[Talk-GB] Upcoming changes to OpenStreetMap.org website

[Andy Street]

On Sun, 17 Nov 2013 21:42:02 +0000
Rob Nickerson <rob.j.nickerson at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 17 November 2013 21:14, Oliver Jowett <oliver.jowett at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > Is the response to "Here's a usability issue with the proposed
> > changes" really "use something else then"?
>
> Not at all. I am trying to help you by communicating the fact that
> this change is upcoming, and I am collating responses and feeding
> them back to John.

Duly noted, I'm not trying to shoot the messenger but I'll add my 2p.

> I simply noted that this request has been made
> previously and it was rejected on the basis that the OSM.org
> website's primary focus is to spread the message of how OSM is
> different.

I can understand the reasoning for putting the message there in the
first place but the apparent resistance to allowing it to be dismissed
once it has been acknowledged strikes me as rather perverse. It is
possible that such a design may lead to an increase in account creation
but if the user's motivation is something other than editing the map
then I fail to see how this helps the project.

> I will feed these comments back, and ask for the issue to be
> reconsidered, but please this is by no means a guarantee that thing
> will be changed.

Of course it would be preferable to do the right thing by default but
it is hardly the end of the world if the welcome box is not closable.
Overall I think the new design is an improvement over the current
site and I can easily nuke the welcome box via userContent.css should
the need arise. :)

-- 
Regards,

Andy Street