The Silent Number

Posted: 2008-07-14

I've already written about why lojban is such an awesome language to learn, but unfortunately, the speaker base is still relatively small. I think the biggest reason for this is the incredibly unattractive website. The wiki currently located at lojban.org is in dire need of an upgrade (perhaps to MoinMoin) and although it would take some effort to migrate all the content, it would more than pay off in the long run. The redesigned site at http://lojban.jim.dabell.name/ is a great start and will hopefully move to www.lojban.org and then the wiki can use wiki.lojban.org to be run parallel to the new homepage. In addition to the already existing mailing lists and imageboards, a phpBB, Vanilla, or some other real forum would be a helpful addition to strengthen and grow the lojban community.


Currently, the wiki (which is the entire site) is slow, unattractive, and disorganized. Its difficult to navigate, space is used very inefficiently, and it isn't easy on the eyes. Visitors that have a potential interest in learning lojban can easily be repelled by their first glance at the site, or get lost before they find what they are looking for. Most people don't feel they should have to look. If they don't see it, they'll just leave. The main page should always be aimed at new visitors, and even if the site redesign example i linked to above took the place of the current wiki, the main page for the wiki should still do the same. Even for those who use the wiki and try to contribute, its slow, the interface is confusing, and the layout is awkward. All the main pages are not user maintained which means that no edit link will appear at the top of the page but it can still be edited by anyone if they copy the URL of the edit page of a user-maintained page and simply replace the page name.


Let's take a look:




So how do we improve the wiki? We use better software and make is easier to edit! Reorganizing, and maintaining the wiki will be much easier on MoinMoin. It would make more sense to fix the content after adopting a better wiki platform. All pages on the wiki should be open and user-maintained. I can only guess that they might not be to prevent vandalism, but with that kind of thinking, Wikipedia would not be where it is today. Wikis are maintained by the users. That's the whole point. Anything that isn't editable doesn't belong on the wiki. It can be moved to the new homepage.


Although mailing lists and the imageboards exist, and it's good that they do, they cannot do what a real forum would. Trying to make the mailing list double as a forum isn't enough. A real forum makes it much easier to give/get support with lojban and have discussions. A mailing list simply can't handle the volume of discussion that a forum can. Its about scalability. A mailing list and a forum are two different things and should remain separate. A real forum handles discussion in a much more organized fashion than a mailing list, and organization is what we need. A forum doesn't replace mailing lists, and mailing lists don't replace a forum-- they both run well in paralell. Take for example the hugely successful ubuntuforums.org-- its a center of communication for ubuntu users but it is used in parallel with mailing lists and irc. All three are essential and effective. Different people may prefer different ones but it is important that they are all available.


Another thing that should certainly be considered is using a content management system (CMS) like Drupal, Joomla, or some other one to make life easier.


So this is what should be done:

1. Lojban redesigned site should take the place of the Wiki


2. Wiki should be moved to wiki.lojban.org


3. All pages should be opened up to be user maintained


4. Upgrade to MoinMoin for reorganization


5. Set up a real forum


6. ???


7. Profit!