First, who is the intended audience for this page, and what is the message we want to give them? Anything on the homepage/landing page (or pages it links to that are also part of the presentation) that isn't directly contributing to this message shouldn't be on these pages. It's like what the sculptor said, that he creates by trimming away everything that isn't the statue.

Next, it would be good to identify some strong points and features. These help focus the thinking. Then, based on these strong points, what should be the lead text? Then, how does the rest of the page strengthen and add detail to the points?

Or, put another way, the page needs to say what Tiki is, what it can do for the user, what value proposition it offers. For this, the target user needs to be understood and addressed, and the message needs to resonate with him/her.

See also Tiki_org_Homepage_concepts

Trackers

If the benefits can be described clearly, and trackers can be configured easily enough by new users. How should these be described for new users?

Wiki

Strong in itself, and benefits from connectivity to other features.

Multi-language?

This is weakened by low level of UI string translations for most of the languages.

Friendly developer/user community

easy to get involved in code development or Tiki site configuration and use.

Platform?

I like the platform approach, Tiki provides a set of tools to achive both simple and complex web based solutions. I would drop the "wiki/cms/groupware" in favour of "platform" or if we can find a less technical expression, even better (toolset? swiss knife for building web apps?)

IMO, the problem with "achieve both simple and complex web based solutions" is that Tiki is way too heavy for simple web tasks, unless the site has a list of simple tasks to handle. Maybe something like "can handle multiple simple or complex tasks" could work. I don't see any case for Tiki being good for a single simple web task. The "platform" idea maybe can be combined with the many-features point if it can be worked into the message smoothly. Also, probably the all-in-one model (no 3rd-party plugins to keep in sync) can be added in this point.

• dropping in some ideas to work with: "Feature rich community driven free & opensource platform for web applications" subline: "Data tracking, web presence, blogging, forums, file management and more. Standalone or mixed, private or collaborative, you choose."

...?

....

(These were phrased more than one way during brainstorming.)

• Dynamic data-handling
• Dynamically presenting information that is input via forms
• Comprehensive search-powered information retrieval and presentation
• Using a sophisticated search capability to display information formatted as pages, tables, galleries, etc.
• Multi-level, multi-section collaboration
• Friendly, approachable developer and user community (not sure where to make this point, but it seems significant)
• "Need a simple website, blog or forum? Or a complex web based application? Tiki platform gives you the tools you need to build what you imagined" (could be phrased better)
  • Again I don't see how "need a simple....?" is a selling point. Tiki's too huge to install and configure for anything "simple". This leaves "complex" or "multifeatured" as opportunities IMO, so how to appeal for those?
• "Free & open-source awesomeness" (probably too harsh and not professional enough, but maybe we can put something like this to promote the fun part)
  • Maybe combined with the openness of the developer community.

Considering the strong points, what are the uses cases that benefit most?

• Database-driven event web sites
  Anything more specific?
• Tiki is a useful "log-in" collaborative platform for organizations, etc.
  Being feature-rich is a plus if the user needs a combination of features which are tightly integrated.
• When can a Tiki consultant honestly recommend Tiki over other solutions?
  These use cases need to be described.

(More specific is better.)

• Companies, organizations, individuals who need to collect, input, and present data efficiently and attractively

• Quotes from users
• Testimonials from users
• Reviews from users or others
• Related images or video

"Tiki is the Free / Libre / Open Source Web Application with the most built-in features"

"And this is important to me because....?"

I think the standard "most-features" appeal isn't really so compelling. Most people don't need all these features, they need a subset, and then the question is does Tiki meet the specific need better than a more-specialized application. For many features such as a blog, portfolio site, brochureware, etc. the answer is probably no. So there's a danger that people might think that pattern is true for all of Tiki's features unless the superior features are put in the spotlight and not buried in a long feature list.

This bullet point and all of its explanatory sub-points being front and center displace more-relevant reasons for using Tiki.

Also "software made the wiki way" has less impact than before because wikis aren't as high profile as they used to be, IMO. It might be better to describe the Tiki developer environment rather than associate it with the idea of the wiki.

The "web app with the most features" as a catch phrase diffuses rather than focuses. Nothing tangible is highlighted and attracts users.

