User:Luccagenes/Sandbox/TestPage1

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From the perspective of a "novice's point of view"

A hub should not be a page where you can get to "everywhere" in the wiki, it should be a set of directions (road signs) showing you how to get there (leading you there).

Notes about the characteristics of a good hub page

For a “hub” page, you want the user to come in, notice one or two things of interest right away (at the top), pick the link they want, and then go. You do not want to much clutter for the novice (too many choices will get them lost) while the experts know what they want and want to get there fast (using the sidebar or by progressing onto the next page via the hub bullets). A hub should provide quick navigation for those familiar with the wiki as well as a limited number of concise directions for the novice.

Basic page layout: Top row of headliner boxes (two or three, two for 640px and add another for larger display). These could highlight current, next, and future projects that want contributors to help (advertising space). A simple, straight forward sidebar for Wiki Projects is good for quick access to previously accessed pages. A simple bullet hub to redirect the experienced user to where they want to be while as the same time, providing guided direction for the novice. Include a "Quick HELP Links" table near the end (out of sight and not a distraction) for those that are "lost".

Page color schemes: Use minimal dark colors (use for sidebar headers),  pick one basic color selection (for example: blue, green, brown, or yellow) with other colors being shades of the main color. Reds are for Alert, Accent, or Warning, use only once or twice per page or as border colors (minimal border widths). Too many colors (outside the photos or images) creates chaos and will drive a novice away. If multiple main colors are desired make sure they do not clash. Avoid colors that will draw the eye away from the content. White letters need to be BOLD and at least 25px in size to be readable.

Misc. Notes No tabs or picture boxes to select, just a simple "select a bullet" approach. After all, bullets are just round tabs. This approach is not limited to the minimal spacing available within the tabs and also limits the "wordy" aspects of too much information. Concise statements and quick decisions for the user.

Also note that since this would be a wiki template (the image map adjusts to the image size) it can be sized to fit either the current 640px page or any future page size.

Progress through a series of similar picture hubs to get to page of interest. If (in this case) there are 7 bullets, each with 7 bullets then that is 49 target pages. One level deeper would result in 73 or 343 target pages within 3 mouse clicks. Do not worry how deep the hubs have to go because the user will bookmark their final destination anyway. It is just a mechanism to get them there in the first place or if they lost their bookmark, how to get back there again.

Simple navigation with minimal reading to find your way (go quickly from A -> B -> C -> D)

Hub construction

Construction is simple and efficient. A PowerPoint template could be made available which would provide the option to change a "standardized" square picture (cropped square) to a bullet hub picture.

The text, the number of bullets (four to eight), the size of the bullets and the text, the colors (plus transparency) of the text or bullets, and the image (or multiple images) can easily be modified within a particular PowerPoint template design (after creating a duplicate image to preserve the template).

The image is "Saved As" and then called up for cropping using the windows editor (Paint) for a simple crop of the right side to make a square picture. Save and then done. Ready to upload.

The template design (number of bullets and their size) would be interchangeable with the standardized wiki template containing the image map so very few image maps would have to be made. One for each bullet count and an additional one if the bullet size is changed.

Just copy the code from an existing wiki template (lets say a 7 bullet picture) and save as a new template after changing the image link and the bullet links. Easy (easy?).

Progression display (site map) from “Main page”

I just started this list so PLEASE ADD INFO to the list below if I missed something. A WORK IN PROGRESS

“New to genealogy?”


 * Hub: Getting started


 * Getting started (Basic Wiki Navigation)
 * Genealogy Basics (terminology)
 * Start collecting family info
 * Storing the information (select software)
 * Photographs and Documents
 * Learning research principles (wiki + records collections)
 * Things you can try
 * Get others involved

“New to the wiki?”


 * Hub:What is the Wiki


 * About the Wiki
 * Editing in the Wiki (editor types: wikitext, VisualEditor, rich editor)
 * Advanced navigation (sidebars, hubs, etc)
 * Using the search engine (filters) + searching categories
 * How to use the Wiki Help files
 * User page and playing in a sandbox
 * Using “Talk” pages + Watching pages
 * Uploading images (copyrights) + what to include
 * Categorizing (using and adding)
 * How to report issues (fixes) using talk or submit or start case
 * Dos and Don’ts + where to "submit" imput

“Want to help?”


 * Hub: Volunteers


 * Things you can do
 * Join a research project
 * Adopt a page
 * Contribute
 * add content
 * fix or upgrade content
 * Research projects
 * Inside the Wiki
 * State projects
 * County projects
 * Barn-Raising projects
 * Outside the Wiki
 * Billion Graves
 * Find a grave
 * David Rumsey Map Collection
 * USGenWeb
 * FamilySearch digital collections
 * Support projects
 * Fix or submit projects
 * Enhance content
 * Add new content
 * How to participate
 * Research Groups
 * Meet and Talk
 * Your input is wanted
 * Support projects
 * Fix or submit projects
 * Enhance content
 * Add new content
 * How to participate
 * Research Groups
 * Meet and Talk
 * Your input is wanted
 * Research Groups
 * Meet and Talk
 * Your input is wanted
 * Meet and Talk
 * Your input is wanted
 * Meet and Talk
 * Your input is wanted
 * Your input is wanted
 * Your input is wanted


 * Hub: Wiki Support


 * What is Wiki Support
 * About the Wiki
 * Support Role
 * Community governs
 * Wiki Policies
 * Guiding Principles
 * Volunteers Wanted
 * The Support Center
 * Team
 * Meetings
 * Maintenance
 * Assignments
 * Projects
 * Reports
 * Training
 * Talk with us


 * Hub: Wiki Community
 * Contributor help
 * Research help
 * Committees
 * Meetings
 * Societies and Libraries
 * Committees
 * Meetings
 * Societies and Libraries
 * Societies and Libraries
 * Societies and Libraries

Miscellaneous


 * Hub: Help content


 * Getting started (navigation)
 * Using the editors
 * add images
 * add tables
 * Editing pages
 * copying code from other pages
 * copy tables
 * copy parameters
 * Creating new pages
 * categorizing a page
 * Learn HTML and wikitext
 * Learn HTML and wikitext
 * Learn HTML and wikitext

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 Wiki Projects May Barn-Raising
 * African Americans

Research Projects


 * American Indians
 * Archives and Libraries
 * Bible Records
 * Biography
 * Cemeteries
 * Census
 * Church Records
 * Court Records
 * Directories
 * Emigration and Immigration
 * Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups
 * Funeral Homes
 * Gazetteers
 * Genealogy
 * History
 * Land and Property
 * Maps
 * Military Records
 * Naturalization and Citizenship
 * Newspapers
 * Obituaries
 * Occupations
 * Online Records
 * Periodicals
 * Probate Records
 * Public Records
 * Societies
 * Taxation
 * Vital Records
 * Voting Registers
 * Other Records
 * For Further Reading