[ELECTRON] Website ideas

Sun Apr 24 14:15:29 UTC 2011

Hi Blair,

Perhaps this is a bit of a misunderstanding:

"One that crossed my mind would be a swap shop... A blog area where members
could post details of surplus items that they have collected"

So in response to "Forums are in my experience better in this regard.", a blog
isn't a forum, which is why I said the existing mailing list would be more
suitable than a blog for this sort of thing. Which brings us on to
groupserver.

As has been debated a couple of times in recent memory some people want a
mailing list, some people want a forum, others want to be able to choose to
use either. The groupserver solution Simon found seems to satisfy the forum
fans and the mailing list fans. Callooh! Callay!

The idea behind the groupserver <http://groupserver.org>solution is that
it's (downloaded, configured and) run it from your own (or in this case,
Ben's) server.

The test group Simon set up was purely to illustrate functionality.
Integration should be possible, failing that perhaps something as simple as
loading the content into a <DIV> in a joomla template would address your
concerns of EC Forum/Mailinglist content seeming to be on another site.

If joomla has a groupserver style component/plugin, which ticks all the
(same) boxes even better.

<http://groupserver.org/>One of the actions agreed at the meeting was that
the best way forward would be to migrate the existing site and mailing list
off Simon's VPS and onto Ben's. If I remember correctly Simon was keen for
this to happen before he stepped down. I'm not sure if this has happened
yet. Perhaps Simon or Ben can advise on this.

This would also allow appropriate time to properly security/penetration test
any new site, since we don't want Ben's VPS to get rooted, or anything of
that nature (lest we forget Little Bobby Tables
<http://xkcd.com/327/>, lizamoon
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/31/lizamoon_mass_injection_attack/>etc).
Personally I think that concentrating on having a secure and functional site
would be a primary concern. Bells, whistles and SEO should be secondary
concerns IMHO which could be addressed in future.

Cheers

Martin

On 24 April 2011 00:47, Blair Thompson <mail at justblair.co.uk> wrote:

> H Martin
>
> I agree that organising things on the lists is another way of doing swaps,
> but there are advantages to dong things on the site...
>
> Stuff gets lost pretty easily on lists, so if I offer a part up now, unless
> someone needs one right now there is a fair chance that the offer will
> become buried.  Forums are in my experience better in this regard.  But as
> the forum vs list debate is apparently a contentious one, posting in a site
> section might be a compromise.
>
> Big advantage to the site is this... More content = more google love.  I
> would like to see the site rate a bit higher in search ratings and with
> that
> in mind I have a few strategies that  In know can be effective in drawing
> relevant traffic.  Search Engine Optimisation tricks though are no match to
> fresh keyword ridden content.
>
> As for the test group that you link to.  I had a quick look at it.  I will
> need to join it and try it out. The first issue that I see is that it takes
> our users away from our own site.   Would prefer to create a solution that
> is closely integrated to the main site.  One it is always a good idea to
> keep your users within your own site in terms of consistency, two thinking
> about those search engines, if discussions take place within the
> electron-club site it helps bring up the sites rankings.  However I am
> still
> searching frantically for a solution that ticks all boxes.
>
> As for the site progress, Ben and I have started talking about how to get
> things moving on the new site though their will likely be a short delay.
>  In
> the mean while I have a work in progress site here...
> http://www.justblair.co.uk/electron-club/
>
> For those that have seen the mockup that I had running on my laptop, you
> might notice that if anything this version as a few more rough edges than
> my
> mockup!  This is because I took a few naughty shortcuts when making the
> mockup that I am now going back to doing properly!  The demo site at the
> moment still has a forum component... I have not ignored those that prefer
> mailing lists, I simply have not found an integrated mailing list solution
> for the site yet that I am happy with.  I would like both to be available
> in
> the mock ups and will try to get something set up.  Looks like a bridge may
> be the only way to implement this and that is a compromise I would prefer
> to
> avoid.
>
> In the meanwhile, if anyone wishes to test out what has been done so far,
> there is a members login available on the right hand side.  Join the site
> and play with it if you like.  I will keep an eye on members joining and
> attempt to elevate your authoring privileges quickly so that you can try
> posting articles etc.
>
> All feedback is welcome, but go easy on the criticism.  It's a test site
> (alpha version at best) and I will be throwing ideas at it.  In the
> meanwhile  any suggestions made here will be considered if at all
> practical.
> If I can implement them quickly, then I will.  Even if you don't think your
> idea will make it to the real site, it is good I think to try out the weird
> and wonderful as well.
>
> Oh I have added a lot of social media links as well... These wont function
> properly until we get to the live site.  If they work at all they are
> likely
> to link to my own personal site...
>
> Blair
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: members-bounces at electronclub.org
> [mailto:members-bounces at electronclub.org] On Behalf Of
> members-request at electronclub.org
> Sent: 23 April 2011 13:00
> To: members at electronclub.org
> Subject: members Digest, Vol 26, Issue 20
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> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Project Boxes (Blair Thompson)
>   2. Website ideas (Blair Thompson)
>   3. Re: Website ideas (Martin McGrath)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:14:49 +0100
> From: Blair Thompson <mail at justblair.co.uk>
> To: members at electronclub.org
> Subject: [ELECTRON] Project Boxes
> Message-ID: <4DB17139.4000306 at justblair.co.uk>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> At the meeting last week Kenny and I discussed some project boxes that I
> have at home.  They are very durable cream coloured boxes with a plastic
> frame and painted aluminum fronts.  They have rounded corners.  I have used
> them before for projects and can testify that they are excellent.
>
> I was in the Clubroom on tues and dropped three of the boxes off while
> there.
>
> I placed them on the bottom right hand shelf of the solder clubs area for
> want of a better place to house them.  They are there for the public good
> on
> a first build first served basis.. There are about 20 more available in my
> house.  I don't want to give them all away for free but am prepared to
> barter some of them for knowledge/skills/favours etc :)
>
> If anyone wants more then please say so....  I am sure we can come to a
> mutually beneficial arrangement!
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:57:47 +0100
> From: Martin McGrath <mcgrath.martin at gmail.com>
> To: Discussion list for the Electron Club <members at electronclub.org>
> Subject: Re: [ELECTRON] Website ideas
> Message-ID: <BANLkTimj2MPFtqjkkAvdf-EsZSmBWBr+4g at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Rather than have a separate blog exclusively for swapping items would it
> not
> make more sense to have this as a thread on the mailing list, Simon setup a
> test group over at http://ect.onlinegroups.net/groups/electron-group which
> satisfied the dual preferences/requirements of a mailing list with a forum
> interface.
>
> Is the new site available online anywhere for people to test out?
>
> Thanks
>
> Martin
>
> On 22 April 2011 13:21, Blair Thompson <mail at justblair.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > As you may be aware, I am currently involved in the redesign/move of the
> > current electron website.
> >
> > Work is well underway, but my dream for the site is to make it more
> > interactive if I can.
> >
> > To that end, I am would like to open a discussion as to features that you
> > the community would like to see included in the new design....
> >
> > One that crossed my mind would be a swap shop... A blog area where
> members
> > could post details of surplus items that they have collected that they
> are
> > willing to trade/give to other club members.
> >
> > Another would be individual members project blogs.  For those that wanted
> > to, an area to post what personal projects you are involved in  with an
> > opportunity for other members to comment and support you.
> >
> > That's my starter for 10...  Anyone else have a wishlist?
> >
> > Blair
> >
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