Format?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amy Stephen on October 28, 2009 at 9:34am

Good - thanks, Nicole for kicking off the discussion.

Totally can see the first topic, lots of good stories there.

The second topic, as well. Kind of a Site Builder approach. Maybe recipes for various types of Web sites, reviews of Extensions, instructions for how to build different menu types. I can see Site Profiles in this section, similar to what Rene shared in his Amazing what you can build in 4 weeks.

The third is a bit fuzzy for me. I wouldn't combine admin's and developers. Very different types of information. I'm not sure about the admin section. My gut feel would be that stories of that nature might go into the Expanding your site section, with some of the geekier titles into a Developers section. Maybe someone else has ideas on how that might expand out into stories. I'm not a system admin person - so - maybe that's my problem there.

I'd really like to see the Developer topic emphasized. It's really important to start building a strong, collaborative group of developers. We could have stories about using the API,creating extensions, adding AJAX, Mobile, using xml-rpc, etc.

I would consider a section for community - where JUGs and Joomla! Day events and other local activities could be shared. Events - what's going on - Flickr pictures - initiatives with schools and learning. Something to celebrate what those folks are doing. There are lots of stories in developing nations where Joomla! is making a big difference for people. I'd like to see some of those stories make it in.

Appreciate you kicking this off and allowing me to share my ideas!

Permalink Reply by Paul Orwig on October 28, 2009 at 2:01pm

Hi Nicole, thanks for starting off this discussion, and this is definitely the right place!

I really like your ideas about targeting content by audience. I think it would also be a good idea to have some recurring columnists who could hopefully establish some continuity and "stickiness" with our readers. Another idea I like that I have seen mentioned elsewhere here would be to have one or more recurring "spotlight" features, which could focus on a website, an extension, a person, etc.

I think that our Chief Editor Michael Moloney will help to drive this discussion as well as lots of others as we work together to define what this new magazine will be. I expect that Michael will begin to share his vision for the magazine with us very soon.

Thanks for taking a closer look at the format of the last magazine too. It's very helpful to think about where "we've" been, so we can build on what's good and hopefully find room for improvement.

I have seen so many great ideas here and there on this site regarding different elements of the format of the magazine. It is encouraging to see all of the enthusiasm and energy around the magazine. I am excited to see what we will all come up with!

Permalink Reply by Brett Hooker on October 29, 2009 at 4:30pm

Some streams to consider:

- News (what's happening - mine tweets, etc for this, include core project updates here)
- Solutions (for consultants and end users; delivering outcomes)
- Design (for web designers; templates, html, css, browsers, stds etc)
- Administration (for sys admins and hosters; security, performance, etc)
- Development (for developers; framework, tips, patterns etc)
- Case Studies (real world sites; mine showcase etc for this)
- Community (profile the people and places you can collaborate with; put a face to the project)
- Events (joomla days, training courses, etc)

Tutorials, extensions, tips would be addressed in each of the areas as appropriate to that audience.

Permalink Reply by Marcos Peebles on February 17, 2010 at 5:35am

As this is about format and the magazine is well advanced, I have a question about the print issue.

I know the magazine is going to be a site, but then again, interesting articles are always nice to print for further readings. Regarding that topic, I love the way Before&After Magazine (BAmagazine.com) handles that issue, they have 2 "formats", one is for presentation (pdf slides) and one is what they call 'paper-saver format'. Not only is it clever and saves paper but also very handy for reading purposes.
Screenshot hereunder:

Would it be possible (I dunno how just asking) to have some articles layout in pdf with the same technique (say 1 or 2 per issue)? That would be awesome, what do you think, am I dreaming or is this possible? Would it be easy to manage? The idea being that it is not about spending hours on reformatting the thing but rather have an automated kinda script... Would this be worth the effort? Asking the moon maybe, dunno...

Permalink Reply by Paul Orwig on February 17, 2010 at 12:01pm

Thanks Marcos, this is an interesting idea.

I don't know if there are any tools we could use to help automate the generation of "paper-friendly" printed articles or not. If there aren't any, my concern is that it would be extra work to create and manage articles in multiple formats.

To give this idea broader exposure, I invite you to start a new thread about it on the Joomla! Community Magazine forum.