What do YOU want to see from a dominoGuru.com Website Re-design / Re-Imagining?

07/29/2010 08:56 AM by Chris Toohey

The latest design and function of this site is - quite frankly - not doing it for me. For those of you who may not know, the current version of this site resulted from a ZOMG I replaced the template with the Lotus Notes Client Journal template and there's no backup?! self-inflicted mess of a situation.

See, I have a vision for dominoGuru.com. That it's purpose would go far beyond that of a simple blog, and become a resource for IBM Lotus product portfolio developers.

Don't worry, I'll still be blogging, and the blog will be a major feature of this site... but I don't want it to be the only feature.

Here are some of the thoughts I have on the redesign...

• Articles & Tutorials
  While my blog posts are most often technical in nature, there are certain topics which require more. That's where the Articles & Tutorial section would come into play.
• RSS Feeds Right now, there's only one RSS Feed from this website. It contains post summary information... and I've heard the requests to put full-content in the feed. The next version of this site will not only contain multiple feeds (weblog, articles, apps, et al), but also contain full content.
• ... and speaking of apps
  As I publish more and more applications -- from my recent run of $5 apps to my OpenNTF.org projects and plain-ol-freeware demos -- I think they require a more permanent home on this site. This won't be an app store per se (also you will be able to purchase directy from the site...), but it will serve as a catalog for various (and hopefully multi-authored) applications.
• Mobile
  I want to make this site a more mobile-friendly... both for the reader and -- quite frankly -- for me maintaining the site. Right now, this blog is maintained from a Lotus Notes Client app... which isn't very ideal. Providing mobile device management capabilities will only improve my output, as there are times where I want to post something... but just don't have my laptop handy.
• Premium Content?
  I'm seriously considering creating a monthly-subscription cache of premium content. The idea is simple: you subscribe for -- let's say -- $5/month, for access to exclusive content from me and other subject matter experts in the community. The subscription fees would help drive the premium content, as it would allow me to pay the contributing authors... and I really don't want to resort to ads on this site.
• ... and speaking of ads
  I'm ditching the Amazon store and ads on this site. They just add clutter and the few clickthrus I get really don't justify continued use.

I want to continue with the idea that this is YOUR site, so what do you think? What do you want to see in the next version of this site?

I'm open to all suggestions and feedback, which you can send to me directly at ctoohey@dominoguru.com or submit via comment to this post.