[Edu-sig] constructive criticism sought

[Rob Andrews]

Useless Python has been working on "getting its act together" to become a
more beneficial resource for learning Python, and the team of volunteers is
at a point in the process where I feel it would be good to solicit some
constructive criticism.

After it became obvious that the site had far outgrown the ability of one
person to maintain the site more-or-less manually, a team of volunteers was
recruited, and some development work has begun to bolster the integrity of
the site. It's all underway currently, and is at a stage where there is
still room to take suggestions to heart.

A development version of the site is at http://uselesspython.com/newsite/
(much nicer navigation in store, and faster-loading) and the "old" version
of the site is still carrying on at http://uselesspython.com (quite
functional, but with plenty of room for improvement).

In the new version of the site, it should be much easier to find source code
by means of navigating through categories, and some reasonably advanced
search capabilities are being developed. We have also noted a need to add
some "quality control" and basic means for peer-review. So far, peer review
has meant referring contributors to the Python Tutor email list, but we want
to start making sure that each contribution is reviewed by a volunteer, and
we may add a database-powered discussion board. The verdict is still out on
which directions to take with this.

So, aside from the fact that the development site has more dead links than
actual pages (because it's a development site), how can we make the site a
genuinely useful resource for novice/student programmers and educators?

-Rob Andrews