Wikimedia Foundation website/2004 proposal

See also Foundation wiki feedback

see also the feeder pages Wikimedia Foundation home page and Wikimedia Fundraising page the newer Wikimediafoundation.org

I suggest that the wikimedia website ( http://www.wikimediafoundation.org ) be improved and updated in terms of contents, and redesigned. It is currently a mix of an HTML website and links to various projects (en, meta, test...)
I think it is important, to ensure the Foundation looks professional, international and transparent.

I foresee 4 steps:

defining what the content should be, and how it should be divided
deciding what should be on a web page (on meta, but in html), and what would be directly on meta (in wiki)
fixing content (at least of web pages, other pages could be commonly set...actually, we could have both fixed and editable pages...)
redesign graphically

A goal would be to make this multilingual as much as possible.

For those who may not have realised, the current content of the website is on meta, but is editable in a specific format. Some of the website pages will be kept directly in html format like this (so they will be editable here on meta, but will be less easily editable by everyone). Some will be entirely on meta. We suggest that some exist in both formats: wiki to be easily edited by anyone and html, updated from time to time from the wiki page.

Defining content

In terms of content, in my opinion, we should aim at

explaining what the Foundation Wikimedia is about (charter, projects supported)

being transparent (Bylaws, Foundation activity, minutes of board meetings, Wikimedia budget, privacy policy etc...)

providing information about organisation (details of board of Trustees, list of official positions, Wikimedia Project Governing Committeess, Wikimedia membership, details of local Wikimedia chapters, and links to membership subscription, membership fees, )

providing means to make donations, explaining what these donations will be used for and what are our most urgent needs (links to How to make a donation, sponsorship, Donation use reports, test, Wikimedia Hardware Requirements ...). Provide charts (such as where is the money used, when did people give...(to see press releases impacts)

having a press room, with recent press releases, major event reports (such as board elections :-)), and press contact in ALL languages (link to Trophy box, press releases-

explaining the various means to contact the Foundation or the Foundation members

orienting visitors toward shopping (wikiReaders, promotional objects, webshop)

Do you see other things to add ? Do you think some stuff does not belong here ?

Could someone points at the best graphist participants ?

Other points mentionned

Articles of Incorporation
Public Record of the Foundation
Board policies
Insurance policy details
Finance report
Copy of IRS letter granting 501(c)(3) status
Proof of Registration for Solicitation
Status Reports
Code of Ethics

Outline

Question by Tim : currently, the wikimedia.org is a "near" redirection page, while the website is at wikimediafoundation.org adress. Is that the best choice ?

Note : we should find a standard syntax for all the static pages on meta, such as WMF blabla (example WMF homepage, WMF fundaising etc...)

how about subpages (WMF, WMF/About Wikipedia, WMF/About Wikipedia/...)?

The left side of the website currently is :

(static page is a html one, not easily editable)

Home (first level link)
- this goes to www.wikimediafoundation.org. The right side is Wikimedia Foundation home page. The left side is part of the script that fetches text from meta.
- todo
  1. Refactor both left and right.

About Wikimedia (first level link)
- this goes to en.wikipedia.org, a wikipage. Problem : no back navigation. Note : this page is little edited, so could become a static page.
- todo
  1. a static page on meta should replace the en page, and be updated from time to time. The new page should explain what the Foundation Wikimedia is about, with in particular links to "projects" supported, charter.
  2. Should be in several languages (go hunt for versions in other languages)

News (first level link)
- this goes to meta, wikipage. Problem : no back navigation. Note : this page is regularly edited, so should not become a static page.
- todo : add a link on meta webpage to come back to wikimediafoundation website or better find a way to parse the meta page directly into the foundation website

Projects : http://wikimedia.org/ (first level link)
- this goes to a static page, with the project logos and link to websites. Note : no explanation is provided. Content of the page will probably not be updated frequently.
- this page is accessible by shell only. Ask developer
- todo
  1. description of each project to provide
  2. Possibly link to all languages as well (or most active)
  3. would be nice in more languages (translation). Idea would be to make it a multilingual unique page, with access both to project and to wikimediafoundation website.

