Hallo,
If you need help, I can do database stuff with php and MySql. However, I am
lousy webdesigner, so I will not build you modern looking tempelate from
scratch.
However, there are ready made templates and I can modify one for the needs
of your site. So if you can find a web a html+css template for your site, I
can do the database programming. So that it is easy for you to maintain.
—Jouni
On Jan 13, 2012 5:18 PM, "Jed Rothwell" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Ed Storms, Akira Shirakawa and others have suggested I update the look and
> feel of the LENR-CANR.org website. In particular, the library indexes are
> badly out of data and useless. I was thinking of doing this a few years ago
> but a large organization said they might take over the maintenance of the
> site, so I put it off. I have not heard from them lately so I guess that's
> on hold. Anyway, I've been thinking about doing this.
>
> The actual work is trivial because the website is simple. I could do it in
> a week. It would save me time and prevent errors if someone who knows about
> modern rituals would assist. I could pay a consultant but it am a
> cheapskate and this is a volunteer effort anyway so I don't feel like
> paying.
>
> Please contact me by direct e-mail if you're interested in assisting. This
> is off topic here, but let me briefly what I have in mind.
>
> LOOK & FEEL
>
> Converting the screens to a modern look should take a week. It could use
> some reorganization along the way. I welcome any suggestions. The thing
> about the "look and feel" is, I do not like the way modern websites look so
> I have not bothered to do it. I have no strong opinion about this, but
> changing it seems pointless. If someone who likes modern web design would
> be willing to lend a hand and get me started I would be happy to finish up.
> I do not want to burden it with pop-ups or lots of graphic images.
>
> Akira suggested I look at Wordpress instead of HTML editors. I see it has
> some advantages but it seems more suited to blog-style web pages than a
> library. I use Namo Webeditor 9. That is a creaky, unfriendly old
> program. LENR-CANR.org pages is so rudimentary I often just edit the HTML
> directly by hand.
>
> INDEXES
>
> In the present version of LENR-CANR.org the indexes are crude, static HTML
> code. The obvious way to do this is with SQL. When we started, the ISP did
> not even offer an online utility SQL. Later we moved to ISPs that offer
> this kind of thing but it cost a lot of money. So I never bothered to
> convert. Now that MySQL and PostgreSQL are free, I might as well use SQL
> instead of my home-grown indexes. I downloaded the manual. Relational
> databases have no changed much since the 1980s. This is simple database
> with only 3000 items so it is a piece of cake.
>
> I tested the PostgreSQL at our ISP, which is Jumpline.com. There is
> nothing to it. I can reformat the database into their import format and
> make the one-to-many links and whatnot.
>
> The problem is, Namo Webeditor 9 does not want to talk to Jumpline's SQL
> utilities. Maybe I just can't figure out the right parameters. Companies
> such as Jumpline and Namo offer no help for things like that. I have been
> poking around with Wavemaker.com and some other SQL utilities. I do not
> like the idea of using two different programs to maintain the website.
>
> Perhaps someone can recommend an integrated solution? One program that
> does it all and works with the latest version of PostgreSQL? I don't mind
> paying for a program. I am not that much of a cheapskate! I do not want any
> Microsoft web programs such as Frontpage. I am allergic to Microsoft.
> Frontpage was a nightmare to work with. It generated outrageously bloated
> HTML with lots of nonfunctional stuff. I mean stuff like HTML that does
> not display! You wonder how they managed to do that. HTML is an idiotic
> standard in many ways. It has lots of ad hoc stuff lying around. But it is
> simple and relatively foolproof. How do you manage to crank out HTML code
> that flies off the screen or makes the background the same as the
> foreground?!? It takes a kind of genius. I have to convert Word files to
> HTML sometimes, for the abstracts in the database. I ended up writing a Pascal
> program to clean out the garbage. I see that Frontpage has been replaced
> with Microsoft Expression. Probably just as bad.
>
>
> As I said, contact me directly if you would like to assist. For free.
> Bearing in mind that virtue is its own reward.
>
> - Jed
>
>
