User:Marcus

Project Description

Purpose

The purpose of the Buddha Nature website is to provide a study guide and resource hub for information for learning about and teaching the concept of Buddha Nature, its associated texts, teachings, lineages, and relevant Buddhist ideas. Unique content will be shared here, but the site will primarily act as a broker for other good projects that have already created quality materials available.

Scope

• The Buddha Nature website will include information from popular and scholastic sources including books, dissertations, articles, images, video teachings, classes, and audio recordings.
• The main focus will be providing an introduction to studying and learning about Buddha Nature with articles enhanced by multimedia elements.
• Learning will be facilitated by suggested paths of study and practice including suggested readings, reviews of books, reviews of online courses, and course descriptions.

Goals

1. To answer the question "What is Buddha Nature?" in a meaningful way for general visitors to the website
2. To share information about an important Buddhist teaching
3. To provide a resource that can lead interested people to much more detailed study of Buddha Nature
4. To test the use of media wiki for the purpose of creating a website where people can learn about a major Buddhist topic

Discussion of Development

1. RE-SKINNING IS ESSENTIAL
   1. Make sure the pages are more readable and simplified for visitors, similar to library.tsadra.org but should be slightly different style and even more simplified, especially on the main page.
   2. Make sure it does not scream Wikipedia at visitors
2. Main Page - Main Page Test
   1. Begin with a quote from a Tsadra book defining or describing Buddha Nature in a beautiful or interesting way. ..
      1. AND OR: "The history of Buddhism is to a large extent the history of how Buddhist texts have been translated, transmitted, and received." It is no surprise therefore that we should spend time trying to understand how Buddhist texts have been translated and transmitted.
   2. Clearly identify the interesting functions/uses of the site people are visiting right at the beginning. - consider the use of "card style" design for presented information here.
   3. How do we approach the study of Buddhism and Buddha Nature on this site? How do we want people to approach it? - Let's make this explicit with a section covering this.
      1. Include the main description of what Buddha Nature is on the front page?
      2. Present Buddha Nature and associated texts and teachings in our own way
      3. Show how it is presented in different traditional ways
      4. How were the teachings transmitted and received in different traditions?
      5. Look at the translations of the texts as that is related to their transmission.

List of Pages to be updated first

1. Buddha Nature:About
2. Buddha Nature:Privacy policy
3. Buddha Nature:General disclaimer
4. Study Guide Page: Buddha Nature Study Guide
5. Example Video Session Page: Video Test 1
6. Example Topic Page: Tibetan Art
7. Example Book Review Page:
8. Example Course Review Page:
9. Example Meeting or Conference on Buddha Nature page:
10. Example Book Page:
11. Example Dissertation Page:
12. Example Article Page:
13. Example Author Page:
14. Example Publisher Page:
15. Main Page