I'm finding myself drawn less and less to WiserEarth because like most people I am over-committed, and in the limited time I have I am finding that I can not do on WiserEarth what I feel would be the most productive way to spend time.

Example: Nutrition is a large area of concern for me because I deal with autoimmune challenges, and nutrition is the foundation of health. I am a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation -- which focuses on nutrition -- but when I tried to get other people in my local group, as well as other people in other local groups to help create a network on WiserEarth I was met with a lot of resistance.

1. Most local groups use Yahoo Groups because it makes it really easy for emails to be passed back and forth that inclusive.
2. Most people subscribe to a number of WAPF Yahoo Groups because a lot of information is shared on them.
3. Most people are over-committed and stressed for time, and joining another internet service that does not make things easier while preserving what they already have, it just not something they are willing to do.

There have been discussion in this group about enhancing the ability of existing groups to link-up, as well as expanded email abilities, Administrators' having greater control over group sites, and Members having greater control over their Profiles, but somehow the macro-changes that might really make WiserEarth a lot more productive -- and a more desirable a network to be a part of -- seem to get lost in a lot of micro changes that are lost on many of us.

It seems that every time a new idea comes up suddenly a new Group or WikiPage or other degree of complexity appears, and I find it becoming harder and harder for me to keep track of -- as well as being willing to keep track of -- what is going on. And I also find it harder and harder to find answers to questions I might have.

From my Luddite-influenced perspective, I feel that the usability of WiserEarth need to maximized toward the greatest simplicity possible to be inclusive for a majority of people who use the internet as a resource-tool -- and not a way of life -- and that perhaps to do this a moratorium of sorts needs to called on the creation of adding complexity, while more thought is given to ease of use, ease of access to information, and, inclusiveness!

jp

Excellent point JP:

"...the usability of WiserEarth need to maximized toward the greatest simplicity possible to be inclusive for a majority of people who use the internet as a resource-tool -- and not a way of life -- and that perhaps to do this a moratorium of sorts needs to called on the creation of adding complexity, while more thought is given to ease of use, ease of access to information, and, inclusiveness!"

I think most of the "adding complexity" was born out of necessity (e.g. Suggestions for WE Improvement group, Area of Focus Stewards group), and some are just pure experimental trial-and-error (e.g. WEversity a.k.a. WiserUniversity group). Both approach are needed for progress, but perhaps has gotten overwhelming for many.

Thus, perhaps we can devote the next two weeks, or month to engage active community members and willing others, to have brainstorming sessions on how to achieve what you said? This Suggestion group is a great space to host the discussions. Hopefully this will provide more beneficial input for the tech team (and partners) in making the macro-changes needed.

Here's some articles to jump-start the brainstorming session:

1. "10 Principles Of Effective Web Design"
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/index.php/2008/01/31/10-principles-of-effective-web-design/

2. "50 Web Usability Tips that Help You Attract and Retain Web Visitors"
http://www.doshdosh.com/50-web-usability-tips/

3. "50 Questions to Evaluate the Quality of Your Website"
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/50-questions-to-evaluate-the-quality-of-your-website/6400/

4.. "30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of"
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/10/09/30-usability-issues-to-be-aware-of/

5. "1 aspect of design you give the highest priority to" in "35 Designers x 5 Questions"
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/04/20/35-designers-x-5-questions/

6. "Web Design References: Usabiliy" (An extensive collection of articles on usability)
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/support/Training/Online/webdesign/usability.html

We can pick the most relevant questions/principles/issues regarding usability to reflect and answer upon from the above links, and open up a discussion thread for each.

Care to lead the discussions JP? Anyone?


*** On WiserEarth Blog***

I think a "Community Blog" would be great. There, as Michael said, both staff and non-staff community members can submit articles or be requested to write articles.

I've visited the wordpress blog a couple of times (http;//wiserearth.wordpress.com), and hoped that it would look more polished and express the WiserEarth identity more (beside the need for continuous updating). It also needs a more representative URL (blog.wiserearth.org or www.wiserearth.org/blog) and a prominent link on WiserEarth's homepage.

Surely some (or even many) community members would love to contribute to it. One entry per week would be a good start. I sure would love to help "steward" the blog when time permits, as there's a lot of things that need to be done here on-site.

One content-wise question is, will NCI (and staff) be willing to open up the "inside"/"behind the scene"/"in the works" stories of WiserEarth there? As this is the common practice for similar blogs, and will go in tandem with the community-generated content to keep the larger community (and beyond) abreast of the inside-out of WiserEarth.