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Feedback on the New TMS Wiki Homepage (draft)

Discussion in 'About This Site' started by Becca, Nov 12, 2013.

  1. Becca

    Becca Well known member

    Well, the title says (most of) it - I need all of your feedback on the new homepage for the TMS Wiki ! Forest, Chuck, and myself have been developing this for a while now. Around the beginning of August, I started to implement all our ideas and created a draft for the homepage.

    I really want to know, in your opinion, what isn't working? What is overwhelming? What is confusing? What is missing? On the flip side, what should we make sure not to change? I promise you, I will NOT be offended by anything you say. If you hate a color I've used, or you don't like the border of a box, or whatever, please say so. I want this homepage to be as useful -- and pretty! -- as possible, and you all are basically consumers of the site. Your opinion really matters here. So, if you have an opinion about something, I want to know about it. Suggestions as well as critiques are also welcome. I will say, I can't promise I'll change everything you bring up, but I can promise I'll listen :)

    Just a note - you will see a reddish box in the top-right corner of the page with a heading that reads Today's Featured Success Story . This feature is, for now, under construction, so what you see right now is the text "This is the first* Featured Success Story" (*or second, third, etc. depending on the day you view the page). Eventually, this box will feature a success story that, thanks to some lovely technical wizardry, will change daily without us having to update it manually. The stories will be taken from the wiki's success stories database, the Thank You, Dr. Sarno letters, and this forum. So, for now, the featured success story part of the homepage isn't up yet. But, everything else should be in working order.

    To view the homepage draft, visit: www.tmswiki.org/ppd/User:Becca/Sandbox3 .

    Feel free to post thoughts/suggestions here, message me privately, or email me directly at becca@tmswiki.org . Thanks so so much in advance!

    Becca
     
    plum, BruceMC, Ellen and 2 others like this.
  2. Ellen

    Ellen Beloved Grand Eagle

    Wow, Becca! It looks so great! Thanks so much for all your hard work improving this site.
     
  3. BruceMC

    BruceMC Beloved Grand Eagle

    Like it, Becca. Like it a lot!
     
  4. Eric "Herbie" Watson

    Eric "Herbie" Watson Beloved Grand Eagle

    Ok, Becca the intro is great-awesome. Its exactly what our motto is (We've been there) every bit a great first place to look. And then you have our best program to date , the SEP. I have witnessed so many good people get their and heal- its a great thought out second place because here we get to walk them through or more like it they do the work and we can help with suggestions.
    Then we have the Saturday drop in chat, man MatthewNJ and all the veterans are there ready to help out in a minute, I've learned a lot of information from all the good folks on the chat. Those guys are very, very helpful ( We love you guys). And the way you have the button to click here to join the chat, well that's exactly what the people needed. Its simple and direct.

    That Tuesday night discussion group is often hard to find from the past so you've gone and fixed that. I went right to the page that shows all the discussions. I love this being right here for an access of ease, very good. Those guys have been doing pretty darn good. Now you have given us instant access , Thanks- I love it.

    Yes, a big blue box that takes us right to the forum, very good. And it mentions 11,000 post- Wow. Again- Instant access, very good.

    I love the webinars, its always good to hear from the Drs, Authors and Therapist about Tms. Just like Sarno used to do with his clients. Goes to prove this forum is more of a complete package than I even thought- very good.

    You've done an excellent job so far and if I see a way we can improve ill be letting you know ok, but as of now, well id be a happy trooper to see so many folks have poured their hearts out like this- your awesome.
     
  5. North Star

    North Star Beloved Grand Eagle

    Becca, it looks FABULOUS! Way to go!
     
  6. njoy

    njoy aka Bugsy

    Great job, Becca, Forest and Chuck. As to suggestions:

    1) I think newcomers might appreciate an explanation of the wiki's purpose, along these lines:
    2) The PPD/TMS Peer Network label is difficult to cope with for me. Peer Network is fine but the PPD/TMS acronym is just not clear enough to carry these amazing concepts forward. It takes a sharp mind (sharper than mine, anyway) to understand and remember it. I think the ppd/tms community eventually needs to come to consensus on a better name. A brave undertaking, yes, but perhaps this is one way the wiki can show leadership. I hope so anyway.

    Meanwhile, a short explanation of what PPD/TMS means seems essential to me (a clickable link to the explanation might do).

    Eventually, others may have suggestions for the overall look but to me it looks beautiful and seems user-friendly as well.
     
