New homepage under testing

[Ka-Hing Cheung]

On Fri, 2008-12-12 at 12:19 -0800, Casey Ho wrote:
> The reason the screenshot shows protocol icons/small view is because I
> wanted to emphasize the fact that Pidgin connects to multiple
> protocols.  That's the #1 reason why people use Pidgin.

I agree with Kevin that the screenshots should use default options
unless the caption notes that it diverges from the default (like the one
that says the convo window can be configured to be minimalistic). One of
the strengths of using a uh, hmm, universal IM client is that you don't
need to care which protocol your friends are on and not showing the
protocol icons in the screenshot reinforces that we have a unified
interface.

> "Free" is important, but it has less meaning because almost every
> single other client save for Trillian Pro is free.
> 
> Also, just saying "open source" is a more succinct way of implying
> that it's free to modify, etc.  On a second read though, I agree the
> sentence is mildly awkward, so I'll look at fixing it.

I like the word "Free" with a capital F better, preferably with a link
to some page that explains it better. I don't mind if both words are
used.

> IRC is a boo-boo on my part, I brain-farted on that.  I added the
> implicit support for things like Livejournal because Adium does the
> same.

I think we should primarily advertise that we support protocols that,
with stock pidgin, there are entries in the new account drop down for. I
don't mind to have something for "also supports...". I am not leaning
very strongly either way though.

> As for problems with the number of users, that's why I wanted to
> become a developer- to put things in place to help deal with a large
> influx of users, including those that are annoying.  Frankly, I think
> this is a case of the cat being out of the bag because Pidgin already
> has already crossed the threshold of having a ludicrous amount of
> users to support.  A 5% increase isn't going to hurt.  I'll be adding
> in some things tonight to help deal with existing users better.

I am not sure if I like the new one better, but I am very glad that you
are trying to make things better. I feel that some of the wordings are
too cheesy while not emphasizing enough that it's just a volunteered
effort (not that the old one was any better in the latter area, but at
least it's not too cheesy). While getting more users is a notable goal,
I think our reputation is better in the long run if we present pidgin in
a form that's closer to what the users will actually receive.

-khc