Hello! Automad looks incredible. I definitely want to play with it. I can't believe that you're just one person.
The main Automad website provides reasons why someone might want to use Automad by providing a short paragraph describing basic features. Then, it has sections showing the usability of the dashboard, displaying theme options (sidenote: the "Check out Included Themes" button doesn't take me to a theme gallery, which is what I wanted when I clicked), and so on. All of these things do sound like good things. However, I wonder what percent of visitors are assessing Automad in a vacuum. My guess is a very small percent.
I believe that a significant majority of visitors came to the site for one of two similar ultimate reasons:
- To see if they should migrate an existing website from a different CMS to Automad
- To see they should build a new website on Automad instead of a different CMS (this is me)
In both of these common cases, the visitor's needs aren't satisfied by listing or showing the attractive qualities of Automad. That's necessary, but not sufficient. What is needed is information to help the visitor compare Automad to its competition.
One way this could be accomplished is by providing side-by-side comparisons. This mean comparisons of feature lists, admin panels, page load times, or anything else that every CMS needs to deal with. This could be as simple or complicated as you like. It's your website, so you control the differences you want to highlight.
Another way to help visitors decide if they want to use Automad instead of a competing CMS would be to talk about what led you to create Automad in the first place. What did you try, and why weren't they good enough?
As for who to compare against, WordPress is the obvious answer. Maybe Joomla as well. But I also think it's important that you compare Automad to other flat file CMSs such as Grav, Bludit, and PicoCMS. Right now, I'm deciding between Automad and Grav, so that's the comparison that I'd be most interested in hearing about. So if you were to only compare Automad to the minimum number of competitors required to satisfy a prospective user like me, it would be Automad vs WordPress vs Grav.
I hope this is useful feedback about the website. I'm writing all of this as somebody who is, frankly, in awe of what you've made. In fact, that's exactly why I bothered to sign up for the forum and write this. You're clearly committed to pushing yourself to the highest standards. I wish that I could better appreciate what you've created by better understanding how it compares to others. That's not the main or best reason to offer a comparison, but I figured I'd mention it because it's positive and true. ?
