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What should be on the landing page of an open source project?

The reason for this question is a good idea on how best to submit an open source project for my own projects. What is the best way to make a project attractive to potential new users and / or developers? Obviously, projects vary in nature and scope, so when an answer to this may be required to qualify any proposals that depend on these factors.

It would also be interesting to see some good examples of the best projects presented!

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Here are some things I'm looking for on an open source project landing page in an approximate order of priority

  • Elevator step: what does this software do.
  • Download link for latest version
  • Last news; what's new in new versions
  • Documentation Link
  • Link to discussion boards / mailing lists / bug tracker; how to talk about it and report problems.
  • Link to source / version control system
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Explain what he is doing, possibly also explaining the problem he is solving. If you can do this in a large type (somewhere between the size of the title of the stack overflow question and the text of the actual question) in 2-3 sentences, all the better, you can link to the "learn more" page where you will take a deep dive.

Make it very easy to download a copy and get started. (A big “download now” is good. MoFo did a very good job on the Get Firefox website, and this template spread accordingly. If it's an installation package like Ruby gem, write down the steps.)

Show where people can ask questions and / or documentation. You have documentation, right? (Or are you working on this?)

In addition, a link to the necessary material: a code repository for those who want to view, a more detailed "about" page (which can be part of the documentation), a list of participants (can also be part of the documentation) but the main part is to answer " Why and how "as concisely as possible.

Basically, this is a story. The first page is the first slide or two presentations.

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For new / potential users:

  • Review or description of what he is doing (step)
  • Screenshots or examples of some basic functions

I think most of your returning visits will come from developers using your project; think about what you might need a developer:

  • Obvious visible link to download the latest build or source
  • Link to your SCM repository and contribution method
  • API Document Reference
  • Link to the error tracker
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Your project users are interested in this, in order of purely subjective importance:

  • Downloading your apps
  • Knowing what your applications do (project descriptions, screenshots)
  • Getting help and documentation
  • How to report bugs
  • How to access the source and contribute.

How would I do this in order to have a huge download link on the first page with a brief description of what your program is (maximum 1-2 paragraphs). Then there should be a link in an obvious place a longer description; forum / mailing list and documentation; and how to contribute and report bugs.

Justification

Why are links loaded first, not a project description?

Your user probably has two sources:

  • articles linking to your project, or on the project announcement forums.
  • search system

In both cases, it is very likely that they already have an idea that your project is facing landing on your page. In the first case, they read an article; and in the second case, they are looking for a tool similar to your project.

However, in the second case, it is likely that they are still not sure that your project is really what they are looking for; therefore, you add a brief description of the project on the download link side. This is to ensure that your project is / is not what they are looking for.

Why "Help and Doc", "Error Report", then "Contribute"?

This is what the user will do when you encounter problems with your program. First, they will look at help and documentation, and then maybe ask a few people on the forums; otherwise, they will report errors or feature requests; then, if no one was interested in the error message / presentation of the function, some would then want to contribute.

You can get ideas from:

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