I've revamped the "Get Involved" wikipage under "WiserEarth News" in the homepage. Since this has a lot to do with my suggestions on imroving the homepage, please check it out @ http://www.wiserearth.org/article/77cc09f8d4cbeb05631a86ab666e35bb/

I think it's much more comprehensive and streamlined now than the "Using WiserEarth" wikipage @ http://www.wiserearth.org/article/participate (which, unfortunately is marked as "locked". So, why not switch the URL?... I think "/article/participate" is more elegant for the "Get Involved" wikipage)

Anyway, after/during that rewriting process I came up with the following ideas to improve WiserEarth's homepage:


1. I'll start from the middle,

1.a. the WiserEarth "box". I think we should put a "Find out more about WiserEarth" link in there, which should link to the "About Us" page. This would make it easier for newcomers to learn about WiserEarth.

1.b. While I'm at it, I'd like to put a suggestion for the "About Us" page regarding the "Why is WiserEarth Needed?" section. I think we should add some more about what advantages WiserEarth is offering to people and organizations when compared to them joining other social network, or other "for a cause" social network (Razoo, Idealist.org, etc.) for that matter, and when compared to only having a personal/organizational website/blog on the internet. This should be well-thought of to show the uniqueness, if not to call "superiority", of WiserEarth compared to other online networking approaches. Also put emphasis on the "wiki" aspect of WiserEarth. Another one: How about replacing the "Media and Press Center" section with "Get Involved" wikipage's "Get to know what WiserEarth is all about" section, since I think the latter is more comprehensive.

1.c. Put a big "Join Us" or "Sign up" button there... or not. Since it's already in the right-hand side of the page. Maybe we need to make it stand out a bit more.

1.d. Moving down to the "Browse" box, why not put the "numbers"/"statistics" beside corresponding items in the left-hand side of the homepage? This should make the numbers visible throughout the site, LIVE. This should also free up space for:

1.e. Putting the following "boxes": "Explore to expand your network", "Share your knowledge", and an important one we seem to be forgetting, "Learn and Collaborate" in place of "Browse". Provide brief descriptions for each box (without links), and provide a link to the "Get Involved" wikipage for each box.

1.f. Don't forget to delete the "Get Involved" link from the "WiserEarth News" section.

These changes should create a streamlined browsing and participating experience for new users.


2. For the left-hand side:

2.1. Maybe put a "User Guide" link at the bottom above "Invest in WiserEarth"? the link could point to the "Get Involved" link. Which brings out the idea, why not rename the "Get Involved" wikipage into "User Guide" or "Start Here", etc.? ... "User Guide" would be quite allright I guess.

2.2. Not quite a usable idea yet, but I noticed that "Browse", "Contribute" and "Discuss" corresponds well with "Explore to expand your network", "Share your knowledge", and "Learn and Collaborate". Any idea how we can use this to improve the homepage or the site?


3. For the right-hand side:

3.1. Why not put the social syndication/bookmarking icons here? like those found on every other page in WiserEarth.


That's it for now. Hope some are useful.
Best,
Bowo

See also my related post here:
http://www.wiserearth.org/forum/view/11732fe1455fe972032b15a55764de3c