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Posted to marketing@couchdb.apache.org by Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> on 2014/02/26 17:40:00 UTC

Website Copy Reworking

Hi all,

There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which is 
greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)

Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging 
fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at 
the top, and work my way down a section at a time.

The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way 
currently:

     Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
     that uses JSON for documents,
     JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
     and regular HTTP for an API

However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has 
confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the 
wake of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.

So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose 
the following:

     Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
     that uses JSON for documents,
     JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
     and regular HTTP for its API

Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj

It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common 
confusion around indexing vs. querying.

Thoughts welcome.

Thanks!
Benjamin

Re: Website Copy Reworking

Posted by Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com>.
Done (finally):
http://svn.apache.org/r1579716

Sorry for the wait.

I also fixed the phrasing farther down as well to keep things consistent.

On 2/28/14, 3:50 AM, Andy Wenk wrote:
> On 27 February 2014 15:13, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>
>> Sorry for the silly response...I sent it not long after waking up. :-P
>>
>> I do agree we need increasingly more clarity on the site, but I'd rather
>> not block longer. Trying to avoid the "perfect being the enemy of the good."
>>
>> I tried several variations before sending this one--all more
>> accurate...and lengthy...than this one. What I determined was that *for
>> now* we should ship something *better* and iterate toward perfect. :)
>>
>> The key necessary distinction to fix is between indexing and querying. The
>> rest, we'll continue to flesh out in the copy below the intro line, and
>> hopefully within a few weeks re-think the whole of the web site--once we
>> get farther on the "Why" conversations, etc.
>>
>> The goal now is simply to "clean house" and make sure things are
>> clear*er*. :)
>>
>> You all OK with me shipping this in the proposed way, and working our way
>> through the rest of the copy?
>>
> +1
>
> Thanks !!
>
> Cheers
>
> Andy
>
>
>> Hoping we can ship more, more often, and get to perfect a step at a time.
>> :)
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>> On 2/27/14, 7:08 AM, Benjamin Young wrote:
>>
>>> Yes. :)
>>>
>>> Andy Wenk <an...@nms.de> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> I expected that - but is it better to be pretty or better to be correct :)
>>>
>>> I leave this to you :)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 26 February 2014 23:34, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>   Yeah, it's a tricky balance. Adding that does make it clearer, but it
>>>> also
>>>> makes that line too long and it wraps awkardly. :-P
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 2/26/14, 4:32 PM, Andy Wenk wrote:
>>>>
>>>>   Hey Benjamin,
>>>>> shouldn't it read
>>>>>
>>>>> "...
>>>>>     JavaScript for *creating* MapReduce indexes
>>>>> ...
>>>>> "
>>>>>
>>>>> then to make it even clearer?
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>
>>>>> Andy
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 26 February 2014 17:40, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>    Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>>> There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which
>>>>>> is
>>>>>> greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging
>>>>>> fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> top, and work my way down a section at a time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way
>>>>>> currently:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>        Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>>>>        that uses JSON for documents,
>>>>>>        JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
>>>>>>        and regular HTTP for an API
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has
>>>>>> confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the
>>>>>> wake
>>>>>> of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> following:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>        Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>>>>        that uses JSON for documents,
>>>>>>        JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
>>>>>>        and regular HTTP for its API
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
>>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%
>>>>>> 202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
>>>>>> Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common
>>>>>> confusion around indexing vs. querying.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thoughts welcome.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>> Benjamin
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>> --
>>> Andy Wenk
>>> Hamburg - Germany
>>> RockIt!
>>>
>>> http://www.couchdb-buch.de
>>> http://www.pg-praxisbuch.de
>>>
>>> GPG fingerprint: C044 8322 9E12 1483 4FEC 9452 B65D 6BE3 9ED3 9588
>>>
>>> https://people.apache.org/keys/committer/andywenk.asc
>>>
>>
>


Re: Website Copy Reworking

Posted by Andy Wenk <an...@nms.de>.
On 27 February 2014 15:13, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:

> Sorry for the silly response...I sent it not long after waking up. :-P
>
> I do agree we need increasingly more clarity on the site, but I'd rather
> not block longer. Trying to avoid the "perfect being the enemy of the good."
>
> I tried several variations before sending this one--all more
> accurate...and lengthy...than this one. What I determined was that *for
> now* we should ship something *better* and iterate toward perfect. :)
>
> The key necessary distinction to fix is between indexing and querying. The
> rest, we'll continue to flesh out in the copy below the intro line, and
> hopefully within a few weeks re-think the whole of the web site--once we
> get farther on the "Why" conversations, etc.
>
> The goal now is simply to "clean house" and make sure things are
> clear*er*. :)
>
> You all OK with me shipping this in the proposed way, and working our way
> through the rest of the copy?
>

+1

Thanks !!

