[TYPO3-typo3org] [TYPO3-hci] Kickoff: TYPO3 4.1 (suggestions)

[Matthew Manderson]

Erik and team...

> Else the project "Usability testing of typo3.org" should be supported.
> http://typo3.org/community/participate/in-progress/

How am I supposed to contribute to this page there are no instructions for
contributors? Surely a simply feedback form that allowed attachments would
be sufficient.

1) I search for TYPO3 in Google and get the first result as typo3.com
wonderful!

2) Great so I land on typo3.com - Why the is there no "Download" link? Every
software website in the world has this but not TYPO3?

3) So I am fannying about looking for a TYPO3 download link and I find it
hidden under the screenshots section. Why?

4) Great so now I am at http://typo3.org/download/ This looks more like it.
But wait I have two choices:

1) If you already have a webserver with the required components installed
2) If you don't have a webserver and want to test TYPO3 on your local PC, 

Hmm neither of these suit me? I have access to a shared web hosting account
yes but not 'I already have a webserver' Web servers are expensive and a
bugger to maintain.

These words are confusing and stem back to when TYPO3 was expected to run
only on a dedicated web server. Shared web servers are way more powerful
than old dedicated. Anyone heard of dual xeon? So this wording needs to
invite people who have a shared web hosting account as well.

3) So ok I click on the zip/tar.gz packages link and whoa! Magic! the first
item is perfect for me it promises: "Dummy package This archive contains a
skeleton site. You will need this if you start a new TYPO3 site."

Great I fancy a skeleton site! I picture a simple template and menu and a
few dummy pages.

However as an experienced TYPO3 user I know that this does not actually give
you a Skeleton site in fact it gives you at least 2 error pages. 1) Error
no pages found on root level! Uh what does that mean to a newbie and 2)
Error no template found?

NB:  I look up dummy in the dictionary and I get:

1) an imitation, copy, or likeness of something used as a substitute:
2) a mock-up of a proposed publication (as a book or magazine)

So on this basis the dummy package as a description is wrong and misleading
for newbies. A better term would be 'Empty shell!'

4) So the only other alternative on this page is the Quickstart and Testsite
packages which are quoted as "no longer maintained..." Geeze this does not
sound very promissing.

So I download the dummy package because at least that looks up to date and I
get a 'skeleton site'

So you can see how my expose of this tiny but vital part of the TYPO3 to
download journey causes problems for people new to the idiosyncracies of
TYPO3.

Now we all now that installation also has its own set of problems but the
next topic of my typo3.org expose would be documentation!

If you think from a beginner perspective you'll see that a few very tiny
changes along the way would help a great many people.

Happy days!
Matthew