Hi,
I'm setting up a new family history collaboration site for, and I'm looking
for tool recommendations.
What I want to do is set up a web site that can be managed by the people
leading the research efforts about my family. In the past, I ran the site
(big pile 'o HTML) and made all the changes, but it's clear that I've become
a bottleneck. Obviously, I need some sort of a content management system
that makes it easy for non-technical users to manage their own information.
There are three primary types of data that will be posted: Text (histories,
journals, letters, etc.), images, and genealogical data (the stuff in a
GEDCOM). In addition, it should be possible for others to attach comments to
each item. Search features are good, too, and we need an easy way to link
images, text and genealogical data together.
The site needs to be divided into sections for each of my great great great
grandfather's (Charles Willden) children, since that's the way the
descendants have organized themselves. We haven't decided how to categorize
the information about ancestors of Charles Willden. Each section should be
managed by a leader, but that leader will probably delegate
responsibility/permission for parts or all of their section to other users.
The permissions management obviously needs to be both flexible and easy to
use. Since there are around 200 people who want to get involved, I don't
want to have to manage these permissions; I have to be able to delegate
nearly all management to the group leaders -- and most of them are
middle-aged to elderly women with just enough computer literacy to use email,
browse the web, operate PAF, etc. They are, however, quite motivated.
Oh, and there are also be a number of mailing lists, which I'm currently
managing manually (i.e. /etc/aliases).
I have a Linux Virtual Server running Debian Etch (I want it to be on Stable,
but I don't see any point in setting it up on Sarge right now when Etch is
inches from release) hosted at rosehosting.com. Great folks, BTW, highly
recommended.
So far, I think my best option is a combination of Plone for the main site,
and Geneweb for the genealogy data. I know Geneweb well, having used it for
several years now, but I'm new to Plone, and not entirely certain about it.
I have no question it can do the job, but I'm not sure if it's the easiest
way to get the job done. I'm considering Mailman for the mailing lists, and
there's a Plone plugin that provides a web interface for mailing list
management.
Has anyone done anything similar? Are there any purpose-built tools out
there? Any recommendations to make my life easier, both in setting up the
site and in managing it on an ongoing basis?
Any and all suggestions welcome,
Thanks,
Shawn.
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