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From: "Geoff Wicks"
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2012 5:27 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [Ql-Users] Fwd: Quanta Web site down?
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From: "Quanta Webmaster"
Sent: Friday, October 19, 2012 8:38 PM
To:
Subject: [Ql-Users] Fwd: Quanta Web site down?
Hi
The QUANTA website was not taken down intentionally, I am now working to
get the site back on-line, but did not know it was down until I received
a
message from the mailing list! If people know the site is down please let
the committee know as we want to know as quickly as possible so we can
fix
issues as soon as they become apparent.
Thank you for your suggestions Geoff, I would like to let you know about
the outcome of the committee meeting.
The committee decided that moving to a cheaper platform was a good idea
and
I have now been tasked with finding a service to use (I know there are
plenty around so will be feeding back my thoughts to the committee). It
was
also agreed that the new site will be mainly static so the committee will
not be making much effort in updating the site (though we will use a
different CMS system we can make updates as required.
In relation to your point number 3 however the magazine will not be made
available to members or the public, I have spent quite some time on the
current Typo3 CMS getting it ready for a new members area and having all
the latest magazines available for users to download and we were about to
get the emails sent out so members could access the site (the magazines
are
only made public after 1 to 2 years as this is one of the benefits of
membership of QUANTA). However, as the committee has agreed to create a
more static website, use a CMS easier to maintain and configure which
does
not have this ability this functionality will now be lost. Given that
Typo3
has been difficult to maintain AND the vocal membership does not want to
pay for am maintained server this seems to be the only option. Of course
if
anyone wants to join the QUANTA committee and help implement these
features
I would be pleased to have some help.
As for your other points:
1. once the new site is up and running the news MAY not be updated on a
regular basis, Dilwyn has already had training and issues with Typo3 and
he
may not want training on another platform (I will have to speak to him
about this). Also the feeds to facebook and twitter will be stopped.
2. It will be up to the committee as to what is displayed and when, Typo3
and the new CMS do have facilities where articles and content can be set
to
appear/disappear at certain times, however, this is down to the editor to
set. If it is not set they will be there until we are notified to remove
the article. If anyone sees anything out of place a simple email to
commit...@quanta.org.uk would quickly get the article updated rather than
waiting 3 months then posting on a public forum!
4. It is unlikely that the committee will update the static website with
QUANTA news. It will be just a static site with information about how to
join and about the various QL's.
*. The membership area will not be recreated as this will be in a
different
CMS and the site will be a static site.
Of course these are my current opinions of what will happen, if the
current
QUANTA membership or the QUANTA committee decide something else is needed
then perhaps this will change, however, the only way I can see this
changing is if more volunteers help with the website but people seem more
interested in attacking the site rather than contributing to it.
Realistically Geoff, if you have a real desire to implement the features
you have mentioned, can I suggest you take over the webmaster role on the
committee?
Keith
Many thanks for this reply. It is not often that we get such a detailed
reaction from Quanta and it is much appreciated. You have given a lot of
clarity about the situation.
Unfortunately as Webmaster you are a convenient scapegoat if things go
wrong with the website. I do not blame you for the problems and I hope I
have made that clear during this discussion.
Perhaps I should recap the history of Quanta websites. The site was first
set up about 10 years ago by the then Chairman, Robin Barker, who had
considerable web skills. He came very near to setting up a members' area,
but, unfortunately, in those days we were less aware of the need for
firewalls and it became a target for hackers and spammers.
Since Robin's departure there have been very few members of the committee
with web expertise and none of the officers except for your year as
treasurer. For about 8 years the officers have been parroting Robin's
ideas without any understanding of the technical or practical problems
involved. They just assumed a webmaster would have an instant solution to
any problems, but as both you and Dan were to painfully discover both
technical and practical problems were plenty.
