David Reynolds david@reynoldsfamily.org.uk
OK, maybe I was reading between the lines BUT I and other people with whom I have discussed this topic with in IRC are unhappy with the site and the current way in which it is maintained.
I think only one of those from IRC contacted me, and I answered, and no-one mentioned it to me when I was there last Monday evening, nor left a memo. Sorry, but I'm no telepath and I don't IRC there much outside meetings because of a small clique. The IRC doesn't reflect ALUG, fortunately.
As I wrote earlier, please make a template that the metadata and div#main can be put into. I strongly prefer xhtml+css +accessibility. I'd love a new design.
I agree with xhtml+css+accessibility, but why does it have to fit into the current framework?
Because if it can cope with that, which is about as simple and portable as it gets, it should be adaptable to the main site, the planet, the wiki, the library, ...
You seem to be cutting peoples suggestions of new developments by forcing them into using the already exisiting system.
Maybe. I think it's unrealistic to change everything overnight, but if someone has time and commits to supporting it for the forseeable, do it, get consensus and we'll migrate. It's the caretaking part that causes problems. It's all well and good saying it's open and anyone could run it, but I'm not going to fight with someone else's tools if I find them awkward, so someone does have to say "yes, I'll take care of this".
Looking back in the archive, that's roughly how I ended up doing it, after problems with three or four sites before the current one. Last man standing. I'm stubborn.
What in your opinion are the tasks of the site?
I still want the same as I posted on Fri 12 Jan 2001: - Contact details - Link to mailing lists sign-up and archive - Meetings information - Meeting venues information - Pointers to new-user information - Link to library, blogs, ...
In the past, I invited articles and reviews, but I'm less keen now that blogs have taken off and we've lots of outdated pages. Maybe there are other things to do, but I'd like to see them happen elsewhere first and then get moved or linked as needed.
It's quite amusing to look back and see Brett flaming the first reply that suggested making the site use PHP and mySQL... :-) http://lists.alug.org.uk/main/2001-January/007898.html
There's no reason we are "having to rely on one person" but for all the flaming and idle suggestions, no-one else has yet offered to take the patches and develop some cooperation and trust.
I'd like to help bring the site more up to date. Where do I sign up?
No sign-up is required. For the current main site, you can either download a page, edit it and mail it to me, or stick /cgi-bin/editme.pl in the address just after org.uk/ and do it on the web. I'd appreciate a quick email after the first edit, so I can confirm it all worked for you.
Immediately, there's some dead links on http://www.alug.org.uk/background/getstarted.html that need replacing, and I remember complaints about http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/ and most of the stuff under http://www.alug.org.uk/articles/ except science could do with checking and linking in. Beyond that, it's checking and improving whatever you find. There's probably an infinite amount of work and new features and subsites are limited by imagination only.
If direct access is helpful, let me know what works well for you and we'll probably work something out soon. Others are involved and I think they've said they're flexible, but I'd like to double-check beforehand. Maybe it is time for an admin@alug. I thought it was suggested and rejected before. Anyone remember?
The other most-wanted things seem to be the library and wiki upgrade. People have offered to do those already, so I'd give it some time (or they can shout out here to get help).
Thanks,