  7. Becca

    Becca Well known member

    Thank you all SO MUCH for your kind words and feedback!

    This is AWESOME, and Forest agrees! It'll make the site very welcoming for newcomers. Needless to say, I've added it to the top section :) YAY for collaboration! (I did keep the slogan "We've been there. We can help." ...I do like having that prominently displayed!) Thanks so much, Njoy!

    Also -- I'm happy to announce that the Daily Success Story feature is now up and running -- if you're viewing it today (Friday 11/15/2013) you should see Forest's face & the beginning of his success story :)


    So, the PPD/TMS Peer Network isn't just a label - it's actually the official name of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that sponsors the TMS Wiki and all other projects (such as this forum). I do know the terminology can be confusing, though, and I think your idea of adding some sort of an explanation is a good one (you're not the only one who isn't clear on the terminology). We have, in my opinion, a pretty great wiki page explaining why people (not just us!) were starting to use the term PPD more. You can check it out at http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Why_PPD . I've gone ahead and added a link to that page in the top-left section (for the PPD/TMS Peer Network) and in the About Us section (if you click on "PPD" in the sentence, "The PPD/TMS Peer Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit" it'll take you to the Why PPD wiki page).


    Getting close, guys!! So excited about this!
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2014
    Ellen likes this.
  8. njoy

    njoy aka Bugsy

    Thanks for the link explaining why PPD is a good term and gaining ground, Becca. I am a bit nuts on the subject of changing language because a few silly people have tossed out good words like psychosomatic and psychogenesis. I wrote about this elsewhere recently. The short version is that if I came across whoever invented the phrase "mental health consumer" to describe people with mental illness I would have quite a time being curious and compassionate. Chances are a dark and hairy part would thunder forth and swat him or her (metaphorically, of course). Then I'd feel really, really, really bad, lol.

    I wasn't using the word label pejoratively, btw. I like labels. Very handy things, labels. The new page is beautiful and if anything I said helped, I'm happy.
     
    plum likes this.
  9. Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)

    Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) Beloved Grand Eagle

    Becca, I looked the Wiki homepage yesterday and made one typo correction. It reads great and I have nothing to add or delete.
     
  10. plum

    plum Beloved Grand Eagle

    Becca, it looks grand. I especially appreciate the clarity. I use my smartphone(!?) to access tinternet and the page looks fab on the wee small screen. The Success Story feature is brilliant and is particularly inspiring for newbies and those more jaded of heart. Bless all your efforts.
     
    Becca likes this.
  11. Becca

    Becca Well known member

    Plum, so glad it worked well on the smartphone! That's something I was a little worried about, since I don't have the skills (nor do we have the software, actually) to create mobile-friendly sites. Wikipedia, for instance, has a whole different layout for viewing articles on mobile devices. So I'm so so glad that it looked OK! I should check it out on mine...
     
  12. psychosomatic

    psychosomatic Peer Supporter

    Hi Becca,

    The new page looks awesome, it's going to help a lot of people. Below are some of the suggestions I shared on my call with Forest earlier today.

    From what I understand this webpage is intended as a resource for people who already have some background knowledge about TMS. Some people will know a lot while other's will be limited in terms of their knowledge. My only piece of feedback is that when I first come to the page it's not immediately clear to me what TMS and PPD are. These terms may make sense to us, but someone who is new to Dr. Sarno's work will likely connect far better with keywords related to their symptoms ie (Back Pain, Neck Pain, Headaches, RSI, Sciatica etc.). They will also connect with the Keywords "Dr. Sarno". Below are a couple of examples of on how you can quickly work in these keywords.

    1) I love the Today's Success Story idea. Instead of having "Meet Forest" something like "Meet Forest - Cured his RSI" or "Meet Forest - Cured his Back Pain" might make it stand out more.

    2) Also the current header could be modified slightly along similar lines. You can probably think of something catchier but heres a quick example.

    The PPD/TMS Peer Network
    We can help you find relief from your back pain and other tension related syndromes.
    or "Expanding on Dr. John Sarno's mission to cure people of their stress related health issues"
    3) Finally, a picture can be very powerful. This suggestion may not be feasible since the design is already in place, but if you could place a picture of someone in pain this will be another clearn sign what the page is all about.

    Thank you for all your hardwork! I hope to gradually become more involved in the community.

    Karim
     
    Forest likes this.
  13. Becca

    Becca Well known member

    Thanks for taking the time to go through all of this, Karim!

