Apparently the attachment limit is to strict, so my mail from earlier today didnt go through. Here it is again, attachments are at: http://soulrebel.in-berlin.de/pub/pdfreaders_redesign/
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Hi folks,
here are my ideas for the new front page: - keep the texts the way they are, because we want people to read them - replace the list with a flashy recommendation for the platform that is autodetected. - if a browser plugin is available for that platform also recommend that - prefer a download that includes both desktop reader AND plugin - also add readers for mobile platforms
Should a free browser ever ship with a free pdf plugin by default (e.g. Firefox with pdf.js), then we also: - recommend that if we encounter a browser that has no free plugin available - maybe recommend that if there is no proper Free Desktop reader for that platform
I have attached some mockups, so you get an idea...
PROs: 1. easier access to the recommended downloads, thereby user friendlier 2. also have browser plugins 3. also have mobile readers
CONs: 1. we do not show all readers by default anymore, so the whole concept of choice is less obvious 2. windows people don't see that there are more readers for Free platforms, because they only see things for their platform by default 3. more work for us (more intense platform and browser detection, more combinations of platforms and/or browser that yield different results)
I have thought on the CONs a while, but I really don't think we can get around them, if want to improve.
ad Con 1: the table works out somewhat right now, but if we add more platforms and browser plugins, it would get really confusing => we have to move away from the table
ad Con 2: To still promote Free Operating systems, we might add some dynamic things to the site, e.g. when people use Windows and hover over their "platform information" they could be shown a little javascript-popup(like a tooltip) that reads sth. like "Switching to a Free Operating System will protect your freedoms and privacy to an even higher degree. [Read more...]"
ad Con 3: well, I guess its ok for us to spend more time on technical stuff right now, since the whole publicity thing seems to be going on its own right now.
What do you think?