Content profile and functional brief

What Content Matters ?

Core Content

In decreasing order of importance:

Forums

(Currently : http://share.ez.no/forums)
The main exchange place, broken down into the following topics :

• Install & configuration: discussing topics around eZ Publish installation and configuration. Often used by new comers in the ecosystem
• Setup & design : topics around customization of eZ Publish configuration and all design-related questions
• General : carry-all forum, for topics not fitting in other forums
• Developer : tips, tricks and discussions on eZ Publish development (PHP, template, structures, performances, ... )
• Suggestions : ideas for new features, enhancements
• Extensions : forum dedicated to discussions around existing eZ Publish extensions. It is further broken down into subforums per important extension
• Translation : dedicated to members translating eZ Publish. Per language, they can exchange on various translation-related topics.
• Discussions : every article/tutorial has a dedicated small forum, all placed under 'Discussions'
• Feedback and ideas for this portal : Dedicated to gathering input on this portal.

This is the central place for exchanging, it needs a strong focus and care. On top of forum threads (like this : http://share.ez.no/forums/setup-design/googlesitemapgenerator-and-ez-4.2), here are the key pages in the forum system :

• Main landing page:
  http://share.ez.no/forums. Needs to reflect the overall forums activity (currently does not), give instant pointers to the discussions and let members feel like participating to them. Right and/or left column could be leveraged to better reflect the activity, but this is a suggestion only.
• Per-forum landing page
  (see listing above, example : http://share.ez.no/forums/setup-design). Some topics are sticky (meaning they will stay on top of the list whatever their activity is. This is changed regularly). Activity needs to be reflected here, unanswered topics need to be easily noticeable, browsing/searching the topics will probably be one of the main actions here.

Articles & Tutorials

(Currently : http://share.ez.no/articles and http://share.ez.no/tutorials)

Articles and tutorials are pieces of knowledge which bring great added-value to the eZ Community. Their typical content range from how-tos for beginners, to expert topics, through experienced-developers classical questions. They can take various forms: plain, multi-page articles, step-by-step tutorials with a concrete result in the end. So far, no multimedia screencast has been submitted, but they are encompassed in this category and much appreciated.

Three elements are important :

• Ease findability of knowledge content
  From this section's landing page (for example, can be somewhere else too), one must be be able to filter the content against level criteria (beginner / confirmed / advanced), and by broad topic (third-party / hosting / performances / solution building / design /... ). Other filters can be added later.
• Easy way to submit a new tutorial/article
  Probably from the landing page of this section (for example, can be somewhere else too), establish a clear path to submitting a tutorial/article. This path should present the guidelines regarding article publishing, and, in as few steps as possible, allow to submit the content. Then a direct contact between the author and the edition team is made, and they can start working together on the given piece of content (off the site, through email most likely).
• Make sure the tutorials wish-list is available, where writers can pick a subject and address it if the feel comfortable with it.

Product & Code

(Currently : http://share.ez.no/projects)

The eZ Community find its roots around eZ Publish, content management system (more on this : http://ez.no/ezpublish). Around this strong connection with the product revolve many an activity, key in the community's momentum :

Collaborative development:

A forge is available for any community member to create her own project (eZ Publish extension/solution most of the time), and trigger collaborative development around it. While this forge (http://projects.ez.no) should not be merged with the community portal, a strong link must be established between the two.

• Member profile: list of projects she is leading, she is member of
• Community Partner profile : list of projects her member are members or leaders of.

Feedback gathering:

By the open source nature of eZ Publish (public SVN repository: http://pubsvn.ez.no/), and the regular pace of stable releases (every 6 months), testing and experimenting with the product can be part of any member's daily activities. This can take the following forms :

• reporting a bug, request for enhancement or feature request on http://issues.ez.no/
• browsing for already reported bugs, feature and enhancement requests and add a comment under the one matching the problem. On http://issues.ez.no/ too
• Expressing one's opinion or ideas about the product, or a specific point of feature : in forums

Product orientation:

While this is not setup yet, a bunch of online polls, surveys and requests for ideas should soon be entering the community's life, on a regular basis. This will be a direct way for members to influence the product's evolution, making sure it better fits expectations.