KISS NEWS PLS - Keep It Simple Stupid!

[arthur]

Hi everybody,

first, great to see beta 2 has been released. I will start to create some extensions the next days. But I also have a serious question to the core team:

Could you please keep your words simple in the news?

Me and many others are not naturally englisch speaking. Although I consider my knowledge of the english language as good, I have problems to fluently read and understand the news about Beta2 release. 'How you can Fuel the Red Barchetta?' is just a simple example. Ok, after thinking twice I understood the meaning behind it, but others might think the are at the Exxon website and not at the Joomla! website.

Frequently I read the news at joomla.org and I really admit, I had my problems many times. It would be great if you could use an old, simple rule:

KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid

This makes it easier for us humans not naturally english speaking. Furthermore it is much more efficient for search engines. No one searches for "fuel red barchetta", but dozens of people will search for other phrases such as "joomla beta2 help community extensions addons..."

So please, write the news more simple. Thanks.

[brian]

english is my first language and I struggled with some of the text. you are not alone.

[eyezberg]

Doesn't someone from your native language translate official (important) news on their portal? -if there is one, not knowing what your native language is..

[infograf768]

Hi everybody,

first, great to see beta 2 has been released. I will start to create some extensions the next days. But I also have a serious question to the core team:

Could you please keep your words simple in the news?

Me and many others are not naturally englisch speaking. Although I consider my knowledge of the english language as good, I have problems to fluently read and understand the news about Beta2 release. 'How you can Fuel the Red Barchetta?' is just a simple example. Ok, after thinking twice I understood the meaning behind it, but others might think the are at the Exxon website and not at the Joomla! website.

Frequently I read the news at joomla.org and I really admit, I had my problems many times. It would be great if you could use an old, simple rule:

KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid

This makes it easier for us humans not naturally english speaking. Furthermore it is much more efficient for search engines. No one searches for "fuel red barchetta", but dozens of people will search for other phrases such as "joomla beta2 help community extensions addons..."

So please, write the news more simple. Thanks.

I fully agree. Let's keep the anglo-saxon private jokes and "exercises of style" for personal blogs.
We are an international community and our main sites should take this into account.

On a side note, there is not even a link to the download in the article and bandwidth is uselessly lost at loading a video.

[brian]

Looks like someone has heeded your comments J-M.The vidoe is now no a link. Just need to get a link to the download now and hopefully an  understanding of ""read more"

[eyezberg]

While I agree on the video which did really slow down page load, I don't see the necessity of an additional link on the main news portal, as the download button is right there.

[arthur]

I agree with the link. Not everybody enters the site through http://www.joomla.org. I guess a lot people come through search engines and therefore may not see the link on the left in the detailed news view. Furthermore in a few month the link on the left will be gone, when the next version is released. Therefore I could be a good idea to keep every important information inside the news article (and this includes the download link).

But I really think it is more important to produce readable and understandable news! Of course there are many portals in dozens of languages which produce their news on the beta2 release. But the most important source of information still is the main joomla website. If I search for "joomla beta" at Google, the first website in the list still is "joomla.org". So, you really should think about writing better news.

Again, this helps the people and produces better rankings by the search engines...

[infograf768]

http://www.barchetta-club-france.com/sp ... ?article22

Let's hope for Joomla! this is not the page which served as a reference to this piece of PR... 

[brian]

Also it is important to realise that many sites publish a feed of http://www.joomla.org. So it does make sense to have the link in the post

[brian]

http://www.barchetta-club-france.com/sp ... ?article22

Let's hope for Joomla! this is not the page which served as a reference to this piece of PR... 

lol

[AmyStephen]

This reminds me ... ten years ago, or so, at my job, we created our first dynamic website that served up instantaneously created reports for our data warehouse. This was big time back then and we jazzed up the interface to match how we felt.

Unfortunately, some of our older, more conservative beta testers frowned on our selection of a jet black background and bright neon fonts.

We liked it! In fact, we LOVED it -- it was fun and helped us celebrate the completion of difficult work. It encouraged us and gave us a little lift in our step - a tiny little reward, as silly as that might sound.

So, instead of "dummying it down" to not offend that group of people, we added a new, personalized feature allowing people to choose between two styles. We called the new style "Give it to me Straight." and it featured a picture of a old, worn out accountant - had a white background, black font, very simple and plain. We named the jazzier style we started with "I like the Night Life."

It never failed, whenever we demoed for the older, more conservative set, someone would raise their hand and "complain" that it should be simplier, easier on the eyes, more "professional." And, we would say, no problem! All you have to do is select the option YOU want with a few clicks.

It silenced everyone and they began to see the amazing work that had been accomplished.

People come from such different perspectives and taste. I think after a year and a half of coding, a little celebration is warranted. But, I surely wish we could get our Joomla! news delivered in the exact format of our own special desires and personal taste.

Maybe one day, we'll have Joomla! news delivered via "Give it to me straight" and "I love the Night Life," too!

But, for today, THREE CHEERS for Joomla! v. 1.5 Beta 2, baby! 
Amy

[infograf768]

It is NOT from an "older" "more conservative" "frowning" user that my comment (and others above) comes.
It is from a non-Anglo very much experienced in dealing with people from all over the World and au fait of the multiple cultures and semantics which compose humanity.

Reminds me of this ridiculous US president who did not even know which language was spoken in a Latin American country he was visiting. RR to not name him.

"Ce qui se conçoit bien s'énonce clairement, et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément" (Nicolas Boileau, Art poétique, chant 1)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Bo ... r%C3%A9aux

[AmyStephen]

It is NOT from an "older" "more conservative" "frowning" user that my comment (and others above) comes.

Um, I wasn't talking about YOU GUYS, lol! I was talking about my experience 10 years ago, here in Nebraska! Oddly, even within a culture absent the complexity of diverse languages, communicating to everyone clearly, in a way they prefer, is still a challenge.  :P

The comments, here, in this thread, reminded me of that dilemma. Some just want KISS, and others want a little more action. 

I'm not certain what you mean about your president reference. But, let me reassure you, I didn't vote for him. Either time. So, liberally lather him with everything he's got coming, JM. 

All the best!
Amy