Cheers

Andy


>
> Hoping we can ship more, more often, and get to perfect a step at a time.
> :)
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> On 2/27/14, 7:08 AM, Benjamin Young wrote:
>
>> Yes. :)
>>
>> Andy Wenk <an...@nms.de> wrote:
>>
>>
>> I expected that - but is it better to be pretty or better to be correct :)
>>
>> I leave this to you :)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 26 February 2014 23:34, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>>
>>  Yeah, it's a tricky balance. Adding that does make it clearer, but it
>>> also
>>> makes that line too long and it wraps awkardly. :-P
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/26/14, 4:32 PM, Andy Wenk wrote:
>>>
>>>  Hey Benjamin,
>>>>
>>>> shouldn't it read
>>>>
>>>> "...
>>>>    JavaScript for *creating* MapReduce indexes
>>>> ...
>>>> "
>>>>
>>>> then to make it even clearer?
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>>
>>>> Andy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 26 February 2014 17:40, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>   Hi all,
>>>>
>>>>> There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which
>>>>> is
>>>>> greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)
>>>>>
>>>>> Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging
>>>>> fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at
>>>>> the
>>>>> top, and work my way down a section at a time.
>>>>>
>>>>> The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way
>>>>> currently:
>>>>>
>>>>>       Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>>>       that uses JSON for documents,
>>>>>       JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
>>>>>       and regular HTTP for an API
>>>>>
>>>>> However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has
>>>>> confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the
>>>>> wake
>>>>> of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose
>>>>> the
>>>>> following:
>>>>>
>>>>>       Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>>>       that uses JSON for documents,
>>>>>       JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
>>>>>       and regular HTTP for its API
>>>>>
>>>>> Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
>>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%
>>>>> 202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
>>>>> Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj
>>>>>
>>>>> It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common
>>>>> confusion around indexing vs. querying.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thoughts welcome.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>> Benjamin
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>> --
>> Andy Wenk
>> Hamburg - Germany
>> RockIt!
>>
>> http://www.couchdb-buch.de
>> http://www.pg-praxisbuch.de
>>
>> GPG fingerprint: C044 8322 9E12 1483 4FEC 9452 B65D 6BE3 9ED3 9588
>>
>> https://people.apache.org/keys/committer/andywenk.asc
>>
>
>


-- 
Andy Wenk
Hamburg - Germany
RockIt!

http://www.couchdb-buch.de
http://www.pg-praxisbuch.de

GPG fingerprint: C044 8322 9E12 1483 4FEC 9452 B65D 6BE3 9ED3 9588

https://people.apache.org/keys/committer/andywenk.asc

Re: Website Copy Reworking

Posted by Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com>.
Sorry for the silly response...I sent it not long after waking up. :-P

I do agree we need increasingly more clarity on the site, but I'd rather 
not block longer. Trying to avoid the "perfect being the enemy of the good."

I tried several variations before sending this one--all more 
accurate...and lengthy...than this one. What I determined was that *for 
now* we should ship something *better* and iterate toward perfect. :)

The key necessary distinction to fix is between indexing and querying. 
The rest, we'll continue to flesh out in the copy below the intro line, 
and hopefully within a few weeks re-think the whole of the web 
site--once we get farther on the "Why" conversations, etc.

The goal now is simply to "clean house" and make sure things are 
clear*er*. :)

You all OK with me shipping this in the proposed way, and working our 
way through the rest of the copy?

Hoping we can ship more, more often, and get to perfect a step at a time. :)

Thanks!

