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

[Patrick R. Michaud]

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