WordPress.org homepage redesign is under operation. Focus is strongly on marketing to new users. The Homepage is the face of the open source project – WordPress. However, it has been quite some time since the design was given some attention. Mark Uraine, a designer at Automattic, posted on the Make/Meta blog about the designing work:
Wow, this is happening fast! During the Contributor Day at WordCamp US, the Marketing Team sat down with a project in mind—the homepage of wordpress.org. Being that the new design style is making an appearance in various places across the site, there was a desire to reboot the homepage as well.”
Uraine also shared the collaboration of original sketches along with a screenshot of the homepages for desktops and mobile as a first draft. You’ll find that the screenshot doesn’t include the site’s header and footer, but will be added in the final implementation. They’ve also created a Codepen Prototype. The design includes a fixed background that features high profile WordPress sites that visitors can see as they scroll. The overall design is very sleek and clean.
While asking for feedback from the community, Uraine said, “Keep in mind that this is only version 1 and we’re planning on launching and iterating quickly. Otto has offered his help to get this implemented. After a few technical revisions, I’ll be passing it over to him for implementation and providing support where I can.”
The WordPress.org homepage redesign is focused on social proof (market share and showcase examples) as well as WordPress’ features and extensibility:
“Extend WordPress with over 45,000 plugins to help your website meet your needs. Add an online store, galleries, mailing lists, forums, analytics, and much more.”
Since Uraine posted the WordPress.org homepage redesign draft, many commenters have been chipping in with revisions to the site copy, which hasn’t yet been finalized. Few have also suggested including A/B testing, although no specific metrics have been determined. The redesign is moving forward quickly, so make sure to chime in on the Make/Meta post if you have any feedback on the draft.
Moreover, WordPress is now becoming more strategic about its marketing in 2017. As Matt Mullenweg announced during the State of the Word 2016, he is bringing a new product-based leadership to core development. He is also assembling a Growth Council to coordinate strategies with the organizations invested in the growth of WordPress.
“We’re at the point now where the steps WordPress needs to take are more significant to get the other 73% of the web it doesn’t have yet,” Mullenweg said.
How do you like the WordPress.org homepage redesign? Make sure you check it out and give your comments(if any) to the community.