We are creating it as we go along for the new spins for the F13 release, with the hopes that it will be useful to those creating spin pages for the F14 release and beyond. Consequently, this is a very rough work in progress - please edit!
Introduction
This is a Marketing SOP that describes how to create a website for a spin, a custom remix of Fedora and get it listed and hosted on http://spins.fedoraproject.org.
Examples
You can see examples of existing spin webpages at http://spins.fedoraproject.org. This is where the spin page you are creating will go when it is done.
Instructions
(Adapted from instructions from Sijis Aviles on the websites mailing list)
Prepare the content
See the #Content template for more details.
Talk with the Design Team about branding
Spins often have a user/contributor audience that differs from the general Fedora user base. A spin may be a partnership with an upstream project, a downstream group that is a subset of Fedora's user base, or another type of group - so there may be more than one group's brand/trademarks featured in the webpage for the spin.
Some questions include:
- Do you want the spin page to link to, for instance, the upstream project it highlights?
- Do you want a URL from the upstream project to redirect to the spin page? (For instance, should http://upstream_project.url/fedora_spin point to http://spins.fedoraproject.org/upstream_project_spin? How will you make sure that there isn't redundant information?)
- How will you combine trademarks/logos/project mentions on the website text and imagery?
- Etc.
There is no one "correct" way to have these conversations about co-branding. It is suggested that you start by contacting the design-team mailing list with your thoughts, and that you also open up this conversation with the other group you're working with to see if they have any thoughts, requests, or requirements for co-branding. For Fedora's trademark guidelines, see Legal:Trademark guidelines.
The creation of your spin webpage should not block on the completion of this conversation - you should continue to go ahead with the other steps of creating the page as this dialogue is underway.
Create the images
- Need to create 3 images
- (232 x 80) - Example Image
- (120 x 45) - Example Image
- (960 x 119) - Example Image
- Optional images (used within the text that enlarge)
- small image (240 x 192) - Example Image
- large image (500 x 400) - Example Image
- Other images (that do not enlarge)
- pretty much any size
Download the HTML template
A generic HTML template for spin webpages is available at http://mchua.fedorapeople.org/spins/spin_page_template.html (TODO: move to more permanent location.) Download this file and save it as index.html.
Modify the HTML template
Edit the index.html file you just saved to incorporate the content you wrote in the appropriate sections.
Examples of usage: the KDE spin webpage is generated from this HTML source.
Follow one of these links to get started with that process: Websites/ShowUs or follow the process for how to fix bugs on the Fedora Project website.
Add the images
Need to write instructions for this section.
Test your page locally
Need to write instructions for this section.
Publish your spin page
Once you are happy with the way the page looks on your computer, it is time to get your work published on the main http://spins.fedoraproject.org site.
In technical terms, what needs to happen is that your index.html file needs to be added to the git 'master' branch of the fedora-web project, under spins.fp.o/data/content. A webmaster from the Websites team will be able to help you through this process. Here's what to do:
- If you have commit privileges to the "web" group, simply push your changes to the repository.
- If you do not have commit privileges to the "web" group but do have a fedorapeople.org space, save the file and upload it to your fedorapeople.org space, then send a message to the websites list with a link to the file asking for someone to push your changes.
- If you do not have commit privileges to the "web" group, and do not have a fedorapeople.org space, send the file (or a link to the file hosted elsewhere) to the websites list asking for someone to push your changes.
Templates
Content template
These are the sections you will need to fill in the spins website template.
- Spin name: You should already have one - and only one - spin name. Standardize what you're calling this spin across the entire webpage.
- Slogan: A brief, action-oriented catchphrase for the spin, usually between 3-10 words. Think about what we do for the Fedora release slogan - what would a slogan for this particular spin be? Check out the existing spins on http://spins.fedoraproject.org to see what other spins have done.
- Spin description: 3-4 sentences (around 120 words) briefly describing your spin. Think of this as a teaser trailer that will make people want to investigate more. This will be the content on the front page of your spin website.
- About section: A more extensive description of your spin. This will be in the "About" tab of your spin website.
- Download instructions: For the "download" tab of the webpage. You may be able to use the standard spin download instructions (copy the text from one of the other spin webpages and modify the download URL to the proper one for your spin) for this, as downloading one spin is usually the same as downloading another.
- Support instructions: For the "support" tab of the webpage. How would you like people to engage with your spin's contributor and user community - where should they ask questions, and what do they do if they want to help? Is there a mailing list they should join, etc?
Improve this SOP!
If you see a way to improve this SOP, please go ahead and edit the page - you don't need to ask for anyone's permission. Read more about our contribution philosophy here.