Better use of homepage

[lcdweb]

Just wanted to start a thread to generate some discussion on better uses of the CiviCRM homepage.

Currently the homepage contains the following:

• List of activities
• Quicksearch form
• Menu
• Shortcuts

I think the menu and shortcuts should be removed. They are accessible in the main left sidebar. It seems like the only reason they're on the homepage is to fill space.

The list of activities is fine. However, if you don't use CiviCRM for scheduling activities, that section is perpetually blank (which means your homepage is virtually blank). The quicksearch is fine to have on the homepage.

Some ideas for additional things:

• Include the full simple search functions. 9 times out of 10, a user who enters CiviCRM is probably going to first do a search.
• Provide stat summaries: number of contacts (for each type); number of members (current, grace, new); upcoming events with participants link; contributions to date (monthly and yearly); scheduled mailings in CiviMail; etc. --- basically turn the homepage into a system-wide administrative dashboard that brings together the various components in summary fashiohn.
• Recent activities (not just upcoming activities) such as recent event reg, memberships, contribs, pledges, etc.

-Brian

[Eileen]

Absolutely agree with the basic search being on the homepage - I circumvent the homepage at the moment but I wouldn't if that were there -

I will put some more thought into it.

[roballen]

Basic search would be great and a direct link into http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/Home would be useful. The current homepage - I also think that some of the key site elements are not easy for a new visitor to find directly from the home page e.g. forums, documentation, case studies.

Aside from this, IMHO marketing around any product/brand should be consistant. The website and other marketing materials should be very closely related - currently the CiviCRM homepage is a bit less impressive than its product sheet.

When suggesting changes to a website I always like to consider existing examples (effectively other websites). For the CiviCRM homepage I that think both the Joomla and Drupal homepages are good examples and give plenty of ideas on the direction to go.

Lastly and slightly off the homepage point - since CiviCRM has some very nice web functionality it would be good to see the website actually use some of this - e.g. sign up for events via CiviEvent, contribute to the CiviCRM project, sign up for newletters etc..

[Donald Lobo]

Anyone wants to do a few mockups of some the ideas proposed here?

personally i think joomla has got a better web front page than drupal.

As with maintaining any database, you need someone to take care of it, maintain and feed it So far we have not been a great use case for CiviCRM, but i suspect this will change going forward.

lobo

[Dave Greenberg]

Just noting that there are 2 topic being discussed here -
* Making he "Home" page (dashboard) displayed by civicrm installations more useful (Brian and Eileens points)

* Improving the CiviCRM project's home page / website (http://civicrm.org)

Ideas / mockups / design help for both are welcome !

[lcdweb]

Yes, my initial concern was the CiviCRM application dashboard/homepage -- not the organization's website (though I agree it could use a facelift).

I've put together a quick mockup. I'm thinking the homepage should be the equivalent of the end user dashboard -- a summary of activities for each component, but on an organization wide basis.

Each block should be collapsible, and obviously only appear if the corresponding component is active. Basically allows the admin to get a quick snapshot of upcoming and recent activities across the system.

...the mockup is rough...

[Dave Greenberg]

Brian - this seems cool to me. Would be great to here reactions from other folks!

We won't get to this in 2.2 unless some code is forthcoming from you or others. I've posted on the 2.3 candidates list so it stays on the radar:
http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/CiviCRM+v2.3

[petednz]

Looks tremendous to me

[Eileen]

Looks nice. I had been thinking along the lines of configurable shortcuts as people seem to use civi in different ways. (e.g. I would be wanting a link to all pending registrations  and or contributions). I know you can do this in the host cms but the only module I have found in Drupal that allows you to configure it by group seems to break civi.

I need to set aside a time to put some more thought into it though.