Mailing lists : http://mail.wikipedia.org/ (first level link)
- this goes to a page accessible by shell only. The contact for it is User:Fire, responsible of the mailing lists. Fire recently updated it. May stay in english only.
- todo
  1. should remove pov links to en wikipedia at the bottom.
  2. could become a second level link, below "contact us"

MediaWiki software : http://wikipedia.sourceforge.net/ (first level link)
- this is accessible by shell only. Best to keep that in english as development issues are dealt with in english only.
- todo
  1. find someone to update it if needed

Donate Now : (first level link)
- this goes to a static page on meta : Wikimedia Fundraising page
- todo
  1. refactor

By-laws (pdf format) (first level link)
- todo
  1. the bylaws were recently put on meta. Have them made into a static page, Wikimedia Wikimedia.
  2. should become a second level link below Foundation.
  3. find translations in a few languages.

GFDL (second level link)
- this page is a static meta page : Wikimedia GNU FDL

What should be added

Organisation of the Foundation (second level link)

Board (should be second level link)
- todo
  1. Add a page to define current board and how it was elected. Description of each trustee (transparency)

Membership (should be first level link))
- todo
  1. How to become a member -> membership FAQ, Wikimedia membership, membership subscription, membership fees

Press room (should be first level link)
- todo

Contact us (should be first level link)
- todo
  1. add other links for contact
  2. put link to mailing lists at second level

Latest plan

An attempt to incorporate the points made above and on the mailing list.

In the sidebar

Home (see below)
About Wikimedia (Shorten the m:Wikimedia article (maybe merge some from en as well) and put that as a new page)
News (to stay on meta? to include a sign-up for news by email?)
Donate Now (link to donations page - current or multilanguage disambiguation page?)
Membership (stable page needs to be created)
Contact us (Base it on the one at en?)
Board - leads to new page with
- Members
- Meetings
- Reports
- Legal records: bylaws, AoI, Public Record, 501(c)(3), RfS
  - no, this should go under About Wikimedia I think
By-laws (link to non-pdf version)
Local chapters - leads to new page with
- Deutsch
- Français
Press room (summarised history, links to good press stories, contact details)
Committees - leads to new page with
- Org chart?
- Development (Tim to make this. Include links to the wikidev wiki, sourceforge wiki etc)
- Grants
- Finance (mav to make this - donations, budget etc. Need pretty charts!)
Mailing lists (link to mail.wikimedia.org)
- Nope, this can go under "contact us"

On the home page

Heading [centered]
interlang-links [on the right]
Logos [centered. These should link to project summaries- have a contact from each to maintain it in each lang]
Intro
Donations (1st column)
Press room (2nd column) (does this need to be on the main page - maybe just a summary with a different header)
Further info
Mission Statement (or maybe this can go in the "about" link)
wot

Where do these go?

Hardware requirements? Link to meta as this changes often? Not sure.
- From donate now, membership... we could have a link to a page on meta, or a summarized page on wmf
Where can we advertise the WikiReader and the shop? (Already on the donations page, but need something else too?)
- These should perhaps go in the menu bar as well ?

Other ideas

Board policies: none exist yet - so ignore this for now. Will include code of ethics, privacy, terms of use, submission standards
- This will go under board
Something more on fundaising on the home page before the next fundraising drive
- We mostly need to leave a room on the main page for the current announcement.
A column with a summary of the latest Foundation news
Separate the different sections into bordered boxes
Drop down box with the local chapters listed in it
Less text than currently. It should just be a summary
Sign up box for newsletter in the sidebar or on the main page
Maybe have a donate button instead of just a link
A "vision and mission" type statement with a message from Jimbo would be better than the current boring mission statement.
FAQs
A "get involved" page listing all the different ways of being involved: editing, MediaWiki development, donations, corporate sponsorship etc
- Actually, I think the current proposal for the menu is too long. The "get involved" would be a great idea.
Will a search form be available?