Project Pages:

What Do You Want To Know?

As part of the site sprint for jtauber.com, I’m rethinking how to present information on my software projects. So I asked on Twitter:

when you go to the web page for an open source project (say on someone’s site) what are the first things you want to know about the project?

The answers may also be relevant to things like pinaxproject.com, djangoproject.com and even possibly python.org.

I'll keep adding to this as people respond to me. You can follow me on Twitter @jtauber.

minarets: The language it's written in.
alex_gaynor: Where the tutorial/intro documentation is, what the license is, how I install it. WHAT THE HELL IT DOES.
kantrn: Screenshots, then the date of the last release or news post.
MattBowen: elevator pitch, license, language, latest release, and repo URL
mitechie: what @alex_gaynor said + changelog is vital. First thing I always do is ask 'how alive' and check for recent commits.
lukeman: language, example code/screenshots/demo (depending on the type of project), documentation and license.
parlar: +1 on "WHAT THE HELL IT DOES" Always amazed how much I have to dig on some projects' pages to find what they do
ericflo: Simple code example. Basic checkbox feature list. Link to docs and ML. Download link. Who else is using it/Testimonials.
yonsy: readme, authors, computer language used, vcs used, and what the hell do this thing :P
acdha: Who uses it, signs of active development, license and which DVCS they use. Bonus for taking distribution seriously w/OS packages
peterhoffmann: short description, screenshot, repos url, docs, ml
bunengine: why i should use it, "hello world" example, where the code is and how to get/install it
freakboy3742: In order: brief description of what it does, Language/Platform, License, Simple usage example, tutorial, installation guide, docs.
freakboy3742: Bonus points for pointing out who is behind the project (if they're notable in any way), and usage testimonials from notable others
dannyroa: Sample usage/syntax.
zellyn: everything @alex_gaynor said, plus some sense of how alive it is - release date history, git/hg activity, blog entries, etc.
lucas_gonze: first thing I need is vitality of the project. how many releases, how recent a release, are bug reports answered, how many devs.
alex_gaynor: Adding aliveness to my metrics, way too often do I go to a google code project, check commits and see it was last touched in 2007
patrickbeeson: Where's the source code.
brosner: How to use it and the link to download it.
ptsefton: Some sense that it is active, what is the license, what platforms, what does it DO, how to get it
jessenoller: code/syntax example - not hello world, something short but with punch on the front page
liza: "If I download this right now using the preferred link provided to me, can I expect it to work?"
fiberartisan: I would love a solid description of what the project is, what problem it solves, the intended audience, requirements. >2 lines.
thierrystiegler: How to play with it !
westonruter: First thing I want to see is a live example/demo to examine; otherwise a screencast. If too hard to find, I lose interest.
kantrn: Also when looking for libraries, I like to see the license right up front (not so important for end-user apps).
flangy: tarball, source control URL, license, link to changelog
llimllib: I want a big fat "download" button
MattBowen: if it's a personal page, i'm more interested in are you still active, what part are you most involved with, best way to contact
varikin: Download, how to install, last update.
natevw: What problem it's supposed to solve, examples of how that might look in practice, and license.
mirchiseth: things I check for oss prj - contributor details, have they done any other prjs they have done, number of downloads, version, chlog