[Theforum] Inviting other people

[isaac]

> This got me thinking: are we not advertising thelist enough on
> www.evolt.org? I checked the site again, and sure enough, there is no
> mention of it anywhere except an inconspicuous link labelled "Lists".
> Ahem, we need to fix that, IMO.


+1. It's easy to overlook stuff like that when you've been staring at it
every day for so long.

So now I'm trying to think of ways to make the lists link more obvious. My
ideas so far:

1. Make the "Lists" link bold and a brighter colour (or darker, depending on
the stylesheet - white for the default isaac.css).

 - Simple and effective, but does nothing to promote the fact that we're a
much respected list. A good start anyway.

2. A graphical promotion on the black tab between the round buttons and the
dropdown (we do have room even at 640).

 - Should be avoided.

3. A graphical promotion preceding the articles listing.

 - Would have to *not* look like a banner ad. Should precede content on all
pages to grab people coming directly to articles via external links. Not
particularly interested in this approach either.

4. A graphical promotion at the top of the sidebar.

 - Sidebar is too heavy already. Should be avoided.

5. A graphical promotion above the black tab.

 - Has potential. Can be swapped to promote other areas when required
(upcoming projects, evoltcons, etc). Again, should not look like a banner
ad.

6. A text or graphical promotion at the foot of pages.

 - Doesn't have too strong an effect on the rest of the layout/styling, but
is still able to grab the interest of visitors who've come straight to
articles.


I'm interested in discussing (1) and (6) further.

Any (text) promo should probably cover the following points:

 - what thelist is (mentioning specifically it's name, that it's a mailing
list and that it's widely respected)
 - who thelist is suitable for
 - perhaps mention average posts/day and that digest mode and an archive are
available
 - link to further info on lists.evolt.org


Thoughts?

isaac

--------------------------------------------------------------
triple zero digital | upstairs at 200 the parade, norwood 5067
(08)83320545 | www.triplezero.com.au | isaac at triplezero.com.au