For some time I've been thinking that the cloudstack.apache.org website is looking a little dated and could do with a redesign
I also feel quite strongly that we should move it to an easy-to-use CMS, rather than the middleman/github repo approach If we do that, we can broaden to pool of people who have the skills able to udate the website (i.e. open it up potentially to people who don't know git,etc) This hopefully would allow us to keep the site more up to date, more easily So, first question: do others agree this seems like a good idea ? Moving on from this, I have had a discussion with a web agency that I know. The net result is that they would consider helping us out on a pro-bono basis (to be frank, they are reasonably excited to be able to do some work for an apache project - it's a good thing for them to talk about. All they ask is a "site designed by" credit) They are https://www.blinkeredmedia.com/ (their site focusses on video but they knock out wordpress sites by the dozen) They are up for getting involved in our community (maybe marketing@) as volunteers and working on a redesign So, next question: do people think this is a good idea, would we accept their offer of help? Now, the potential challenges I see: 1. If we moved to something like wordpress, are ASF infra able to host that? a. Assuming "no" - then is there anything to stop us using a commercial ISP ? - My $dayjob could donate a couple of years hosting if required, giving control of it to this PMC. Is that allowable ? 2. The current workflow (AFAIK) only allows commiters to update the site. That's a sensible check process. So, if we moved to a CMS, how would we enforce necessary karma, and who would have such karma ? 3. Has anybody got any experience of "commissioning" a website in an open source community ? - they have already asked me lots of questions about how it would work - and I' not sure. In theory, it can all be designed/reviewed/ etc on marketing@ but I would be a little anxious that it could turn into a bike-shedding nightmare (and theres nothing designers love more than 10 different opinions :) ) My thinking would be that, as long as they are happy to (and we are happy for them to do so) we get them to come up with a design idea to give people a starting point to look at If people think it's a good idea (and we can answer the challenges above) - my first step would be to introduce these guys on lists and let them take it from there Kind Regards Giles giles.sir...@shapeblue.com www.shapeblue.com 53 Chandos Place, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4HSUK @shapeblue
