Working on new club site - just a taste - need feedback.

rsteagall

rsteagall

New member
First off, I hope I'm not stepping on any toes in the club by working on this side project. I've worked pretty hard over the last week creating a new website for the club in hopes officers and whoever the current "active" web master is will like it.

Idea behind it all:

First off, the idea for editors/officers to create dynamic content such as club news, happenings, and such in a place besides a forum is beneficial because they are less likely to get lost. Dynamic websites allow people to create content without creating static html and without being a web developer/programmer. This part of the site is driven by a CMS called Joomla.

Secondly, to have a place to create forum posts to share with other people that may or may not be allowed on RC. I'd like to say immediately that this IS NOT a replacement for our forum on RC and should not be treated as such! Currently, there are some experimental forums that are merely just that. The forum will change drastically once the site is out of beta and all content of the forums will be purged. The forum should feel instantly familiar to you. ;)

Lastly, I would like to invite club members and anyone that would like to participate in this public open beta/testing of the site. Please keep in mind that all content will be purged once (and if) the site ever goes live. I'm proposing this public beta to get feedback from officers and members. There are certain to be issues and I would appreciate your feedback (good or bad). Please post them back here at RC.

Here is the beta site link: http://mtrc.hobby-site.com/

If the site is offline for any reason, its because something broke and its being worked on.

Again, this is in BETA the Forum on this site IS NOT intended to be our RC replacement (only an enhancement for specific needs).

Thanks,
Ryan
 
Ryan:
For what it is worth, I'm a self proclaimed PC geek (as far as at-home software) functions go.
I'm quite comfortable with "Windows" and "DOS" functions. I know that's weak, but that's what I know, I Know.
After looking at the Beta page, I would love to become part of this project, but I would have to be taught everything about "Web-Page" development and maintenance.
If this help's, or is of interest, just let me know, I would love to be able to branch out past home software functions.
The fact that my Brother-In-Law is a local ISP (PM me and I'll give you more info about his service), may also come in handy! After seeing this thread, I called him, and he told me he has space he could donate to us.

Rick
 
Ryan:
Just to prove my ignorance, and at the same time my interest, I offer the following questions:
1)"Dynamic websites allow people to create content without creating static html " I think I understand HTML, but Dynamic -vs- Static?
2)"This part of the site is driven by a CMS called Joomla."
A) CMS?
B) Joomla?, I assume this to be a copywrited brand name, but what does it do, and how?
I hope these basic questions do not ruin my chances at learning from you, or who ever takes the page over, I just want to know. I think it's the "Engineer" in me that makes me ask.

Rick
 
PHP is ok, but i prefer asp.net. Its just a little more powerful and im more fluent at that. Besides that the page looks great! Who is doing your graphic work?
 
To answer a few questions...

Joomla is a Content Management System (CMS). All CMS's are database driven and thus the capability of dynamic html creation. There are so many great CMS's out there and I would never write one from the ground up. This is for the same reason you would never want to write a forum like vBulletin from the ground up. I've merely taken two products, a template, did some graphics work, and tried my best to merge the two together to make them appear seamless. A CMS is a great way to get something up and going quickly. Joomla just happens to be one of my favorites with community support. While I did spend a lot of time doing this, please don't think I'm a programmer by any means. I simply just hacked around with this stuff for about 25+ hours over the past week.

CloudIX, I'm defintely not a programmer and there are no boxed CMS packages that are as easy to create modules for as something like Joomla, SOOP(asp based), or E107. I've tried DotNetNuke and found it cumbersome to get around and you actually need Visual Studio to do much with it. While I don't know PHP, I can hack around in it and even ASP without getting deep into the .NET aspect of it all. Again, there really aren't many good free choices to choose from that is asp.net. Please correct me if I'm way off base, but coming from a Sys Admin... I'd rather stick to script type languages (hacking my way around) and I definitely am not going to write something from the ground up since its been done, done, and done again over and over. :)

Depending how this test goes, anyone with technical experience (officer and club approved?) that would like to help manage and maintain the site using the tools provided by the Joomla and vBulletin backends are more than welcome to do it. There is no way this is a one man job. In fact, since I'm not an officer and don't want to be... without people assisting... it would become as static and stale as week old cornbread. :P

I'm definitely no web master! Just a Sys Admin that twiddled his thumbs this past week. I just wanted to give the tools for SOMEONE to work with.
 
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Oh i understand what your shooting for, There is nothing wrong with the way your doing this. Im not knocking on what you have done or what you know about programming. You have done a awesome job! I just wanted to offer up my advise. :) I am a programmer, I have built many dynamic web sites using asp and asp.net. Im not much on PHP since plain old asp offers the same functionality. What kind of database are you using to power this little monster? im guessing MySQL...
 
