Hi all,
Felix made a good suggestion to start posting some 'Call For Volunteers' on tasks that new folks would find straightforward to work on. Here's the first.
A while back I started an 'Inkscape Examples' section on our website. We've got a couple things posted, but it's been largely neglected. We need a volunteer to take charge of beefing this section of the website up.
This task requires good HTML skills (PHP helps too). No Inkscape development knowledge is needed. Art/design talents will also be pretty important.
The purpose of the Inkscape Examples site is to show off different _ways_ Inkscape is used. It's needs to go beyond just showing off new features (we use the Screenshots page for that), but must be complete works. It's not intended to be simply a place for users to post their work (we have a Gallery section, plus OCAL and Deviant art for that), but rather to provide _one_ example of different _type_ of use. It's not intended to teach people how to use Inkscape (we have the Tutorials for that), but more to inspire and entice people into using Inkscape in new ways.
Ideally, the site should have a listing of different types of things that can be made with Inkscape, with each having a link to a set of pages describing that thing. (Sort of like a woodworking magazine article showing how to build a cabinet.) For example:
* Web site design * CD booklet * Portrait * Presentation * Cross-stitch pattern * Icon set * Landscape design * Org chart * Company logo * etc.
Also, there could be examples of different art "styles". For instance, creating 'distressed' art like Brisgeek is into right now, or using the Trace Bitmap feature to artify a photo, or creating three dimensional effects via spherical gradients.
"Presentations" could have a link to a page containing an example presentation that someone made, a set of steps for how the user created their presentation, problems/solutions encountered, and the source files for review. Sort of like an article in a woodworking magazine explaining how the author built a table.
I think this effort could be done by just collecting examples of work other users have done and posted, interviewing the creator, and writing it up into a decent example, and putting it onto the website. I'd bet, if done well, you could also get it published in an online magazine like OS News.
If you want to work on this, your first step will be to go ahead and put together an example of something, and post it here. We will also need someone to take care of editing/reviewing examples and posting them into the website, so if you're interested in doing that, send me your SourceForge ID.
Bryce