Minor improvements to the civicrm.org website

During the last few hours of the Civi Sprint in London, Jen (who is new to Civi) and I had a look at some basics on the CiviCRM website (civicrm.org) and have identified some problems and possible solutions.  Noting too radical mind and most involve minimal changes to the actual content as that's perhaps for a later date.

Problem: Presented with too many options: Primary navigation, secondary navigation, left hand list of Civi components
Solution: Remove left hand list of Civi components

Problem: Isn’t clear what the slideshow is. In fact it is case studies relating to the different needs of Civi organisations
Solution: Need to label them as “Case studies”

Problem: No text on the home page explaining what CiviCRM is in a few words.
Solution: Replace “A fully integrated CRM solution” and the list of Civi components alongside with a short paragraph explaining CiviCRM which can incorporate the words “A fully integrated CRM solution”

Main navigation

Problem: Too subtle... not clear that it actually is main navigation.
Solution: Stronger navigation design

Problem:  The sub-sections within “What is CiviCRM” do not match the title.
Solution: How about “CiviCRM in 5 minutes” with the sub-sections:

• What is CiviCRM?
• CiviCRM's story
• Case studies
• Find an expert
• The Civi Community
• The future

Problem: The sub-sections within “Will CiviCRM meet your needs?” do not match the title.  Currently it gives a list of features (the main components of Civi) and asking the questions, “Will Civi...” suggests that it might not meet your needs, so the user is on a yes/no answer.
Solution: New title: “How CiviCRM meets your needs” which is a positive stance. The sub-sections need to reflect the question, ie. have organisation’s needs. For example [My needs are]:

• Managing contacts [Not sure if manage is the right word]
• Receiving funds, donations and more
• Email communications
• Supporting fundraisers (peer to peer)
• Campaigning
• Organising events
• Managing membership
• Evaluating success
• Case management

Problem: Content on Contact Us page isn’t very friendly
Solution: Either ditch contact us or make this page easier to use and rename it to something like “Need help?” or “Have a question?”

Problem: “Participate” sounds like a CiviCRM component, CiviParticipate
Solution: Change to “Get involved”

Problem: “Make it happen” doesn’t mean much to people who don’t know what it is.
Solution: Not sure we should change as this terms has been in use for a while.