Problem

The current Agency of learning website (agencyoflearning.com) is outgrowing its usefulness. It does not allow us to quickly or easily add marketing collateral such as case studies and testimonials, does not possess the ability to host blog posts, design docs, or podcast episodes, and does not provide a great experience for potential clients who want to hire our members or our services.

As we approach the Rails World launch, we, at the very least, need the ability to have a simple homepage with a place to host blog posts and design docs, as part of our arrangement with The Rails Foundation allows for us to promote the project as we build it.

Appetite

We aim to keep this as a small project, within 2 weeks.

Solution

We will add this functionality directly into PairApp. It will include a homepage inspired by the current homepage, a section for blog posts, and a link for members to log in.

S1. Homepage

Homepage (s1)

1. Hero section should have three CTAs: Become a member (link to application), For employers (link to typeform), Our Services (link to typeform). It should also have our logo and name displayed prominently at the top.
2. Below the hero section should be a simple list or grid of testimonials w/ name, images, and quote. Take the current testimonials from the website.
3. Problem section header: Being a junior dev is lonely. Problem section body: Joining a developer community helps you meet peers, get advice, get unstuck, practice tricky situations, and grow your network. Mentorship and collaboration are also very hard to find when you’re solo. That’s what The Agency of Learning is for. (Please honor the existing line breaks in the text from the website.)
4. Benefits section should be lifted directly from the existing website.
5. Below the benefits section should be another “Become a member” CTA.
6. Footer section should have a link to our email and to [email protected] (as it does today).

Blog Posts (s2)

Blog posts should be displayed in a straightforward manner, on a new screen. This screen should be linked from a header navbar. Posts should be displayed in reverse chronological order (most recent first). They should have a title, author, and body. The body should be rich text, containing images and formatting. The titles should link to dedicated blog post URLs that we can share.

These dedicated screens should look great when shared on social media. This implies meta tags, opengraph tags, including an image (our logo). Title tags should be relevant to the post.

Agency of learning members should be able to author blog posts, but only admins should be able to publish them. That implies a draft status on each post, updateable by admins (read-only for members).