Website message overhaul

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

On 11/14/11 11:04 AM, Robert Clipsham wrote:
> - From the first look at the page it's a big block of text with no
> code. Very off putting from a programming language home page.

I think the current page with a big block of code is quite unappealing, 
too.

> - My advise here would be to *just* show the key bullet points,
> click for more information.

Duly noted.

> - It's covered in buzz words. Are you trying to appeal to managers or
> programmers?

Programmers. Of the language sites I looked at, scala-lang.org looked 
the most corporate-y.

We are trying to convey the key advantages of D in few words. If we used 
weaker words, the message would be, well, weak. The point is that we 
really have something to show under each "buzzword".

> - "See example." is actually show/hide example, the text should
> reflect this.

Hm, that should change when expanded. More work for me, sigh.

> - Community
> - Maybe mention the IRC channel #D on freenode.

Yah, forgot

> - There's no need for the "Walter Bright" name-drop, particularly in
> a community section (Walter is not the community!)

Walter is the most prominent member of the community. I think the 
mention is entirely appropriate. In particular, we noted that the old 
site doesn't mention Walter as the creator of D, and that many people 
don't know who invented D.

> - Contribute
> - First thing I see is a bullet pointed list of compilers, DMD is
> not listed, perhaps the surrounding text needs to be re-worded

The idea is that there'd be copious download links before that point (to 
be added).

> - inconsistent capitalization of (C|c)ompiler

OK.

> - Definitely needs a "Fork us on github" banner of some sort

OK.

> A key thing I find missing is code - the first thing I want to see when
> I visit the home page of a new language is sample code.

OK.

> My advise here would be to always have a code section on one side, then
> have more information on the other, describing what the code is
> demonstrating. Something like http://imgur.com/QL619 where the right
> hand side would have code, the left hand side your 3 key points.

Thanks!


Andrei