Hi Rich, Thanks for that. That's a fantastic idea.
ALC deserves his proper home on the ComDev site. I like the approach with one MD per chapter and assembly at "build time": it's a single source of truth, and adding a chapter means a PR. If I may, I have a few suggestions: - following Andrew's point, we can keep the one file per chapter (it's a good data model), but render them as entries on a single /alc/chapters page, and only generate a dedicated page for chapters with actual content. If I'm not wrong the site is on Hugo, so that should be easy to do with build options per page. - I think staleness is the main long term risk. What about adding a last_activity (or last_verified) date in the front-matter next to status? Then dormant chapters could be flagged (or hidden from the map) automatically, and we could do a quick review as part of the ComDev board report. - about the CWiki, as you mentioned, it's probably out of date. I'm fine with the website front door / cwiki source of truth split for now, but long term I think we would prefer to move the process docs to the website (versioned and reviewed via PR). In the meantime, /alc/start-a-chapter should stay a short summary linking to the cwiki, to avoid two diverging copies. - for organizers, I would suggest using Apache IDs or a chapter contact/meetup link rather than personal emails, and of course making sure organizers are OK to be listed. Happy to help there if needed :) Thanks! Regards JB On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 12:02 PM Rich Bowen <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, folks (and especially Gav who has stepped up to get some of the ALC > process updated): > > As part of the ongoing effort to tidy up the ComDev website's structure > and navigation, I'd like to propose adding a new top-level /alc/ section > for the Apache Local Community program. This augments the existing > Wiki content - which I still need to review, because I suspect that some > of it is outdated or inaccurate. > > Right now the only ALC presence on community.apache.org is a single > navbar link under "Join the Conversation" that points off to the cwiki > page. There's no home for ALC on the site itself, no list of chapters, > and no map. Given that ALC is a ComDev program, I think it deserves a > proper section. > > == What I'm proposing == > > A new /alc/ section with roughly this shape: > > /alc/ Landing page: what ALC is, how to find a chapter > near you, how to start one. Includes an > interactive map of chapters. > /alc/chapters/ One short page per chapter (city, organizers, > meetup/contact link, recent activity), and then a > link > to the wiki content. > /alc/start-a-chapter The process for establishing a new chapter, and > the ground rules. > /alc/organizers Practical help for running a chapter: finding > speakers (linked to our existing speaker and > slide resources), event ideas, ALC resources. > > == The map == > > I’d like to do a fancy javascripty thing that has a map that updates as we > add chapters. > > Each chapter page would carry a little front-matter block in its Markdown > (city, country, lat/long, status, organizers). The site build generates > the map data from those files automatically, so the map stays in sync and > adding a chapter is just a single Markdown file plus a pull request — no > separate data source to maintain. > > == How it connects to the rest of the site == > > - The Events dropdown gets a "Local groups" entry pointing at /alc/. > - The homepage gets a "Find a local community near you" card. > - Chapters can reuse our speaker list and sample-presentation pages. > - Event write-ups from chapters can be ordinary blog posts tagged "alc". > > == Relationship to the cwiki == > > The ALC program documentation currently lives on the cwiki. The intent > isn't to fork or replace it — the authoritative program rules (the apply > and dissolve processes, ALC Resources, Slack invite) can keep living > there and be linked from /alc/. What the website adds is the public, > newcomer-facing front door: the "what is this / is there one near me / > how do I start one" layer, plus the map, which the wiki can't really do. > > I wanted to float the structure here first in case there are chapters, > policies, > or links I'm missing, and to make sure the split between "website front > door” > and "cwiki source of truth” sits right with everyone. > > Thoughts welcome. > > Rich > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > >
