[pmwiki-users] Site design wanted - Pm Informatics, Inc.

[Henrik]

Congratulations Patrick!

I wish all the very best with your commercial endeavor. I believe that 
this is very good news for wiki users.

All the best,

- Henrik

Patrick R. Michaud wrote:
> Many people come to the mailing list asking for help
> with PmWiki...  now it's my turn.  :-)
>
> As some of you know, I've started a corporation called
> "Pm Informatics, Inc." that will, among other things, be
> providing business-level support for PmWiki and other
> related projects.  I know that there are some businesses
> and organizations that are interested in using PmWiki, but
> cannot commit because they're uncomfortable using software
> that doesn't have some sort of formal business organization
> behind it.  That's where Pm Informatics comes in -- it
> can provide a business-oriented entity for providing
> PmWiki support and licensing options to organizations
> that need them (and want to pay for them).
>
> However, PmII needs a web site, and we don't have a good
> graphic designer available.  Of course, we can hire a
> professional web designer for the site... and we may still
> end up doing that... but it occurs to me that there are
> quite a few people in the PmWiki community that might be
> willing to prototype a web design for the corporation,
> perhaps as a way of "giving back" to PmWiki and supporting
> it further.  Ideally we'd take the design as a donation,
> but we may also be able to work some other deals to provide
> some benefit to designers.  (For example, perhaps some links
> from the pmwiki.org home page, which is currently getting
> 17,000+ visits per month?)
>
> Before I go too much further, I do need to repeat
> some things I've said previously[1] about having a
> company associated with PmWiki.  The fact that
> there's a corporation providing PmWiki support doesn't
> mean there are going be alternate versions of the software,
> nor that the level of support on the mailing lists will decline.
> Having a company is just another method of expanding the
> PmWiki base, as well as bringing in some additional income.
> So, if this message is setting off warning bells in your
> head, please read the previous thread at [1] and then
> see if things make more sense.
>
> 1. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.web.wiki.pmwiki.user/30630
>
>
> Back to the site design:  As far as what is needed for a site 
> design for Pm Informatics...  first note that we don't need a 
> fully-developed HTML template, skin, or any of the software 
> implementation.  The company already has plenty of HTML, PmWiki, 
> and web programming expertise available.  We just need a good 
> look for the site, and we can work from a JPEG image, a Photoshop 
> document, a single prototype page, etc.  Once we have the basic 
> look, we can take the rest from there.
>
> The plans for the Pm Informatics site are roughly:
>   - be a storefront for the various products and
>     services, including shopping carts
>   - demonstrate that PmWiki has real support behind it,
>     beyond what is available from volunteers
>   - help build the PmWiki community and marketplace
>   - market various add-on products for PmWiki
>   - provide information about PmWiki support options
>     available beyond the mailing lists, including
>     possibly partnered vendors, site designers, etc.
>   - potentially act as a portal for value-added services
>     such as site hosting, long-term maintenance and support
>     contracts, etc.
>
> As far as the look and feel the site should have... well,
> that's a bit tricky.  It doesn't have to look anything like
> the pmwiki.org or pmichaud.com sites (although it doesn't hurt
> if it does).  Pm Informatics' central theme is making
> technology accessible and enjoyable.  Like PmWiki,
> PmII seeks to give people "Wow!" and "Aha!" empowering
> experiences -- the kind of experiences that make people
> really appreciate a product or service.  So, there's an
> interesting dynamic in that the site needs to be something
> that a business can find comforting, yet still retain
> a sense of "Wow... that's easy."
>
> As far as what I like in site designs -- I tend towards
> liking simple and clean designs.  One of the best examples
> is Google's site -- both the search engine interface and
> the various other supporting pages behind Google's
> products.  I also like the clean design of Amazon, but
> not the huge animated dropdowns and pulldowns they use
> from time to time, nor the oversized tab strip at the top.
>
> Another design I like the the one for oswd.org -- i.e.,
> the design of its home page (as opposed to any particular
> templates within the site).  Just to give a few more insights
> into my preferences... a few oswd templates that I find somewhat
> appealing (but not appealing enough to use) include, in no
> particular order:
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/2739   (Nautica01)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/2885   (goFlexible2)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/2933   (GoFlexiblePro)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/3010   (redRevenge)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/3293   (Invention)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/3328   (122)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/1192   (Gila)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/1996   (dittoditto)
>     http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/2221   (Ezekiel)
>
> As far as colors go, I'm flexible. I tend towards wanting
> lighter background colors, and some part
> of me would like to avoid blue as the dominant color
> because I think there are too many 'blue' sites already.
>
> Beyond that, I think I'll just leave things here and
> wait for others to ask questions or make suggestions that
> I can respond to.  Feel free to write to me either via the 
> mailing list or off-list at <pmichaud at pobox.com>, with
> any questions, suggestions, or proposals you may have if
> you're interested.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Pm
>
> _______________________________________________
> pmwiki-users mailing list
> pmwiki-users at pmichaud.com
> http://www.pmichaud.com/mailman/listinfo/pmwiki-users
>                              
>
>   

-- 

Henrik Bechmann
www.bechmann.ca
Webmaster, www.dufferinpark.ca