Principal: We are now an established organization and need to treat this website as a marketing/distribution tool. Fewer words and less white space. Graphics as interface/links.
Move header bar to bottom of page, leave Login and Language at top right - first page only.
I had to scroll and copy three pages to see the first page of our website. It should be one page only and compelling. Rules: upper left is most viewed page area, lower right the least. Color to draw specific attention as needed.
and publicly owned corporations
site map as a left sidebar tree, collapsible
Add green link buttons for Projects and Datasets
Select datasets by region by clicking on map
Add LinkedIn. We need specific champions for each social media link.
All of this becomes the header of the right collapsible side bar
Put these items at the top of the right side bar
Have all of these central items expand to fill the screen whenever sidebars are collapsed.
View a specific region’s datasets, OpenSpending Chapters, and … by clicking map
These are all great. Drop the images, reduce the words and sizes, and place them all as part of the right side bar.
Keep some sort of color differential as you have now. OpenSpending name on left. This should format like the top bar of the page, with any extra bullets and items (minimal) below that in slightly smaller text. This is a version of the site map and all links and moves should update automatically. About Us, Help, and Contact should be prominent links in this area. We also need a QC/Validation section on the website and a champion for those ongoing efforts.
I suspect that we could get a world class expert like Alberto Cairo to aid us in website redesign on a volunteer basis. I can assist if someone high up in the food chain wants to pursue this option.
I’ve purchased the url WhereDoesTheMoneyGo.org for use as a US version of WhereDoesMyMoneyGo. I did this because of the issues I had with a lack of engagement in the US regarding local chapters and goals. I also found our chapter’s management website less than friendly. It turned out to be difficult to engage other individuals in the US using that site as everyone was scattered widely and interested individuals appear to have difficulty in accumulating local critical mass, so I felt a standalone website might work better. It appears that to obtain critical mass in the US we may need to engage a little differently than the smaller project specific workgroup approach. This bears thought and discussion and if there are other highly engaged US volunteers I need to get in contact with them.
I need someone from OKFN and OpenSpending to discuss US chapter coordination and marketing with me when possible. Perhaps even spin this off as a project. US development will have a huge impact on OKFN and OpenSpending design, standards, and goals over time.
Do we have a regional/local chapter setup champion/advisor? Also, I would appreciate help with the development of this US website. I’m using Namo WebEditor 9 for website design and management.