MySQL would be correct. I don't mind it. At work we also run DB2 on the AS/400 and MSSQL for DB2 remote replication services. CloudIX, I could really use your help in doing this project. I struggled pretty good with some CSS conflictions between the two systems. In fact, the header for the forums was what about broke me. :P I need to make this dynamic with changes made in Joomla. Right now its just hard coded (Only the menu on the forum).

Me and the wife are going out of town for the weekend and won't be back until Sunday. Just thought I'd let everyone know in case you needed or try to contact me. Hopefully between now and then the site won't get hacked and defaced! :P

On a side note, hindsight tells me I should have got in touch with the current web master (Ryan Sweeney) and shared what I had done with him. I was simply too eager and excited about it all and wanted to share it with everyone before I left out of town. As I typed "I hope I'm not stepping on any toes", I kind of thought I might be. Too late to go back and do it over now. Sorry. Again... I just wanted to supply the tools for the webmaster and make it easier for an editor to create content. I truly hope no one is too PO'd. :(
 
I dont mind offering some assistance on this, Just PM me and we can talk about this offline. Also, if your gonna be at the meeting next weekend, ill be there and we could talk there also.
 
In my professional opinion, not to knock it or anything, but it appears you're trying to hard on it. Its not very seemless. It doesn't exactly "flow" together. I am a web developer by trade. I specialize in graphics and logos. Just putting my 2 cents worth in.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9253857#post9253857 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HelloMyNameIs__
In my professional opinion, not to knock it or anything, but it appears you're trying to hard on it. Its not very seemless. It doesn't exactly "flow" together. I am a web developer by trade. I specialize in graphics and logos. Just putting my 2 cents worth in.
Click to expand...

heh... cool Mr. 2 posts. :)

Again, I'm no web master :P

Any tips?
 
Ryan that looks nice as I am sure every one has different ideas on what our web site should have, do and look like, and the size of project that this is I think we should after the election look into having an IT committee that would be appointed by by the board and also include the main IT Guy and some of the people in the field and of course those who want to be ie Mcgiver. The committee can look at different options and evaluate them and can make recommendations to our BOD who will have to make the decisions.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9254177#post9254177 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HelloMyNameIs__
its a fish/coral/reef website, dont ya think it should have some blue in there? you got any kind of messenger program ryan?
Click to expand...

During the test, I was more concerned with getting all the backend processes to work and maximizing space for news and forums. The funny thing is what you see on the surface is no where near the complexity of the backend systems. Have you ever seen the administration of Joomla or vBulletin? I'd love for you to design up a template for Joomla that can be applied! I had a choice of about 1300 different templates to choose from and I just chose one that was pleasing... modified it a little.. and went from there. I suppose if the gradients were more blue (like the top of RC) you would like it better? That would for sure be easy enough. There is also plenty of space to use other graphics in the header. As far as the rest of it, I prefer a clean page top-down design. In the news sections and other content sections, pictures and anything can of course be inserted.

If you have a chance, install Joomla http://www.joomla.org/ and check out templating for it. Again, I don't think there is any need to write anything from the ground up when there are so many good CMS's out there. If you would like the template I've been working with, let me know and maybe I can get it to you early next week after I'm back in town.
 
Just my 2c.

coral_reefer_25 has done a great job on the web page we have currently. I know you didn't mean anyone to take it personally rsteagall, but he put in a lot of hard work and personal time to create a product that not only he, but we as a club could be proud of. I think that we owe it to him to let the board evaulate and decide the best course of action for our web needs. I think that discussing this with him before presenting it to the public at large would have been a prudent decision, but I'm certain that you can provide positive assitance in the future.

Also, cloudIX, as an avid php developer and self-proclaimed linux guru (and microsoft arch-enemy), I'm trying hard not to turn this into a flame war :p

I don't mean to detract from your hard work rsteagall, you did a great job.
 
im sure everyones 2 cents will be different but personally i like it. its more sleek and modern to me. i like the classy feel to it and real easy on these MH retina burned eyes. i get enough color from my acros i dont like lime green backgounds on web pages :) you get a thumbs up from this guy!<~~~steve
 
ocd_mariner, I agree. The way things come out in type on the web are usually quite different than if it were a bunch of people sitting around... drinking a beer, then all of a sudden I say "Hey guys, check this website I've been working on!" Know what I mean? Ah well, thats what I get for having ants in my pants.

I'm not much on design. Its hard to see without an administrative login, but what drives the site interests me more than how its displayed.

I'll be messaging coral_reefer_25 and giving him an administrative type account so he can see what goes on behind the scenes. I would love very much for us all to work together on this!!!! Its not and never should have been a one man show. It simply too much for one person to do.

-Ryan

PS... T - 3 hours until my mini vacation starts! :) WEeeeeeeeeee
 
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