to come up more and more.

The other issue is that when people download the software they are shown a number of ads and it is unclear what is actually being downloaded.  It is very easy to click one of these ads and think you are downloading Bitcoin when it is actually something else like pkzip.

Good points, thanks!

Excellent points. Defensiveness is also NOT a good sign. Any humble intelligent man should tolerate to be asked hard questions and be mistrusted. Trust is built over time. Nobody should take such issues personal.

Maybe most of the guys are just busy as well ?

[Headsaflame]

Hello everyone! Great work on revitalizing the bitcoin brand!  I have felt it was long over due.

I started working on my own revamp of the site before I was directed to this thread. I think if we all work together we can get something really great. 

Here's what I have so far:
http://forrst.com/posts/Rebranding_of_Bitcoin-Ft5

I'm working on an updated version, but with the double-bar "B" graphic, and a slightly different layout.

Any suggestions?

[alexkravets]

This is just awesome.  I love the implied speed in the new horizontal lines of the logo

[Headsaflame]

Thanks!

I posted this on the bitcoin reddit, and have had quite a mix response on the horizontal lined "B".

I'm still working on this, trying to brainstorm better options.

I'll keep everyone updated on what I have.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1akwtj/bitcoin_branding_update_attempt_1/

[blockgenesis]

Yep, I think I also prefer your logo over the last ones, very nice work!

Really, if you want to give help with the design, feel free to contribute, fork my code and propose improvements.

The current design might be published meanwhile because the pull request is already being reviewed and received enough good feedback, but that should not prevents us to improve it if we end up with something that people and developers think is be better.

Your design is neat. The two things I see is that I predict some resistance if we go further into "promotion" with bitcoin.org and the design needs to handle extensive content (more pages are to come). There are also technical restrictions, like the searchbar, that cannot work as we are using static files. (And there is probably other considerations with translation and else).

[sounds]

What languages should be translated first? I have lots of international contacts and I'd be happy to focus on a translation effort for one language.

[blockgenesis]

Before we go with community translations, I'm currently discussing about how it can be done right. There are some considerations. Like potential inaccuracies in translations or translations that don't get updated often enough. So it's most likely that the english texts are going to be proof-read many times in the future before being published (and translated). Some translation guidelines are also needed.

Personally, I want the website to be translated in as many languages as possible (as long as each transaction is accurate and good quality). So you can count on me to come back about this if nobody opposes to this idea.

Thanks for offering yourself!

[blockgenesis]

"And much more!" in a bullet list sounds like something from daytime tv shop channels. Besides that - great!

Agreed. Do you have an idea to improve it?

It might make sense to put the What is Bitcoin video there. So that this page gives a warm welcome, and not just grey bullets texts.

However, a video there creates "a box in a box in a box", and it's a box near the buttons with a lot of white space between.. I am not satisfied with the result yet..

[teste]

Hi,

I think the new users who discover bitcoin for first time usually want to know where he/she can spend the bitcoins. I know exist many directory listing sites that show places that accept bitcoin, but I think all sites database is closed.
I think we should have a listing of places that accept bitcoin with a open database (openstreetmap.org is great for this). They already have the key payment:bitcoin (http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:payment). I think exist now only three places on osm with key payment:bitcoin.
You could request this data from openstreetmap and show the places information on a page in bitcoin.org. I think a button with (places that accept bitcoin) should exist on main bitcoin.org page.
You could create a form with predefined fields and a map to insert places location/info and send to openstreetmap server.
I think It's important add the data to openstreetmap because all other apps like GPS ones can use it.

What do you think?

Obs: Sorry for repeat (I think) many times. My English is really bad.

[blockgenesis]

Making such an index might in fact represent a full-time job, or requires a little community to build the project and share the task of keeping resources up-to-date. This is something I can't do myself but I would love to see this happen. So, feel free to do it.

There is already pretty extensive lists of merchants on the wiki and http://bitcoinnavigator.com/

We already link to the wiki. However if a nice website 100% specialized on this task is created, I think it's worth giving it more visibility.

The same is true for merchants tools, wallets services, and else.

[blockgenesis]

After a complete month of feedback and improvements, there it is! Our v1.0 is alive.
http://bitcoin.org/

I should come back soon with translation guidelines.

If you want to make new improvements, feel free to fork the github repository and take the feedback of the community about your changes.

[jgarzik]

Great job!  Looks nice, very informative.

[SgtSpike]

After a complete month of feedback and improvements, there it is! Our v1.0 is alive.
http://bitcoin.org/

I should come back soon with translation guidelines.

If you want to make new improvements, feel free to fork the github repository and take the feedback of the community about your changes.

So excellent.  Well done, good sir.

[Headsaflame]

Why are we using static web pages for this? We could easily build the site on wordpress or drupal and have communities, link directories, multiple translations, search capability, development blogs, etc.

What's stopping us from taking this to the next level?

Good work on the redesign by the way, it is far superior to what we had before, and the content is very well done.

[Gabi]

I think that some of the content of the invidduals/organizations/etc pages should be put on the homepage

[Ichthyo]

Why are we using static web pages for this? We could easily build the site on wordpress or drupal and have communities, link directories, multiple translations, search capability, development blogs, etc.

Well crafted static web pages are superior in any relevant way. They are easier to keep running and sane, they are easier to replicate, they require less processing power to serve, they have a greater longevity, they are way harder to attack and compromise.

The only argument for dynamic pages is when you really need frequent updates done by a lot of different people, or when you need a forum or when you need to sell some goods or services. None of this applies here.

What's stopping us from taking this to the next level?

<rant>
this isn't the next level. this is the deterioration and commercialisation of a great achievement (the world wide web). You have been lured into believing that you need a shitload of blinking and beeping shiny advertisement crap in order to have a happy life. This isn't true. In fact you don't need any of this crap, rather it sucks away the most valuable good you have, which is your life time
</rant>