Proposition for a xubuntu support page

[Pasi Lallinaho]

Hello Alexander,

and thanks for doing the mockup.

Alexander Blomen wrote:
> Hi,
>
> This morning there was some talk about how to get (new) xubuntu users to 
> join #xubuntu on irc if they need help instead of #ubuntu which is 
> default for most/all irc clients.
>
> The proposition:
> Instead of using default-settings packages and the likes to change the 
> default channel to connect to when an irc client is first run, create a 
> one-stop-shop support page on the xubuntu website which is linked to 
> from a launcher in the xfce menu.
>
> This page would have a web-based irc client (like mibbit) embedded and 
> links to the different sources of documentation and places to post your 
> questions.
>
> I have made a demo of how I imagine a page like this would work:
> http://ablomen.nl/xubuntu/
>
> NOTE: I have only successfully tested the demo in firefox
>
>   
I just tested this in Firefox and the iframes doesn't seem to scale
correctly. (I only get everything in an iframe of maybe 200px width.)
This seems to work once i expand and collapse the IRC client "tab".

However, what comes about supporting and working across browsers, this
page will be the default for Xubuntu installations, we don't have to
worry about Internet Explorer and such too much.
> In the top box there is a short text about the different places where 
> you can get help, you can collapse this box to have more room for the 
> frames that hold the different websites and the chat client.
>
> Under the top box is a bar where you can switch between the different 
> websites that offer the help, a button to collapse/expand the top box 
> and a search bar where you can directly search the different websites.
>
> On the right side there is also an expandable box which holds the irc 
> client. This could be mibbit which is set-up to automatically log in to 
> #xubuntu on freenode after you enter your desired username. This box 
> would not be reloaded when switching between the different tabs and 
> searching the different sites.
>   
My first thought and concern is that the two tabs expanding and
collapsing from different angles is a bit too much complexity. We also
should make totally clear what are those different things supposed to
mean to them. Also, we don't want to have too much complexity in the
normal start page, so this would have to be loaded only if a user clicks
a link or something.
> It should be possible to stay inside the page while browsing the 
> different support websites and clicking on links supplied by people over 
> irc so people would stay in the same environment while searching for a 
> solution for their problem.
>   
I think this totally is crucial, and the IRC client maybe should be
visible all the time once the user has logged in.
> This might make getting help easier for people that are just starting to 
> use xubuntu by getting all the different sources of help in one place.
>   
True, but we need to keep things so simple that people don't get confused.
> Cheers.
> Alexander Blomen
>   
A bit about the tabs: I don't know if Xubuntu wiki should be a tab. It
doesn't really provide any useful information for user who is seeking
for support. However, it is a good link for those who want to
contribute. In this case the user doesn't really need this tab support,
so maybe it would be better to link to the wiki from the first page.

What comes about Ubuntu wiki, I propose the same thing or drop it away
completely. The Ubuntu wiki already links to two help/support pages:
https://help.ubuntu.com/ and
http://www.ubuntu.com/support/CommunitySupport. Those are links I might
want to see as tabs.

Ubuntu forums link is OK as is.

The Launchpad link should point to https://launchpad.net/ubuntu and
maybe have a different title, for example "File a bug".

I'm not sure about Google.

In addition to the current tabs, we want to link the Xubuntu website and
the official Xubuntu blog once it's launched.

The search bar is OK, but I think it needs some work as well.

Sorry for commenting unfinished work :)

-- 
Pasi Lallinaho
Xubuntu Marketing Lead
Web-designer, graphic artist
IRC: knome @ freenode