1 STC Carolina Chapter Building a wiki-based website September 14, 2006 Rick Sapir

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3 A Little Bit About Rick “Stealth” STCer TechnophileLazy... in a good way Stealth STCer: Time to start giving back Get more involved Nearly 15 yrs experience – actually have some advice to give now! Technophile: Generation X – grew up with technology and expect technology to solve problems Technology: the great enabler Make our lives easier – work less.... which leads to: Lazy is good Breeds innovation – we want to exert as little effort as possible.... but still have great results. “Bang for the buck”

4 Top Priorities for Designing a Useful Web SiteCommunicate clearly. Provide information users want. Use simple, consistent page design and clear navigation. Jakob Nielsen Picked the Wikimedia-style theme – Neat and clean Adhere to existing standards and conventions – nothing “new” Always up-to-date. Dead links & out-of-date info is an instant site killer Avoid a mish-mash of products (ala STC) which require separate logins, different interfaces, etc. Wikimedia for wiki Wordpress for blog phpBBs for forum

5 But what about… Easy administrationWebmaster is be the facilitator – not the gatekeeper. Remember, I'm “lazy.” How to maintain all the goals without giving myself extra work? Use a content management system – webmaster manages the content – does not PROVIDE the content Use a tool to automate the maintenance work Removing old items Site registration Cross links (sitemap/organization)

6 Becoming the Webmaster

7 Today’s Agenda Impress Inform Inspire Impress:Show off the site's features Everything is “live” and on – no vaporware here Inform How did we do it? What tools did we use? What is the “paradigm” shift from before? Inspire We'll all get online and work together.

8 Impress Home page features http://www.stc-carolina.org SearchMenus (top and side) RSS feeds Toolbox Valid XHTML & CSS Accessibility Homepage: New logo Banner ads (internal events, possible advertising, sponsorships, etc.) Chapter new Syndicated STC news Left column: Menu, events, news, RSS, toolbox Search Everything – but secure Can limit scope Can refine results Menu Items Primary and secondary navigation STC-specific options (based on permissions) RSS Lots of options Push vs. pull Toolbox Print, PDF Backlinks Recent changes

9 Impress (more) Internal bug reporting & feature requestsSTC validation and site registration i18n & translations Breadcrumbs (categories) Automatic category lists Website based on categories and relationships – not hierarchy Syndicating RSS Feeds (both ways)

10 Website Sections Wiki pages News items Forum CalendarResource directory Wiki pages Primary content pages Most pages will be wikis News articles Replace notices? Both chapter and non-chapter Can be tied to calendar events Forum Chapter members only Possible integrate with STC forum? Another communication path – threaded conversations Calendar Actual events and important dates (such as deadlines) Link to wiki pages Resource directory List of links

11 Wiki Pages Most content pages are wikis Review the page’s history.Monitor the page for updates Print and PDF versions Modules and plugins Categorization is the key! Example: Wikis Not WYSIWYG – but close Templates: Contents box Sample content Page names Becomes the link Page description Becomes TITLE element in link. Breadcrumbs Automatic based on category Spell checker Each user has their own, personal wiki page.

12 News Items Link to specific wiki pages. Automatically appear on home page, left column, and RSS feed. Categorization is the key! Different types/topics Expiration Dates Link to calendar and other wiki pages Standard graphics/custom graphics New items created using wiki syntax Submission/queue

13 Calendar All items in a single calendar, but specific pages show specific items. Calendar or list view; day, month, and year. Automatically appear in left column and RSS feed Categorization is the key! No iCalendar or export (yet) Calendar items created using wiki syntax Possibilities: Site calendar Personal calendar SIG-specific calendar Link to wiki page – don't make re-work

14 Resources Links to other sites of interest. Automatically appear in RSS feed. Categorization is the key! Categorized for SIG-specific Category/subcategories Search Submission/queued Other resources? NOT linked to wiki pages.

15 Permissions and GroupsAnonymous Registered Site Editor Admin Specific pages can override global permissions. For example, LEADERSHIP category is for Registered only (Anonymous users cannot view the page). However, the Contact Us page allows Anonymous viewing.

16 Inform So how did he do it? Database driven. RedundancyCategorization (relationships) – not hierarchy Searching Example interaction: Web request to PHP file PHP queries the DB. PHP populates Smarty template PHP updates DB PHP sends requested page to browser. Everything is dynamic – no static HTML pages.

17 Tiki CMS/ Groupware Open source PHP + Smarty + MySQLEntirely web-based Part of dev team Example of giving back: remind by enhancement Ongoing, rapid development New release every 2 – 4 months Parts of a Tiki PHP scripting language (the business layer) Smarty template engine (the presentation layer) MySQL database (the repository) Can do anything – sometimes unfortunately

18 How it Works Browser sends request PHP reads/writes to MySQL databasePHP populates Smarty template Displays HTML page to browser Part of dev team Ongoing, rapid development New release every 2 – 4 months Can do anything – sometimes unfortunately

19 Inspire ANYONE can become a content providerEVERYONE can become a content provider Remember, Rick is lazy. He wants to do as little as possible.

20 The Future Member-specific wiki pages Blogs, Surveys, Forums, and MoreANYTHING else? EVERYTHING else!

21 Step 1: Register You’ll need your STC Member ID and stc.org password Select a site-specific username and password. Use preferences to: Enter your real name Choose privacy settings Create an avatar Language-specific settings Page monitoring

22 Step 2: Play in the SandboxWiki pages require wiki syntax – not HTML. Hone your skills in the sandbox. YAML

23 Step 3. Submit a News Item Registered members can submit news items (subject to approval). Categorization is the key! Standard vs. custom graphics

24 Step 4. Submit a Resource Registered members can submit directory resources (subject to approval). Categorization is the key!

25 Step 5. Create Forum Post Registered members can post to forums.New topic vs. replies

26 Step 6. Trackers Registered members can: Create a tracker Log a bugRequest an enhancement Create a tracker

27 Step 7. Site Editor Approving submissions Creating new pages Banners