The "most features" point can still be made, but IMO it should be more of a footnote than a headline. After making the main points, the page can say something like "And by the way, Tiki is still the web application with the most built-in features." (I wouldn't combine the free/libre/open source point with this one - that suggests there's a commercial web application with more features than Tiki has.)

Based on the above strong points, some contenders for main description/catchphrase:

• "Brainstorm - Enable - Collaborate - Deploy" — luciash d' being 🧙 04 Aug 2015 09:09 GMT-0000 ">
  • Brainstorm: Do you have an idea for a website/project/intranet/application? Put your ideas together. Feel free to ask the community. Or hire a consultant. The answer will be most probably "Yes, Tiki does that".
  • Enable: Install and Enable features you need. Set it up to suit your needs.
  • Collaborate: Customize your look and feel, integrate a custom theme in collaboration with a Tiki consultant. Prepare your content together with your team using all the benefits of wiki-based sysem (history of changes, edit together, fast writing using wiki syntax. But you can do it all alone in Wysiwyg if you want 😉
  • Deploy: whenever ready, launch your project, make it public, make the public collaborate with you on your site!
• - - -

Joomla

"The Platform Millions of Websites Are Built On" (http://www.joomla.org/)

Drupal

"Come for the software, stay for the community" (https://www.drupal.org/)

WordPress

"WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time." (https://wordpress.org/)

Textpattern

"A flexible, elegant and easy-to-use CMS" (http://textpattern.com/)

ExpressionEngine

"Can ExpressionEngine Fly Kites? Yes! The answer is always yes. Ideas come in all shapes and sizes. And whatever the idea, ExpressionEngine can. But don't take our word for it, just look at what You and ;ExpressionEngine have already done together." (https://ellislab.com/expressionengine)

Contao (Formerly TypoLite)

"Contao - Accessible Open Source Content Management System" (https://contao.org/en/)

SilverStripe

"Create the web. - SilverStripe is the intuitive content management system and flexible framework loved by editors and developers alike. Equip your web teams to achieve outstanding results." (http://www.silverstripe.org/)

Umbraco

"Unleash Your Online Presence. - Umbraco is the User Friendly Open Source .NET CMS you hoped existed." (http://umbraco.com/)

Concrete5

"concrete5 is an open source content management system - In-context editing for your clients. A flexible framework for your developers." (http://www.concrete5.org/)

ModX

"MODX is Creative Freedom - MODX Revolution is the web content management platform for those that truly care about no-compromise design and exceptional user experience. It gives you complete control over your site and content, with the flexibility and scalability to adapt to your changing needs." (http://modx.com/)

Other references:
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34006/15-Examples-of-Brilliant-Homepage-Design.aspx

After deciding what information to show, and how to phrase it (at least as a first draft), then what is the best way to present the information on the page? Relevant points, IMO:

• Keep the page clean and relatively simple.
• Use white space and the visual organization of the page to help convey the message.
• Everything on the homepage should be focused on one goal: convey a good impression of Tiki to the visitor and give information that makes him/her want to find out more, in first steps toward using Tiki.
• The tone should be professional and the text and images should be at a high level and follow standard publishing styles (keep in mind the other websites people are comparing this one to).

• The top of the page is important; make good use of it. About the big space containing the Tiki logo and small line of text, in the beginning I thought this was a good idea, but now I'm thinking maybe it's not the best use of the space. I think it would be good to increase its information content one way or another.
• We have to be sure the thin navbar and topbar work well (both in terms of design concept and hands-on functionality); otherwise, they're just gimmicky.
• I think it's a bad idea to clutter the page with extras like news feeds from the other project sites and lists or whatever from the community site. These overload the visitor with information that isn't really relevant to them (yet), and these things are often negative(bug reports, downtime notices, user questions, etc.) or otherwise distract from the message of a "marketing" page.
• Pages linked to from this Homepage, like "About Tiki", should be as clean and focused as the Homepage. They're part of the marketing info, not part of the community site. To have clean secondary pages might mean replicating some of the information on existing pages as new marketing-specific pages. These secondary pages should also be careful about linking to general community site pages. (Customers at a new car showroom can't usually open a door from the showroom and step into the mechanics' garage area.)