    RE #1 - I love your suggestion for adding the symptoms to the success story. It's also pretty easy to implement from a technological standpoint, which is always a major plus! Perhaps we can use "overcame" or "conquered" instead of cured...grammatically speaking, you cure yourself, but you overcome/conquer your symptoms. Thoughts?

    RE #2 - I do like the language you suggested, but I also like that the "slogan" we have is short but still gets the point across about what our organization is. That being said, you make a really good point that we don't really explain TMS. We are making a new site that will just be for explaining the basics of TMS. Perhaps right above "Our Programs" I can add a box prominently linking to that new site, also including a short description of what TMS is. I did something similar with the For Practitioners wiki page. We were worried that might get lost, so I added it to the homepage as a separate item (below the Our Programs section). Even though the TMS basics site is not live yet, we do have an intro to TMS page. So, to show you what it'd look like, I could create that featured box/section/whatever you want to call it, and have it link to that page just for the time being.

    RE #3 - love images. I agree, they are quite powerful. We have quite a few that we can use. I'll see what I can do layout-wise.

    Thanks again for your suggestions. I'll get to work on them next week. For now, I have a friend's birthday party to attend, so I must run. Have a lovely lovely weekend (and that goes for all of you! :) )

    Becca
     
  14. psychosomatic

    psychosomatic Peer Supporter


    That's great Becca. Feel free to use whatever wording you think is best. I just quickly thought of stuff to make examples.

    Keep up the good work!
     
    Forest likes this.
  15. Becca

    Becca Well known member

    Just wanted to give you all an update on the homepage redesign project. First, Karim, I've implemented your suggestion for the Featured Success Story box and added the line "Overcame RSI/back pain/symptom using the TMS approach" .

    Second, I have actually created two new potential homepages (both in draft form) that are variations of the draft I shared with you all before. In both of these drafts, the information about the various programs the PTPN offers is "hidden" from view (using the "Read More" link, like on Featured Resources, so viewers can easily see the rest of the content). In our research of other websites, Forest and I have found that many organizations' homepages are shorter, serving as a sort of launching point for users. They get to decide what they would like to know about. I guess that's what I'm trying to do with the "hidden" content -- give the website visitors the choice of what information they'd like.

    Personally, I think this move to "hide" the Our Programs information is a good idea, for a number of reasons. First, it makes the page less visually overwhelming. You aren't bombarded with content immediately, but if you want to learn more, you can do so easily. Second, this move could allow us to add more items to the homepage (like more images, or even another section) without it becoming a gigantic page. And having more space content-wise and design-wise makes a lot more things possible.

    But what do you all think? I'd love to hear which design you like best and think we should go forward with. Here are the links:

    Draft #1 - descriptions of the programs are hidden, but the names of the programs are visible (similar to the Featured Resources section)
    Draft #2 - descriptions AND names of the programs are hidden
    Draft #3 - the original draft (all content in the Our Programs section is visible)

    Becca
     
  16. psychosomatic

    psychosomatic Peer Supporter


    Hey Becca,

    Looks great. Draft #1 is my favourite. Get's the necessary info across without overwhelming the user.
     
  17. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    Thanks, psychosomatic. We also sent a similar email out on TW-Design, our email list for people interested in helping build and design our programs. We got very similar feedback there. (By the way, if anyone would like to join that list, we would love to have you. Just let me know and I'll add you, even if only for a short time - I'm always happy to take people off later.)

    I followed up on her message with the following email:
    Perhaps, with a bit more time, we can add icons to that list, like we did to the Featured Resources list. By the way, the icons on the Featured Resource list are customized icons that Becca made in Photoshop, so it will only be if she has time!

