About page: Adding stats and an intro

[thetinyl]

Based on some feedback about the presence of the '43% of the web' statistic on the About page, I have some quick suggestions:

Some context to consider around the 43%:

The 43% number isn't as accurate a representation as it once was. It's based on W3Techs, who recently changed how they were calculating their usage stats. This has also come up in a couple of WordCamp Q&As with Matt and Josepha, with a desire to move away from depending on this number. It was dropped from the homepage content redesign on purpose with this in mind.

43% means a lot to the community, but I wonder if it would tip the scales for someone new to the platform—a key audience we're looking to reach, and likely a common visitor to the About page—particularly if there wasn't any existing brand recognition/affinity.

I agree that featuring other stats could paint a similar picture without the 43%.

Here's what I'd suggest:

• no. of downloads—approximate overall, if possible—I wager it's going to be an impressively unfathomable number
• no. of languages available—shows our global reach and helps speak to our mission
• no. of contributors—approximate total or current number—I think either would show how expansive the community is
• If there's a very strong desire to keep the 43%, then we'll need to add a footnote to attribute where (and when) it comes from

@marko-srb For a quick-solution stats area, you could potentially bisect the 'Our story' section or slot it in afterward. I can scrub/edit the line in the first paragraph that mentions it.

Quick iteration to add context to the page

Overall, I think this page has lots of opportunities to clarify the What, Why, and How of WordPress. For now, I'd suggest adding an introduction (which could also be a nice transition into the stats section mentioned above).

Some copy to chew on (as a starting point):

WordPress is a free, open source platform anyone can use to create websites and apps for pretty much anything. It’s powerful, intuitive, and can be completely customized to fit whatever you need it for—now and in the future. As an open source project, it’s built by passionate volunteers around the world. Their collaborative spirit is what fuels the technology—constantly innovating while keeping it stable and secure for all.

WordPress is everywhere; powering millions of businesses, personal projects, local communities, and global organizations.

I could simply add it in above the 'Our story' section—and @jasmussen or @marko-srb could apply/recommend design tweaks as needed.

FYI @Bringmannn @josephahaden for thoughts on copy if we're game to add a quick intro to the current WP.org About page.

[Bringmannn]

I like the starting point thus far!

[jasmussen]

It's a nice number, but it's also hard to understand: what does it mean? For many, there's a frontend to the web, whether Facebook or Mastodon or otherwise, and no matter how impressive the number is, it might not be clear why it matters. In that light, I would be happy to see a much reduced presence of that number.

Personally I like the idea that WordPress is the dark matter of the web, and indeed the open web. It's unseen, but it makes up most of the universe. I don't mean that to specifically suggest we should use the term "dark matter" — I like your iteration! This was only to describe my mental model, and why I'd support the tweak. Thanks Lauren!

[marko-srb]

Current status of the thinking here. It is with false numbers, but reflects the copy suggestions from above. We'll make some additional iterations here, but wanted to share so you can have a grasp of how it looks...

[jasmussen]

Nice work Marko. In the above, the outlined 70+ text stands out to me mostly because we don't use that treatment elsewhere in the about pages. There's also something about the connection with the text below — the statement is to be read as "2b+ downloads", but 2b+ and downloads feel separate due to the different font. We might want to integrate the "downloads", "languages" and "contributors" a bit more so it feels part of the sans-serif text unit. Finally the font weight of the larger text could probably benefit from either being thinner to match the stem-width of the smaller "we" text above, or be substantially bolder so the bigger size looks more intentional.

[thetinyl]

Looks great Marko! I also like the idea of adding the contextual blurbs underneath.

We might want to integrate the "downloads", "languages" and "contributors" a bit more so it feels part of the sans-serif text unit.

Agree with this thought. Especially if someone is scanning the page.

I'm working on confirming the stats—will share as soon as I do.

Also a quick note that the new intro section should appear before the "Story" section. My original thought was for the stats to follow, so: Intro > Stats > Our story..... But it's not a strong opinion about stats placement. Might be worth seeing how the design looks before rearranging.

[thetinyl]

@marko-srb Some confirmed stats for you:

• 2.8 billion+ downloads
• 70+ languages This is going by the latest release.
• 5,000+ core contributors There's some complexity with pulling a full contributor count. I'm still trying to see if there's a way to use a broader stat, but the safest number to use is core contributors for now.

For copy based on what you have in the design above, here are some suggestions (shorter than what you have as placeholder):

2.8b+ downloads
From WordPress version 1.0 and still counting.
70+ languages
Empowering people all over the world.
5,000+ core contributors
Building, improving, and innovating with every release.