Cameron, I know that this is a topic near and dear to your heart so I will tread lightly. I think we should keep this very specific, relating to the website only. When we try to have things too generalized it tends to splinter or stagnate. I would like to see the CLUG website get updated this does not exclude anyone in the group and I mean anyone, whether they are a member or not. If you want to be a part of this committee then so be it, the more the merrier.
I never meant to imply that a few people were deciding the group's fate. However, I do think that this committee report to the Executive which I am a member of. In my opinion the design of any future CLUG website should be put to the group-at-large to vote on. I offered to chair this committee, but I can be a non-chairing member if someone more driven or available would like to step up. It doesn't make much difference to me as long as I am a part of it. To specifically address your self-nomination as a Communications Officer, all I can say is that the Executive will have to discuss this in our next meeting. Since Derek Keeler moved to B.C. we are without an Events Coordinator. We should have a replacement for him but this may be put off till the Annual General Meeting in the new year. I can't say for sure. Jarrod ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cameron Nikitiuk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 1:33 PM Subject: RE: (clug-talk) Website and Forum? > Could we look at establishing a communications committee comprised of a few > members so that the membership at large would feel represented and not > having one or two people decide the fate of us all? > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jarrod Major [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: December 5, 2002 1:25 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: (clug-talk) Website and Forum? > > > RE: (clug-talk) Website and Forum?This why I suggested co-location. This is > a ways off though, as CLUG doesn't really have the funds to do this > long-term. Hence my idea of trying to be the beneficiary of someone's > charity. > > With co-location, it's our box. For the record if we went the virtual host > route we would almost certainly be looking at MySQL. There are exceptions > and perhaps we might be lucky enough to find one. Nuc doesn't offer > PostgreSQL unfortunately (I haven't convinced them that they should do this > yet). > > If we did go the virtual host route I for one would not be comfortable with > the idea of our membership database being there, but that's just me. > > At any rate, this is probably a cart before the horse situation. We should > concentrate on design and features of the site. Do we want to start a > different thread perhaps specifically addressing these issues or move it off > list? I'll see if I can take some time to work something up this weekend. > > Jarrod > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Andrew Barnes > To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' > Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 1:17 PM > Subject: RE: (clug-talk) Website and Forum? > > > Hmm... I'll see what I can dig up for hosting alternatives. > It's not difficult to move between Postgres and MySQL from what I've seen, > but I think the site would be on MySQL if alternate hosting was found - I've > seldom seen Postgres listed in packages. > Updating would be interesting - I would like to make it as seamless as > possible for someone to do various website tasks like news but the actual > site like layout would require PHP knowledge. I'm going to start on a > layout pretty soon then... > -----Original Message----- > From: Jarrod Major [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 12:29 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: (clug-talk) Website and Forum? > > > Website and Forum?Hey Andrew, > I don't believe that you are stepping on toes. I think your ideas are good. > I will address some of your questions to the best of my knowledge. > > I'm not sure if this is the right place > > - if not please direct me to the proper list. > This is as good as any. I don't know how many folks are subscribed to the > other lists. > > At last night's meeting, the issue of moving to a UBB forum was > > broached. I wondered if there was more interest for this as > > there's benefits to be had - less chance of spam, IMO easier to > > refer someone to a forum thread, more static viewing so a guest > > can browse and get the feeling of the community, moderation if > > necessary... I have used phpBB - it's both free and quite good. > I would love to see us move to a forum such as > http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/index.php > I have seen a Linux Forum that uses the same forum code but I don't have the > link with me. This type of forum has the ability to search and it easily > moderated. It would be very nice. > > I am unfamiliar with how CLUG is exists on the webserver though > > - I got the impression that it is people sharing their bandwidth > > by providing hosting. Is that correct? > Yes, this is correct. Currently it is kindly being hosted by Jeff Clement, > CLUG's Past-President and uses his personal bandwidth. I think the long-term > goal is to have a server co-located at some prominent ISP in Calgary that > has little in the way of bandwidth constraints. I'll have to work on my > bosses at Nucleus... no promises but they do a fair bit of stuff for > non-profit/not-for-profit organizations. If someone wants to help me make up > a professional proposal I can give this to them. The worst thing they can > say is no. > > The reason I ask is that I would like to inquire if I (or someone) > > could redesign the website. I mean no disrepect to the efforts > > that have gone into what currently exists, but the layout is > > rather antiquated and doesn't lend to easy access. > I think a site redesign would be most welcome. I have done some of the > updates to the site in my spare time with the aid of the WIKI. I think the > WIKI idea was a good one and Jeff was kind enough to implement it in his > spare time. I know that we have had problems with it in the past and I would > like to see this come to an end. I'm speaking particularly of defacement of > the site. I too am a web designer and the designer for the new CLUG logo and > I would love to be a part of some new development for the CLUG website. I > too am fluent in the use of PHP and MySQL but I think the server may be > using PostgreSQL though. In any event the DB isn't that big a deal, > PostgreSQL or MySQL would be quite easy to set up and use if they aren't > there already. > The downside is that taking away the WIKI would be a drag because it would > prevent people from making changes as necessary. Perhaps if we had a select > group making changes who had to log in under personal accounts who could be > held accountable for their actions it might not be so bad. Leaving it open > as it is now is dangerous but thus far has served us pretty well. > I would like to see if we might be able to get a committee going on this. > Anyone interested? > > I think the site would attract more if it were easier to browse, > > and the content on the main page was a little more active - more > > Linux related news amidst CLUG news for a portal effect. Not > > looking to re-create Slashdot but it adds to why someone would go > > to the site. My intention or suggestion would be to move to a > > PHP/MySQL etc. setup in the interest of adding email newsletter > > support, polling, accounts for site administration like news > > posting and backups.... The forum would provide even more of a > > backend to the site, with the ability to discuss news topics etc. > > and allow newcomers easy access to view the community. > > Are these good ideas, or am I stepping on toes? > I think all of this is good and some of it has been brought up before. It > would be nice to get this stuff implemented in a new site context. We should > definitely get a list of resources that Jeff's box has and move from there. > Perhaps starting from the ground up might not be a bad idea either. > Jarrod Major > CLUG Treasurer > Registered Linux User: #224211 > >
