Hello,
Also send on behalf of "Steven M. Ottens"
Hi all,

I've been pondering the site structure using the three focus groups, while keeping in mind that our audience is diverse and groups overlap. 
To put it simply:
New users want to:
-know what inkscape is
-get it
-know how to get started

Existing users want to:
-get new versions of inkscape
-get add-ons
-learn how to use it
-get involved (user/designer style)
-get the latest news

Developers want to:
-get source code
-learn how to develop
-get involved (developer style)
-get the latest news

Note that all three groups want to 'get something', all three want to know/learn something and two want to get involved somehow and get updated with the latest news. Also getting involved means different things to different people. Also the current distinction between developers and community is not entirely valid in my opinion. For a starter, developers are a part of the community :) Also bugtracking is both important for users and developers. 

In stead of focussing on the different target groups, I'd like to focus on the different activities. When someone visits the site, (s)he will not first think of him/herself as a developer, user, etc. (S)he will have a specific need which (s)he wants to be met. So instead of forcing visitors to think which role they fit, I'd like to meet their questions head on. So my suggestion is to make these 6 toplevels for the menustructure:
-about (which should meet questions on what it is, who work on/with it, what can you do with it, what can it do)
-downloads (which should answer all questions relating getting inkscape and related resources)
-learn (which should answer questions on how to get started, use it and develop for it)
-get involved (which should answer questions on how to get involved in all possible ways)
-news (which should show what's happening in the community, the development, the wiki)
-donate (which should bring us money ;)

The frontpage should apart from the 6 menu-items provide a direct link to the download which is appropriate for the visitors OS and underneath an 'other version link' which links to the main downloads page, similar to firefox approach. Also it should provide direct access to 'overview' 'features' 'gallery' 'getting started/learning resources' and show the latest news. This probably leaves us some space to be filled on the frontpage. I've not yet come up with appropriate extra content, so if there are any suggestions, please let me know.

One question I have is the integration of the wiki within the main site. Obviously being a wiki, we cannot or should not force the same structure as the site. Though different parts of the wiki are interesting in different places in the menu structure. It would be good if we create and link to main wikipages on different subjects. For instance wiki/learn as a starting page for all learning-related wikicontent. This way we can integrate the wiki more into the main site. 

The rest of the menu structure would then look something like this (note that it is most likely not complete, I'm typing this on the move so don't have access to the website and wiki to check for missing bits):
ABOUT
-overview
-screenshots
-gallery
-cases
-features
-supporters/sponsors (?)

DOWNLOADS
-windows
-linux
-mac
-other
-source
-addons (palettes, plugins etc)
-open clip art (extern)

LEARN
-books
-tutorials
-videos
-FAQ
-wiki/learn
-dev docs
-user docs

GET INVOLVED
-forums
-mailinglist
-bugtracker
-irc/jabber
-wiki
-roadmap
-developer
-designer

NEWS
-news
-releases
-contests
-meetings
-wiki/recent

DONATE 
(nothing under here, just a direct link to the donations page)

I am aware this structure is quite different from the current and as such it might take quite some effort to relocate current content in the new structure. As stated before I haven't looked to each individual page in the current site and checked if it has a proper place in the new structure. I haven't thought very hard and deep on how to integrate the wiki into the main site, other than the linking in the menu, this might need some more thought. Also it is a proposal so I'm open for feedback, comments and improvements.

Regards,
Steven