Further Improvements to the Raku Website Landscape #502
Description
To those who have been following the plot, in September, we launched the new raku.org website. Many thanks to all those who helped to shape it in the review process.
There is still some room for improvement (see the various issues on the raku.org GH repo),
There were two general aims of that project:
- refresh the look and feel and content of the old raku.org
- provide a single, smooth experience for newcomers (think Python refugees) to get started with Raku
Prior to the new site, the delineation between Raku, the language, and Rakudo, a compiler was strict, but this left a disjoint journey with two sites and two designs to just install and run Raku. The new site has solved this with in an integrated Install page and made it the key end goal of the visitors journey.
As Is
Now we have a website landscape that looks like this:
| Domain | Purpose | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| raku.org | intro, install, info | good | |
| rakudo.org | downloads, some info | ok, but | [1] |
| docs.raku.org | docs (v1) | ok, but | [2] |
| rakubrew.org | rakubrew | good | |
| raku.land | package directory | good | |
| rakudoweekly.blog | newsfeed | good |
[1] rakudo.org
- there are many installation options listed on rakudo.org
- some of these are confusing (Star Bundle vs. Downloads)
- some of these are for old versions of Raku (macOS 2020.01 anyone?)
[2] docs.raku.org
- the new Rakudoc v2 site is in testing
- both new and old have difference style than the main raku.org domain
- some pages in the docs site (particularly the gateway pages duplicate general info (books, learn, etc))
Strategic Alternatives
Hopefully the new raku.org site has fixed the broken front window we had and will continue to evolve and improve (as measured by conversion rate to Installs). All feedback and suggestions (especially via PR actively welcomed!).
Perhaps it brings some additional opportunities to further improve our front window to the world, for example:
- Unify the look and feel of the various Raku sites (easy win) ... for example, I plan shortly to make a Bulma variant of the HARC stack and to apply it to the styling of the new Rakudoc work.
- Reduce the number of sites (hmmm) ... we could bring the active content of rakudo.org (list of available downloads for example) and the subsidiary (but important) installation options such as nxadm's rakudo-pkg repository into the raku.org site and then sunset rakudo.org. Since things like News, Issue Tracker can and should be served by the other sites.
- My 2026 project is to make the HARC stack into a CRUD / blogging platform with the stretch goal of replacing Wordpress. [volunteers please].
- And since we are leading with Rakubrew on raku.org, we can drop that site from the list of things we care about.
NB. This doesn't mean that the sites on rakudo.org and rakubrew.org get deleted, more that they can focus on their core tasks and will drop off the radar for the interested newcomers.
To Be (Steve's 2026 vision)
| Domain | Purpose |
|---|---|
| raku.org | intro, install, info, downloads |
| docs.raku.org | docs (v2) |
| raku.land | package directory |
| rakudoweekly.blog | newsfeed |
So, please tell me what you think ... perhaps we need a quick Reddit survey?