[webdev] Re: deafening

[Tom Hull <thull@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dale W Hodge wrote:
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: webdev-bounce@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:webdev-bounce@xxxxxxxxx]On Behalf
> > Of Tom Hull
> >
> >
> > Hey, the silence on this list has been deafening since I got
> > back.
> 
> So, you noticed too? :-)

I'm still buried here, but will eventually dig out.

> >  What do we need to do to get going again?
> > A face-to-face meeting?
> 
> That might not be a bad idea. Or an IRC session.

I think we're so cold right now that a meeting would be better.
Any night next week would be good for me. How about Tuesday,
June 4, 7:30, one of the usual WSU rooms? If that's OK, can
someone check with Tom Wallis on the room?

> > Some things that I can think of that need doing:
> >
> >  2) We need to set up CVS for remote access.
> 
> I've never done that. I'm not sure what it would take.

I'll do the CVS bit. I haven't done it either, but I don't think
it'll be hard to figure out.

> >  3) We need a plan for organizing content.
> 
> Agreed. But what kind of content?

I think the subject domain is:

 a) the group (ACLUG)
 b) Linux
 c) the community (Wichita/Kansas) [optional]

Most of this is (b), and most of (b) is available somewhere on the
web. The main reason for doing (b) is to help users find answers,
which is mostly a matter of pointing people at the best doc; the
main value-add that we can provide is to let users add comments,
experiences, etc. to the links. This is what community website
software like openacs is meant to do: provide support so that
over time, with use, we can aggregate the knowledge base of our
members. To do this, we need to provide some seed information,
and we need to work on making it navigable and searchable; i.e.,
provide a clear, logical organization for the data.

One way to start this would be to research existing hierarchical
or taxonomic classification schemes: examples of which include
the indexes to things like LDP, osdir, trove, dmoz, some of the
hardware compatibility lists, etc.

For example, on software projects, we could do one page per
project: some classification data, an introduction and a set
of major links (moderated), and user comments. We could start
doing this with static pages, then eventually move the data
into the database (i.e., create a "software projects" module),
allowing the navigation pages to be generated generically.

I'd like to do a book review too. Again, start out with static
pages and general comments, and move it to the database ASAP.
Again, the main thing is to provide a hook that users can hang
comments on. (Although a rating system would be good here.)

By community, the main thing I'm looking for is a place to
collect linux-at-work-and-play stories.

> >  4) We need to figure out how to handle news feeds (RSS).
> 
> As soon as I figure that out locally, I can report on what it takes.  I was
> using NewsCliper on my own site, but the latest upgrade broke it badly. I was
> already considering RSS, now I'm committed to making it work somehow.

The other major project is to figure out how to use the various
openacs modules, and connect them together. We need to add news
and calendar to the home page. It would be good to use the
classified ad system instead of spamming the discussion list
with junk sales. There's a lot more functionality "in the box"
just waiting for someone to figure it out.

-- 
/*
 *  Tom Hull * thull at kscable.com * http://www.tomhull.com/
 */