The codidact.org landing page

General
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I just (for the first time since quite a while) went to the codidact.org landing page, and I don’t like what I see. I guess this was designed with smartphones in mind, and with complete disregard of desktop/laptop computers.

When I open the page, I get a huge image with the logo “The Open Source Q&A Platform” written large enough that you can read it from several meters away. Apart from the links on the upper right, which are in comparison small (although in absolute terms they aren’t) and therefore easily overlooked, I don’t get to any other content on the page without scrolling.

And on scrolling, I get info dispersed with lots of empty space, and I have to scroll lightyears (yes, I’m exaggerating, but only slightly) to get at the links.

All in all, I’m not very happy with that design. Please take into account that not everyone uses a tiny screen (and I’m using my laptop screen; if I were using the external monitor right now, it would be even larger! And I’m not even using the full screen width either).

I think when you open the page, you should get more than a logo and title/subtitle right away, without scrolling. If this had been the first thing I ever had seen of the project, I definitely would not have been drawn toward it.

BTW, I learned from the bottom of that page that there is also a mailing list one can subscribe to; what is this mailing list used for? And are there any archives of that mailing list? If so, it would make sense to link to them there.

A note: This is only about codidact.org; the page at codidact.com is great.

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This is effectively a placeholder page. As the project is developed, I am sure we will end up with something more comprehensive and responsive design. But right now, the idea was to have something that would work on all devices, even if not ideal. That being said, I am not a designer (my job on this page was primarily proofreading the text) and I am sure the designers will take your thoughts under advisement.

As far as the mailing list, we have not used it yet for anything. My expectation is that we will use it on a relatively occasional basis, primarily to announce major milestones of Codidact (e.g., projected “live” date, new communities added, etc.).

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