Drupal.com to get a facelift
As explained in my DrupalCon DC keynote presentation, drupal.com has been getting way too much organic traffic (1,000 unique visits on a good day) to not look great and show off all the cool things that have been happening within the Drupal community. I have had a pretty embarrassing place holder on this personal site for years that is just the Druplicon (see screenshot below).
The old Drupal.com design that we have had for years.
I asked my friends at Development Seed to create some mockups for a new drupal.com (see screenshot below). I really like the professional tone that such a site could create for many people who are experiencing Drupal for the first time. The header part will come with rotating images and captions, and other Javascript goodness so don't blind stare at the copy on the screenshot.
The new Drupal.com design that we plan to launch shortly.
It is just a tiny little website but for now it shows how hot the Drupal project is and I'm looking forward to some ad revenue to help cover my Drupal trademark expenses. With the help of Development Seed, I plan to get this up and running in the next couple of weeks. I still have to figure out how to best run the advertising part -- suggestions welcome. At some point, I might turn drupal.com into something a little more useful, but for the time being, I think this marks a tremendous improvement! I'm confident that the new design will help promote the project.
This is gorgeous.
I am a fan of everything I have seen DevelopmentSeed touch so far: websites, projects, DrupalCon.
This is a great landing page for people checking out Drupal for the first time - especially when we're trying to convince them that we're running a real, grown up software package nowadays.
Cheers, keep it up, man!
- jam.
March 17, 2009 - 14:23Now that's just sweet! It says "one day it might become something bigger"... I have the feeling you already know what you want it to turn into ;)
March 17, 2009 - 14:23I don't know yet what it will turn into -- maybe it will remain a landing page but I want to be cautious and keep all options open. I think it is important to manage people's expectations and provide transparency, even though it might be a landing page for many years to come.
March 17, 2009 - 16:07I know you mentioned this in your keynote in DC, was wondering when it would be up. I think it looks awesome.
March 17, 2009 - 14:34That's really good idea.
March 17, 2009 - 14:39Template looks cool.
Hope to see it live soon.
While is this kind of cool, I think it will just confuse people who are looking for Drupal.org. I don't understand why this domain hasn't been 301-redirecting to drupal.org for all these years.
March 17, 2009 - 14:57someone, Dries has given some insights about the issue back in 2006 when the domain was donated to him: http://drupal.org/node/86768#comment-158826.
March 17, 2009 - 21:05This really is a great design, but...
Like Drupal.org, it needs a clear path for someone who's just getting started with Drupal. The link to Drupal.org would likely sit below the fold.
My vote is to add a "getting started with Drupal" button in green to stand out from the blue of everything else.
March 17, 2009 - 16:16I really liked the new look and feel of drupal. I used the new logo on my personal blog . It's kind of cool. I am sure this new 'brand' image will attract more people into Drupal.
Thanks Mark and Development Seed.
March 17, 2009 - 16:18I have opened drupal.com many times earlier when I was new to Drupal. I think it is a very good idea to have a good Drupal introduction page. May be a clear cut explanation of "what drupal is?" can be put up there.
March 17, 2009 - 16:36The goal of the new version is to explain what Drupal is, using various examples and images. It is not obvious looking at the screenshot above, but I think it will be clear when the actual site is up.
There is also going to be a brand new "About Drupal" page on drupal.org as part of the drupal.org redesign effort. My plan is to link to that page from drupal.com, and then have the community maintain the "About Drupal" page.
Combined, that should get people up to speed on what Drupal is.
March 17, 2009 - 17:14Incredible design and idea! Please let us know if there is anything immediate we can do to help in offsetting Trademark costs. I am sure this is something that is easily overlooked. We have just launched the Nashville Drupalers group and one of the things we are looking to do is rally around fund development for sponsorship of specific needs in the Drupal community. Maybe we can buy some ad space and prop you up! Thanks Dries!
March 17, 2009 - 20:09I really like the "who is Drupal" part, it shows that Drupal isn't just for hardcore codemonkey looking types :P
The design looks pretty damn tight if you ask me, but make sure it doesn't go up before D.o gets the new design, because I think it'd be kinda silly to have this domain look better than the main ;)
I can imagine that the OpenDomain association (or w/e) must feel a bit bad to see this domain go virtually unused for a good 2 years, then again I have 4 domains I don't really do anything with right now so I'm not one to speak.
I'll be waiting full anticipation for it to go up!
March 17, 2009 - 23:50It looks very nice and helpful but what the hell does "with enough win to feed" mean? I'm a native English speaker, a writer, and a former lit major and I have never heard that phrase before. Is it slang? If so, I question whether it should be used on the more "professional" drupal.com home page. Perhaps it is just dummy text?
And I agree that the go to drupal.org or "Try Drupal" or "Get Drupal" or something to that effect should be at the top in a more prominent and visible location.
March 18, 2009 - 03:46Love it. Do it. This is a huge opportunity to tell the Drupal story from a non-developer standpoint. We have no idea how many people come to Drupal.org looking for selling points and really have to dig to come up with the things they need to get buy-in from corporate marketing types.
I agree with several of the comments above that having clear steps that take you into D.o is a good thing. D.c is a great opportunity to trumpet the Drupal story.
As always, Dries, the community benefits greatly from your leadership. Thank you!
March 18, 2009 - 04:15Finally lol a Drupal development company that does not blow at designing
March 19, 2009 - 20:33I think this is excellent as well. Dev. Seed do an incredible job at anything they get their hands on.
This is the key - Drupal needs to look really desirable to the person who has never seen it before - just as Wordpress does. When Drupal's look matches its functionality, it will be a very big deal.
Also, STRONGLY in support of ad space on the homepage. I think this could meet a need and a demand, and could provide $$ to get some great work done.
Good show.
March 21, 2009 - 14:32A good video on 'Getting started' can be a help to beginners and save few searches and some time.
Also a page comparing features of Drupal and other popular CMS' because new visitors would be interested.
March 23, 2009 - 20:18Dries,
I think this will be a great compliment to the Drupal.org redesign in the works. It looks really nice from what I can see. I just don't see why you cut your hair ;D
April 1, 2009 - 06:23Dries,
Like sk33lz said, this would really compliment the new design for d.org that was unveiled at DC 2009.
I just dont get why you left d.com like this for so long? I would have simply re-directed it to d.org :P
April 2, 2009 - 20:46Looks bad in Opera.
August 14, 2009 - 13:06For those of you who would like to see the "old" Drupal.com, go here.
August 20, 2009 - 02:37Post new comment