[SLUG] Some ideas for the SLUG website

[jamie]

> After chatting to Al (and Gavin and Chris) about how the slug website
> keeps changing (formatting wise) but the content remains static/out of
> date it occurs to me that time ought to be spent on editing/adding
> content and not on the formatting. To this end I have put together a
> simple PHP template system which removes the need to touch anything but
> the content, thus allowing someone to add content in a matter of minutes
> without having to deal with bucket loads of hard coded HTML.

We don't seem to be able to put this one to bed do we? :) hehe.

I agree that the content tends to stay static, but that's really more to do with a lack of contributions for content than anything else. The site has had 3 redesigns in the past year (i think, which granted is quite a lot but each has been done for a  reason). The last change (a week or two ago) was in response to comments that the last layout was crap and didn't scale well to smaller screens. The change previous to that was a bit of a mistake. Got to stay away from that wacky backy! As for the stuff that's out of date.. what stuff?

The site now is completly CSS based for layout which reduces the amount of html and makes simple changes to layout easy. If anyone else really did need to add content to the site, there is a blank tempate which just needs the content adding. A basic knowledge of html is all that is needed. Truthfully though, if someone wants to send in content, all they have to do is send it as a plain text file and I will add it to the template. A five minute job at the most. There really isn't that much donkey work to take away.

The real issue for the website for me is content. It's always going to be static unless people are willing to contribute.

And, I think the website is a minor issue for now until we sort out the bigger things.. meetings, venue etc.

Just my two pennies.

Jamie

Linux User: #314423  |  ICQ: 140365501
Slug: http://www.scarborough.lug.org.uk