And another thing:

"So what's wrong with the front page blurb, anyway?"

Everything2 is a collection of user-submitted writings about, well, pretty much everything. Use the search box or follow the links to explore, or click here to learn how you can contribute.

Why are we saying "well"? It's as if we paused. This is a piece of written text. Why would we insert a verbal pause in there? Are we uncertain about what we're trying to say? Haven't we thought about it? Have we no conviction?

Everything2 is a collection of user-submitted writings about pretty much everything. Use the search box or follow the links to explore, or click here to learn how you can contribute.

"Pretty much". Is Everything2 about everything or isn't it? Are there subject matter restrictions? No, there aren't. So let's stop wasting the reader's time with space-filling words and get to the point.

Everything2 is a collection of user-submitted writings about everything. Use the search box or follow the links to explore, or click here to learn how you can contribute.

"Follow the links". We're telling readers to follow links to explore a website. This is the zarking internet. It's 2010. People know what links are for. They know how to navigate a site.

Everything2 is a collection of user-submitted writings about everything. Use the search box to explore, or click here to learn how you can contribute.

People also know how to use a search box.

Everything2 is a collection of user-submitted writings about everything. Click here to learn how you can contribute.

They also know that a hyperlink is a thing that you click on. Okay, moving on.

Everything2 is a collection of user-submitted writings about everything. Learn how you can contribute.

The fact that this piece of front page blurb, which appears directly below the Everything2 logo, means that it is extremely obvious that the blurb refers to Everything2. We don't need to say that explicitly.

A collection of user-submitted writings about everything. Learn how you can contribute.

In fact, 'everything' doesn't even need to be stated. It's right there in the name of the site.

A collection of user-submitted writings. Learn how you can contribute.

Nearly there. Now, the link "Learn how you can contribute" currently goes to Everything2 Help. Maybe it should go to a more specific page, one which actually tells readers how to contribute, such as How do I submit a writeup of my own?.

A collection of user-submitted writings. Learn how you can contribute.

To be honest, the fact that we have to include a help document in the front page blurb is a damning commentary on the usability of Everything2. In an ideal world, we wouldn't need to do this because the interface would be pretty much self-explanatory. If nothing else, "Learn how you can contribute" is not a description of the site and shouldn't really constitute part of the blurb at all. The blurb is the blurb. The help docs are what people read after the blurb and the rest of the front page have drawn them in and convinced them that they want to contribute.

A collection of user-submitted writings.

Much better. This is finally brief enough to qualify as a subtitle to Everything2 while being 100% accurate. The fact that the writings are user-submitted almost, but not quite, goes without saying. It would also be nice if the fact that E2 is a collection of writings was self-evident from the content of the front page. Finally, while technically accurate, this piece of blurb lacks kick. It's still a little dry and straight. Personally, I've suggested the following:

the world's coolest text

Read. Write.

I like to think that these are brief while being highly informative and accurate and (at least a little) stylish. Others are suggesting equally clever things.

We are writers. We love to create huge paragraphs of text on our favourite subjects. We are also readers-- we are perfectly happy to devour vast quantities of text in our leisure time. But despite half a dozen Brevity Quests we still haven't figured out how to be brief. This is the internet of Fahrenheit 451 and people want to get information quickly. Write to your audience!

Don't worry that too many of "the wrong sort" of people will sign up. Firstly, 99.9% of E2's users are passive unregistered readers (note: this number pulled out of thin air) and you will almost certainly never interact with them. Secondly, we have a vast network of editors and chanops whose sole purpose of existence is to maintain a high level of quality in both writing and chatterboxing. Thirdly, seriously? E2's been dropping in popularity since 2007 and you're worried we'll get too many users? Hell, it would be nice to have the option.

I'm aware of the irony of spending 900 words explaining how and why to be brief