Seeking Feedback on Alternative Formats for ASP.NET MVC and Deployment Content Maps

Tom Dykstra - MSFT

The ASP.NET content maps are lists of resources that we have reviewed and recommend. The content maps have been popular in their present form, but we’re looking at ways to improve them, such as by publishing more lists but with a narrower focus to each one, by providing more information for each link, and by formatting them differently. Here are links to the existing content maps and three pages that show new approaches we’re considering: 

• Content Maps
  • ASP.NET Deployment Content Map
  • ASP.NET MVC 4 Content Map
  • ASP.NET Data Access Content Map
• New Curated Views
  • How to deploy an ASP.NET web application to a Windows Azure Web Site using Visual Studio
  • How to secure an ASP.NET MVC app
  • How Do I Configure FTP Security in IIS?

We’re calling the new lists “curated views.” Curated in the sense that, although anyone can suggest or submit links to add to the list, someone at Microsoft will be responsible for creating and maintaining them. Views in the sense that they present information about resources that can help with a particular question or topic.

Please tell us what you think of the new curated views compared to the existing content maps, or offer suggestions for other information or formats you’d like to see. You can leave comments on this post, or on the new web pages themselves, or send us an email.

We are interested in any feedback you have, but here are some specific questions to think about:

1. Each curated view/content map includes a list of suggested content links.  Below is a list of additional information that could be provided with each link.  Which of these are most important?
1. Date that the content was posted.
2. Type of content (video, article, code sample, etc.).
3. Author name.
4. Short description.
5. Level of difficulty of the content.
6. Version of software/framework or SDK the content refers to.
7. Website the content appears on.
8. Number of likes or positive reviews.
9. Rating assigned to the content by the community.
2. If you opened a page similar to one of these curated views/content maps from Google or Bing search results, would you be likely to try the links on this page or just return to search results?
3. If Microsoft and community experts published a large set of content views similar to these on a website, would you visit that site first when you had technical questions, or would you do an Internet search on Google/Bing first?
4. Do the questions addressed by each curated view seem too narrow or too broad in scope to be helpful?  If so, which ones?  
5. Do any of the curated views/content maps provide too much or too little detail for each link in the list? If so, which ones? 
6. Do you find it helpful to see the profile of the person who created the curated view/content map?
7. If we provided an easy way for you to publish your own curated views (with attribution) to a common site together with the Microsoft-created curated views, would you be interested in doing so?  Why or why not?
8. If we provided an easy way for you to suggest new content links to add to content views/content maps that have already been published, would you be interested in doing so?  Why or why not?
9. What would make these content views/content maps more helpful? 

Tom Dykstra - MSFT Sr. Content Developer, .NET Content Team

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