[Wikipedia-l] Towards a consensus on Goals (not solutions -- yet)

[Jaap van Ganswijk]

At 2002-10-16 14:32 -0400, Poor, Edmund W wrote:
>>>> 2. That www.wikipedia.org be the language-neutral front page, 
>>>> with links to the wikipedias of each language.
>>>
>>> This seems to be a really good idea.
>>> Let the opposing three convince the rest that it is a bad thing to do.
>> 
>> I don't know if it's still the case, but a non-content front page used to
>> be able to loose 20-40% of visitors to a site.
>> 
>> Imran
>
>There seems to be consensus on user requirements (rather than on solutions):
>1. First time visitors get an enticing content page (TBD: what language should this be?)
>2. Logged-in contributors get their favorite language site; after they choose it from their preferences page.
>3. English language shouldn't appear domineering.
>4. One URL (like www.wikipedia.org) for the organization itself, which explains the international wikis (with English as "just another language").

Please also consider that on any serious site well
over 50% of the new visitors get in via the sub pages
from a search engine.

I often see website designers (and advertisers)
think that every visitor comes in via the
'official entrance' of the site, but that is usually
not the case. I often go to a site, because of a
link to a sub-page and when I want to learn more
about the nature of the site I peel layers off of
the URL until I get relevant information.

Greetings,
Jaap