On 2/27/14, 7:08 AM, Benjamin Young wrote:
> Yes. :)
>
> Andy Wenk <an...@nms.de> wrote:
>
>
> I expected that - but is it better to be pretty or better to be correct :)
>
> I leave this to you :)
>
>
>
>
> On 26 February 2014 23:34, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>
>> Yeah, it's a tricky balance. Adding that does make it clearer, but it also
>> makes that line too long and it wraps awkardly. :-P
>>
>>
>> On 2/26/14, 4:32 PM, Andy Wenk wrote:
>>
>>> Hey Benjamin,
>>>
>>> shouldn't it read
>>>
>>> "...
>>>    JavaScript for *creating* MapReduce indexes
>>> ...
>>> "
>>>
>>> then to make it even clearer?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> Andy
>>>
>>>
>>> On 26 February 2014 17:40, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>   Hi all,
>>>> There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which is
>>>> greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)
>>>>
>>>> Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging
>>>> fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at the
>>>> top, and work my way down a section at a time.
>>>>
>>>> The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way
>>>> currently:
>>>>
>>>>       Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>>       that uses JSON for documents,
>>>>       JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
>>>>       and regular HTTP for an API
>>>>
>>>> However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has
>>>> confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the
>>>> wake
>>>> of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.
>>>>
>>>> So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose
>>>> the
>>>> following:
>>>>
>>>>       Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>>       that uses JSON for documents,
>>>>       JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
>>>>       and regular HTTP for its API
>>>>
>>>> Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
>>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%
>>>> 202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
>>>> Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj
>>>>
>>>> It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common
>>>> confusion around indexing vs. querying.
>>>>
>>>> Thoughts welcome.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>>> Benjamin
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>
> --
> Andy Wenk
> Hamburg - Germany
> RockIt!
>
> http://www.couchdb-buch.de
> http://www.pg-praxisbuch.de
>
> GPG fingerprint: C044 8322 9E12 1483 4FEC 9452 B65D 6BE3 9ED3 9588
>
> https://people.apache.org/keys/committer/andywenk.asc


Re: Website Copy Reworking

Posted by Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com>.
Yes. :)

Andy Wenk <an...@nms.de> wrote:


I expected that - but is it better to be pretty or better to be correct :)

I leave this to you :)




On 26 February 2014 23:34, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:

> Yeah, it's a tricky balance. Adding that does make it clearer, but it also
> makes that line too long and it wraps awkardly. :-P
>
>
> On 2/26/14, 4:32 PM, Andy Wenk wrote:
>
>> Hey Benjamin,
>>
>> shouldn't it read
>>
>> "...
>>   JavaScript for *creating* MapReduce indexes
>> ...
>> "
>>
>> then to make it even clearer?
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
>> On 26 February 2014 17:40, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>>
>>  Hi all,
>>>
>>> There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which is
>>> greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)
>>>
>>> Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging
>>> fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at the
>>> top, and work my way down a section at a time.
>>>
>>> The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way
>>> currently:
>>>
>>>      Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>      that uses JSON for documents,
>>>      JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
>>>      and regular HTTP for an API
>>>
>>> However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has
>>> confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the
>>> wake
>>> of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.
>>>
>>> So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose
>>> the
>>> following:
>>>
>>>      Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>      that uses JSON for documents,
>>>      JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
>>>      and regular HTTP for its API
>>>
>>> Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%
>>> 202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
>>> Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj
>>>
>>> It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common
>>> confusion around indexing vs. querying.
>>>
>>> Thoughts welcome.
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> Benjamin
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>


--
Andy Wenk
Hamburg - Germany
RockIt!

http://www.couchdb-buch.de
http://www.pg-praxisbuch.de

GPG fingerprint: C044 8322 9E12 1483 4FEC 9452 B65D 6BE3 9ED3 9588

https://people.apache.org/keys/committer/andywenk.asc

Re: Website Copy Reworking

Posted by Andy Wenk <an...@nms.de>.
I expected that - but is it better to be pretty or better to be correct :)

I leave this to you :)




On 26 February 2014 23:34, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:

> Yeah, it's a tricky balance. Adding that does make it clearer, but it also
> makes that line too long and it wraps awkardly. :-P
>
>
> On 2/26/14, 4:32 PM, Andy Wenk wrote:
>
>> Hey Benjamin,
>>
>> shouldn't it read
>>
>> "...
>>   JavaScript for *creating* MapReduce indexes
>> ...
>> "
>>
>> then to make it even clearer?
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
>> On 26 February 2014 17:40, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>>
>>  Hi all,
>>>
>>> There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which is
>>> greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)
>>>
>>> Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging
>>> fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at the
>>> top, and work my way down a section at a time.
>>>
>>> The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way
>>> currently:
>>>
>>>      Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>      that uses JSON for documents,
>>>      JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
>>>      and regular HTTP for an API
>>>
>>> However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has
>>> confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the
>>> wake
>>> of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.
>>>
>>> So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose
>>> the
>>> following:
>>>
>>>      Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>>      that uses JSON for documents,
>>>      JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
>>>      and regular HTTP for its API
>>>
>>> Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
>>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%
>>> 202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
>>> Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj
>>>
>>> It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common
>>> confusion around indexing vs. querying.
>>>
>>> Thoughts welcome.
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> Benjamin
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>


-- 
Andy Wenk
Hamburg - Germany
RockIt!

http://www.couchdb-buch.de
http://www.pg-praxisbuch.de

GPG fingerprint: C044 8322 9E12 1483 4FEC 9452 B65D 6BE3 9ED3 9588

https://people.apache.org/keys/committer/andywenk.asc

Re: Website Copy Reworking

Posted by Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com>.
Yeah, it's a tricky balance. Adding that does make it clearer, but it 
also makes that line too long and it wraps awkardly. :-P

On 2/26/14, 4:32 PM, Andy Wenk wrote:
> Hey Benjamin,
>
> shouldn't it read
>
> "...
>   JavaScript for *creating* MapReduce indexes
> ...
> "
>
> then to make it even clearer?
>
> Cheers
>
> Andy
>
>
> On 26 February 2014 17:40, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which is
>> greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)
>>
>> Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging
>> fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at the
>> top, and work my way down a section at a time.
>>
>> The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way
>> currently:
>>
>>      Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>      that uses JSON for documents,
>>      JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
>>      and regular HTTP for an API
>>
>> However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has
>> confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the wake
>> of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.
>>
>> So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose the
>> following:
>>
>>      Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>>      that uses JSON for documents,
>>      JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
>>      and regular HTTP for its API
>>
>> Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%
>> 202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
>> Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj
>>
>> It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common
>> confusion around indexing vs. querying.
>>
>> Thoughts welcome.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Benjamin
>>
>
>


Re: Website Copy Reworking

Posted by Andy Wenk <an...@nms.de>.
Hey Benjamin,

shouldn't it read

"...
 JavaScript for *creating* MapReduce indexes
...
"

then to make it even clearer?

Cheers

Andy


On 26 February 2014 17:40, Benjamin Young <by...@bigbluehat.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> There's a larger effort to rethink/rewrite the CouchDB Website--which is
> greatly needed, so super fabulous that we're endeavoring to do that. :)
>
> Before we get there (or as we walk that road), there's some low hanging
> fruit that I think we can and should pick first. I'd like to start at the
> top, and work my way down a section at a time.
>
> The first line on the website (ignoring navigation) reads this way
> currently:
>
>     Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>     that uses JSON for documents,
>     JavaScript for MapReduce queries,
>     and regular HTTP for an API
>
> However, that's incorrect (JavaScript isn't used for querying) and has
> confused many people--including some analysts and tech bloggers in the wake
> of the Cloudant/IBM announcement.
>
> So, to correct this and make that section tighter, I'd like to propose the
> following:
>
>     Apache CouchDB^(TM) is a database
>     that uses JSON for documents,
>     JavaScript for MapReduce indexes
>     and regular HTTP for its API
>
> Screenshot of this new text in place is here:
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ld6im36ql74jbo9/Screen%20Shot%
> 202014-02-26%20at%2011.22.21%20AM.png
> Short: http://bit.ly/1mBwAmj
>
> It's a small iteration (by design), but hopefully clears up the common
> confusion around indexing vs. querying.
>
> Thoughts welcome.
>
> Thanks!
> Benjamin
>



-- 
Andy Wenk
Hamburg - Germany
RockIt!

http://www.couchdb-buch.de
http://www.pg-praxisbuch.de

GPG fingerprint: C044 8322 9E12 1483 4FEC 9452 B65D 6BE3 9ED3 9588

https://people.apache.org/keys/committer/andywenk.asc