Loomio
Mon 2 Sep 2019 8:56PM

Restructuring the website menus

R RobJN Public Seen by 52

Hi all,

I have tried multiple times to get the website structure correct. The challenge has been that we are trying to be all things to all people at the same time.

I took another look and have a new proposal based on some of what came through the 2019/20 strategy ideas. I'd like to re-focus on "personas" - using the website as a way to show distinct groups the front door to OSM. In a way this is similar to the first OSMUK website arrangement where we split content according to "Contribute to the map" and "Use the map". I does go further with the personas.

Here is the structure I am proposing:

Getting started
    As an individual
    As an organisation
    Collecting info
    Editing the map
    Using OpenStreetMap
    Donating data
Finding help
    From the community
    Useful resources
    Professional services
About us
    OSM and the UK Chapter
    Our aims
    Our members  / Corporate members
    Join today
    The CIC
    Newsletters
Training & consultancy
    Request a trainer
    Request a speaker
    Consultancy services
    Join our Talent Directory
    Case studies
Community mapping
    Finding other mappers
    Quarterly projects
    Regional mapathons
    UK tagging guidelines
    Rent a camera
    Surveyor hi-vis jackets

I also considered a section on Support Us/Our Member as follows. Not sure if this is needed. As you can see above all the elements can be placed elsewhere.

Support us / Our members
    Join today
    Corporate members
    The CIC
    Donate data

Pleas let me know your thoughts. If you are happy I can go ahead and start making the changes.

P.S. Case Studies was the section I struggled to place. These seem to be mostly a showcase of talent so I went with the training/consultancy section but I'm not 100% sure of that.

GMD

Gregory Marler (former Director) Mon 2 Sep 2019 9:23PM

Remember that navigation is only an initial structure and not the only way to get to content.
Case Studies particularly can be linked to from other pages, i.e. "see how X did this" or you can use tags for case study themes you might want to link to.

If the navigation changes are involving changing URLs, you should really avoid doing this much. If people are linking to the pages and they move, that will cause more problem.

JN

Jez Nicholson Wed 4 Sep 2019 8:23AM

Yes....but fewer pages and more page sections e.g. "OSM and the UK Chapter
Our aims
Our members / Corporate members
Join today
The CIC" could all be in a single page

R

RobJN Thu 5 Sep 2019 7:36PM

Generally yes they could be combined, although the CIC already has some sub-pages which I didn't show here.

However a concern of merging pages is that the page title in the menu hides what is behind it. In your example what page title would you use to show that this include info about us, a shout out to our corporate members, our aims and a call for new members to join?

AH

Adam Hoyle Wed 4 Sep 2019 3:18PM

hey @robjn can you share the personas you've created?
The section outline looks great, but I agree with @jeznicholson that they could be sections within the same page.

R

RobJN Thu 5 Sep 2019 7:32PM

Hi @adamhoyle . I didn't do fully worked up personas with names and backstories but effectively it is:

  • An individual new to OSM wanting to become a mapper and/or wanting to find other mappers. -An organisation new to OSM wanting to know where to get help with the basics.
  • An group (e.g. organisation) seeking training or other consultancy support.

Basically I'm picking up on the "show the front door" comment in our strategy and reflecting that we don't want to duplicate effort with existing resources.

BP

Brian Prangle Fri 6 Sep 2019 5:32PM

Case studies belong under Using OpenStreetMap, I think

EB

Edward Bainton Sat 5 Oct 2019 9:31PM

As a relative newbie, I'd say the personas approach could be very helpful: OSM is a maze, and runs a serious risk of being useful only to the in-crowd. Anything that reduces jargon and complexity can only be a good thing.

IMO the headings suggested are suitable in terms of content. I would bid for small changes in wording though, and I think the user/contributor distinction is probably the most helpful of all, and this seems to have been lost (or is the proposed hierarchy for contributors only?).

I'll reply below with a few suggestions. Mainly I think it's about keeping to the 'no-knowledge rule', best judged by total outsiders. (eg, The CIC presupposes that readers (a) know what a CIC is and (b) know that OSM-UK is one.)

EB

Edward Bainton Sat 5 Oct 2019 9:35PM

Getting started -> Start using the map|Start editing the map
The CIC -> Governance
OSM -> OpenStreetMap
Community mapping -> Team up to map [bc 'community mapping' could be mapping of a community, not through community]

R

RobJN Sat 28 Dec 2019 6:38PM

I made a good start on this over the holiday period. I've not stuck exactly to the proposal as I decided to ditch the home page and have had to make some changes accordingly.

  • Why drop the homepage? It was terribly out of date all the time. Our top post related to our AGM in June. Taking inspiration from OSM Belgium, I have opted for a static home page with key info about OpenStreetMap and us.

  • I've ditched some plugins we no longer use.

  • I have taken on board Jez's comments about preferring longer pages rather than lots of pages. This is looking better already.

  • I'va also started to use better page names - thanks Ed for that recommendation.

If you have any feedback at this stage please let me know. If not I will keep chipping away at this when time permits.

R

RobJN Wed 19 Aug 2020 1:06PM

Have made quite a bit more progress on this in the last few weeks. I hope you like the new website.

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