Hi people
As GQ Board representative I took over as chair of the IT group at the
ABM last September. There were a number of important issues on the
table and we held a meeting in Melbourne just before Christmas to
progress these. You can find out a bit more about the IT group at http://www.gfa.org.au/contact/it.php
(initial info - we are still working on the page so do revisit for more
info such as the minutes of December meeting which should be there soon.
One of the things we are doing is moving the GFA web site to a content
management system (CMS). (See below for more information on CMS and its
potential at the GFA web site).
I know that there are quite a few people here with IT skills - so I
thought I'd ask if there is anyone with web CMS skills who might be
able to assist us with this project (the GFA web site is currently
230MB of information).
If so, please could you contact me (please use my personal email
address rather than replying to everyone ;-)
Tks
CMS at the GFA Web site
With the increasing prevalence of the
Internet, the importance of the GFA web site in delivering timely and
accurate information to glider pilots nationally (and
internationally) will continue to grow. Across Australia, most large
clubs have broadband (via land line or satellite) Internet access on
site and provide local wired and wireless networks to facilitate
Internet access.
This provides access to the increasing
wealth of information on the GFA web site and to GFA related
information and services such as the On Line Competition hosted
elsewhere.
For many GFA members, the GFA web site
is already the major communications medium, replacing the magazine
particularly for timely access to information and news.
In the years ahead, the importance of
the GFA website to our membership will increase.
The Web Management/Content Bottleneck
The GFA covers a wide range of interests and also has legal
responsibilities in terms of operations and airworthiness. As an
organisation run by a very small office staff and many volunteers at
all levels, managing and maintaining the GFA website presents many
challenges. Few of the (many) people with the need to create web
content have sufficient IT skills and managing the current web site
requires that only those with adequate skills can post content.
This creates a situation where the various departments cannot
directly create, manage and maintain the content that is of use and
interest to the membership.
Consequently, the web site is both a drain on our scarce staff and
volunteer resources and at the same time is not all that it could be
in terms of providing information and services to the membership.
Content Management Systems (CMS) for the web break this bottle by
removing the need for content creators to be skilled in web
technology and by providing a user management system that allows
direct content creation to be delegated in a controlled fashion: a
person can edit and add content only in areas to which they have been
granted access. This is the collaborative creation
environment mentioned below.
What is a Content Management System (CMS)?
A CMS is a computer software system for
organising and facilitating collaborative creation of documents and
other content. A CMS is frequently a web application used for
managing web sites and web content.
Web CMS (through their underlying
framework) also offer a wide range of extensions. Such as:-
-
Dynamic form builders
-
Business or organisational
directories
-
Document management
-
Image and multimedia galleries
-
E-commerce and shopping cart engines
-
Forums and chat software
-
Calendars
-
Blogging software
-
Email newsletters
-
Data collection and reporting tools
-
Banner advertising systems
-
Subscription services
(and more)
The underlying framework also permits
additional extensions to be created should there be a need for this.
CMS at the GFA web site
Moving the GFA web site to a CMS offers
the GFA a number of immediate advantages as well as longer term
potentials:-
-
Increased, more timely content –
each department would be directly responsible for creating, editing and
managing its own content (web pages). Furthermore, the CMS would ensure
that these pages maintained the GFA 'look and feel' to ensure web site
consistency.
This will allow departments to post more material in a more timely
fashion whilst at the same time reducing the load on the current web
management staff.
-
Improved communication with the
membership resulting in part from more and more timely content, but
also from improvements in events calendaring, official blogs (for
example, each department should have a blog as a way of communicating
what issues are currently active and progress to date) and associated
interest group/member forums.
-
A better web site attracting more
traffic also provides opportunities for revenue raising – for example
through judicious advertising and sponsorship.
--
Robert Hart [EMAIL PROTECTED]
+61 (0)438 385 533 http://www.hart.wattle.id.au
