Census-making-thread (not actual questionnaire yet) on Main Page AKA Homepage.

Author: RationalMadman

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RationalMadman
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Please tell us what you think should be on, should be taken off, and perhaps the overall aim and 'feel' of the homepage of the website.

The homepage as is, is this:


'Us' is myself, Mike (the admin), Virtuoso, Castin and Ramshutu.

This may include Bsh1 and Tejretics depending on later participation.

If you struggle to reply, I will be happy to come up with exact questions on the matter. This will later turn into a MEEP-like thread and since MEEPs are on moderation-policy, I am entitled to make completely official threads that equal MEEPs in seriousness on non-mod questions about the website.
dustryder
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Is the "How do debates work?" section necessary? There's almost no chance that anyone who has found this site isn't familiar with the debating process. Of course if there's nothing to replace it with, fine. But otherwise it's obviously just redundant space filler.
RationalMadman
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@dustryder
It is likely we will keep it and make it a much smaller 3-step thing but basically instead of that should it have a slogan of the site and maybe 'what debating is about' then? As opposed to 'how to make a debate'. The removal of the 'how debates work' is of course viable if enough people feel it's a waste to have.
David
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My thoughts would be to design it like the old DDO website where the debates were front and center. We really need to redesign the entire site as it looks clunky IMO. 
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@David
The reason I disagree with this, although I totally agree perhaps showcasing the most popular AND hand-picked ones (not by an algorithm, human-picked etc updated regularly) of the 'best and latest' (weighing one against the other) of our site, I dont however agree that a slogan and some sort of 'this is what debating is and why we love it and encourage you to get good at it in a proper non-reddit-like environment' intro to why 1v1 debating is such a unique thing and is great for the brain.
Swagnarok
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I usually just skip the homepage and go straight to "Forum". As I normally did on DDO as well. If there's one debate that's really drawing a lot of attention and activity then it should be featured on the homepage, and hopefully that feature will not malfunction for at least a couple of years.

I wish this was a broader "census" (I suspect you meant consensus) thread for the site in general, because there really isn't a whole lot to say about the homepage. Umm, the three things included at the bottom are either heavily redundant or misleading. To my knowledge there is not currently a "general chat" feature, though I do believe that earlier on in this site's life cycle Mike was working on designing something to that effect, which I presume he since abandoned work on.
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@David
I'm just spitballing here but I'd like to see something graphically appealing that emphasizes "art" as the brand in the category of debate sites.  Here's one idea that probably only appeals to me:

Take JL David's iconic painting "The Tennis Court Oath" and make it the home page graphic.



DebateArt logo imposed across the back wall.  On the left wall, as if written on the wall, a link to debates, on the right wall, a link to forums.  Other links appear as comic book "speech bubbles," perhaps popping up as you scroll over various faces- links to "hottest debate," "controversy of the week" "newest member" things like that.  I like Virt's notion of putting debates up front but that may encourage trolls to post horribles just to see them on the front page (a la DDO).  I second RM's notion that we should be branding DebateArt as the brainy venue for dialogue, "smart is what sets DebateArt apart" sort of thing.
oromagi
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"smart+heart sets DebateArt apart"

DebateArt: the heart of smart

DebateArt:  where speech is free and opinion prized
RationalMadman
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@Swagnarok
Census is based on the word consensus, The next thread would be a specific tailored questionnaire based on discussions behind the scenes and these replies.
Ramshutu
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While opinions on what content is require is important, it is very easy to get bogged down into specifics and details like which information to present where. While that’s always good to get implementation ideas, the crucial information for what to place in the main page, and how to progress the site is how people are using the website as a whole.

So with that I mind it’s VERY important to understand what everyone is using this site for, and how.

I would like to ask people:

1.) What  they do when they log into the site?

For example, 

I log in to the main page and immediately go to the debate list, or the forums. I’m looking for new debates entering the voting period, new challenge period debates that pique my interest, and then as an asside whether there are any new posts.

So for me, a good landing page would list new debates, or debates that have changed status, and new forum posts: together with easily links to the debate list, AND my notifications.

2.) For those not on DDO - how did you get here? and what made you stay?

I have used other debate sites, and if I went to the home page of createdebate. I’d be turned off by the call outs and deliberately trolling. DDO - imo is a little unclear what it is from the homepage, meaning that you’d have to be really interested to start (I found ddo through searching for discussion forums).

The important aspect, is why you chose to create a profile here and stay, what intruiged you by this site in order to stay?

3.) Do you also use other sites? If so, what’s the split, and why?

So I probably know the answer to this - but are people on other sites too? What’s the time
splot? 50/50? 90/10? Is it clustered (1 month here, 1 month there).

When you are browsing Dart, what makes you think “hmm, I should check the other site out now”?




With these questions - it’s going to be much easier to break down why people are here, what makes people stay, and where the areas of focus may need to be. This is a much more important focus as a first step than leaping right to what people think should be done - as it helps crystallize thoughts and approaches.
RationalMadman
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@Ramshutu
Did you want my answers? I'd be happy to give them but we both know I'm an anomaly of a user in many ways to all three of those questions (probably I'm most normal with the answer to the first question).
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@RationalMadman
All answers are helpful answers.

9 days later

IlDiavolo
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With all due respect, I think the forum is also a place to debate, a bit informal but it's a debate after all. I dare to say there are more people in the forum than in the debate section. So if it's more popular, don't you think it should have more exposure on the main page? 
dave2242
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@oromagi
"smart+heart sets DebateArt apart"

DebateArt: the heart of smart

DebateArt:  where speech is free and opinion prized

idk if that sounds good or not. probably not 
https://www.debateart.com/forum/topics/1557-census-making-thread-not-actual-questionnaire-yet-on-main-page-aka-homepage
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