PLUG website (was Re: class this Wed!)

Even with themes, it still maintains the canned look, altho it does help a
LOT if the admin isn't so lazy as to accept the default theme. I can find a
person to handle general design (samples at www.spacetiger.com
www.spacetiger.com/xanthotech www.spacetiger.com/supportbeamBETA.) And one
or two people semi-proficient in PHP could easily pull off the application
end, while either myself, my friend zed, or anyone else here could work on
the database end. Sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't too bad.
Much easier to reinvent the wheel, than to retrofit one while driving down
I-17 at 90mph. Not that *I* would do that. =)

What level of content management are we looking for? A basic news system
allowing for posting info on upcoming events, activities, etc would be a
very simple task. Even to add a web calendar would not be much work (god
bless planetsourcecode.com). This would all still allow for each authorized
administrator to add/modify/remove content, or even make the site rotate
content based on any number of variables such as date.

I'm not sure how the PLUG mailing lists work, but if they happen to store
information in a SQL database, that makes the site potentially even more
interactive. Toss in a somewhat customized version of phpBB, and youve got
yourself a good start, and a solid platform for future expansion.

I truly think that by building a minimal framework now, PLUG can set a
foundation upon which to add new features in the future, much more easily
than modifying another design/system. The process of building a decent CMS
wouldn't take very long either. Show us an ftp account with php/mysql and
give us a week, and you would find a new site up and running. Could prove
to be faster than postnuke should that particular system run into any
glitches.

Of course, like you said, the main focus is to get PLUG's limited resources
back onto more important things. I think, however, that the small
investment in time/energy up front would pay off not only immediately, but
in the future. Whichever path is taken, it's still better than the current
situation, so whatever works, well, works.

Adam Rader


-----Original Message-----
From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
[mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us]On Behalf Of David
Uhlman
Sent: Sunday, September 01, 2002 1:30 AM
To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
Subject: Re: PLUG website (was Re: class this Wed!)


I agree that I would like to see the PLUG website not take on a "canned" or
homogenized look, but I think that this is possible with postnuke. For
version 7.1, earlier versions lack some important and useful new features
and older themes do not support them, there are, at my brief count more than
400 themes. There really isn't a lot we could do about the links on left,
itemized scrolling content down center, links features on right layout. I
don't personally mind that because I find it effective and I don't think
PLUG is in the web design business, its job is to empower community
contribution and provide information, self generated content, and links to
resources.

It would be far simpler for PLUG to create its own theme than to program a
content management system, though I would prefer not to do that if at all
possible. I am trying to be realistic and also trying to improve the amount
of impact PLUG has, I don't personally think that web site design and php
coding is at this time the best route. Maybe to plan a transition a year or
more from now and to actually solicit an organized program to recode a site
is an idea, but again to me it just looks like reinventing the wheel. At
this point everyone one plate is full with IF2, IF3, classes and a never
ending lists of other commitments, let alone day jobs.

I can say that postnuke allows for a very nice, multi site, multi themed
setup on one server (or virtual host) and without a lot of database fuss. I
don't want to make it sound like I am 100% postnuke, it just appears that
postnuke currently fits the bill and I haven't seen an alternative that
would work better yet.

I think that if we make a concerted effort to take on a more professional
appearance and to make strides lowering the barriers to volunteering and
contribution, we will see a huge difference (increase) in our ability to
promote linux and free software.

Sincerely,
David Uhlman
CTO 50km Inc.