    In terms of high level design, one piece of feedback that we have gotten is that people want a simple site that explains the basics of TMS in simple language. I'm happy to say that we will be building just such a site. It won't be on tmswiki.org for reasons that I will touch on below, but I have already registered a new domain, www.tmsbasics.org. It is not active yet, but should be in a couple of months. Walt Oleksey, who has offered a great deal of very helpful advice on our forum and is the author of many books, will be providing most of the copy, and Becca and I will be providing the design.
    To make things concrete, we will be modeling it, to some degree, on the old, defunct site at Tarpit Yoga:
    However, rather than being written in the voice of an individual, it will be written in the voice of our 501(c)3 nonprofit peer network.
    Another way of thinking of it is based on a different request that we received for it to be a free, "quiet, condensed version" of Healing Back Pain.
    Finally, I'd like to echo Becca's postscript that we'd love to hear all sorts of feedback about the homepage. It has been eye-opening to read the positive feedback for version 1. Given the complexity of all of the different factors we must weigh, we can't guarantee to implement all suggestions, but we are very interested in hearing them!
    Finally, if you do propose rewriting something, it will help us if you can provide an example of of specific language that we could use. It is amazing the great advice we can get from someone with a completely different perspective. The very first paragraph in the current draft is actually taken word for word from a suggestion by njoy.
    I actually wrote more, but didn't want to overwhelm people. I'll send the following out a little later, once people have been able to recover from their tryptophan-induced Thanksgiving coma:
    I'd like to talk a little bit about tmsbasics.org and how I see it relating to tmswiki.org because part of the goal of tmsbasics.org is to allow tmswiki.org to specialize on what it does best. This will affect our home page design.​

    tmsbasics.org will be a separate site from tmswiki.org. Our strategic plan hinges on providing services to people who are already very well informed about TMS, and this is what tmswiki.org will focus on. It will be a long time before we get to the point of being able to hire a full time staff and until that point, we are a volunteer organization, raising a couple thousand dollars per year in donations. I never cease to be amazed at what our volunteers have accomplished. On our forum, we currently we have about 40 posts per day consisting primarily of volunteer peer support. For the last two years, we've had a drop in chat room organized by Matthew and for the last year we have had a weekly call in discussion group facilitated by Herbie. In addition, just recently, njoy has started a very active Internal Family Systems mailing list and call in group. All of these people feel a deep connection to our organization and I am sure that I speak for everyone when I say that I am deeply grateful to each of them for volunteering our time. These services are the heart of our nonprofit and unless we get quite a few very large donations, I think that it is in programs like these where we will see the growth.​

    In some sense our "business model" is to attract and connect with potential volunteers by providing direct services to people who have TMS and care about TMS. As people come up through our programs and heal, some very special people will feel a connection to the organization and want to give back. Thus, I have always felt that providing services to people with TMS is a core part of what we do. In a market that is already oversaturated with web sites offering the basics (often related to a commercial endeavor), the way that we can differentiate ourselves is by offering more specialized services like targeted mailing lists and discussion groups. I have always felt that achieving this goal will require tmswiki.org to be a large and complex site like it is now.​

    What we've found over the years is that it is very difficult to provide a rich set of services to people who already have a good understanding of TMS on the same website as you introduce complete newcomers to TMS. The needs of the two populations are so very different and people just won't give you enough time to read both. Therefore, the current strategy is to separate our web presence out into two interconnected websites.​
    1. tmsbasics.org will be very simple, attractive, and easy to understand. It will teach newcomers about TMS and hopefully get them interested in learning more. If they want to learn more, it will point them to books and to the resources on tmswiki.org. It will basically be about a five page web site.
    2. tmswiki.org will be dedicated to helping people who already understand TMS to connect with others in community and heal. It be the home of most of the nonprofit's varied programs and provide people with a variety of ways of engaging with the organization. It already has 10,000 pages indexed by google, but that really just scratches the surface.
    This will not be our first experience with hosting multiple web sites. www.thankyoudrsarno.orgis another very successful project of ours, as is search.tmswiki.org (it is greatly appreciated by the TMS therapists). Also, in terms of helping our content be found by Google searchers, I think that multiple interconnected sites have several advantages.​

    In terms of the tmswiki.org home page, the goal with the first paragraph in the left column and the "Getting Started" box on the right will be to arouse people's interest so that they can learn more at tmsbasics.org. We want them to click on the link and be eager to read more. The user experience will be similar to the experience someone has of going to the American Dental Association. The ADA is a well established and respected nonprofit, much like we aim to be. It faces a similar challenge of engaging multiple audiences: their primary website is targeted at professionals such as dentists, but they also need to reach out to the public. Therefore, if you go to their website, ada.org and click on "Public Resources," you are redirected to "MouthHealthy.org." The same thing will happen on our website when someone wants to learn the basics of TMS.​

    Anyway, that is the current thinking. You don't need to know all of this to evaluate a simple home page, but once we start honing the language, this background may provide a starting point to understanding our thinking.​
    ...nooooo..... I googled tryptophan to find out its spelling and just found out that Turkey doesn't put you into a tryptophan coma...

    ... sad....:(
     
  18. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

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