[Glastonbury] ideas for new town website

[Martin Wheeler]

[sorry about slight delay in replying to this thread]

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004, Sean Miller wrote:

> Indeed! Let's do it ;-)

OK then.  Let's go.

Now, despite Tim's misgivings about this list being the proper place to 
discuss this, I would like to get *technical* input from local Linux 
users on the various software apps we might use for the site (as opposed 
to any individual's personal comments on content, which is what I feel was 
making Tim twitchy).

Technically, I would like to see a site to which *anyone* can contribute 
-- townspeople, tourists, visitors, local businessmen -- and which will 
honestly reflect the total breadth of views of the overall 'net-using 
public -- not just some local vested-interest clique or other, pushing a 
perspective of the community from a single, narrow viewpoint -- which 
would reduce the readership dramatically.  (And which is where all past and 
current offerings have come unstuck.)

Software apps to allow this sort of site to be built exist in their 
hundreds -- the question is: which are the most suitable (in our opinion); 
and which are available and easily maintainable in a Linux environment?

Answers to this list, please.


Personally, I like the zope publishing environment.  Because it's 
powerful, extensible, scalable (and will soon be the publishing 
environment of choice for Oracle databases).  And it offers just about 
everything as an add-in.  (Wiki, calendar, gallery, etc.)  But as Tim and 
I have already found out -- you've got to be really serious about wanting 
to use it to go through the required learning curve.  (The sort of 
learning-curve that puts anyone but the most dedicated off using it for 
life.  I only got to grips with it myself on my >third< attempt.)

But the sort of audience I'm envisaging for the new website will want to 
respond -- and more importantly, will have to be *able* to respond -- 
>>instantly<< from the web-page itself -- without any great degree of 
technical knowledge.  (Remember, the aim is to provide the town with an 
interactive *website*; not a mailing-list, or a forum.)  And most 
importantly, readers must feel that there is no restriction on what 
they are allowed to publish on the site, or any impediment to the 
expression of their own ideas.  Remember too: the web was developed to be 
an inter-active *personal publishing* medium; not the one-way broadcasting 
system for commercial advertising firms it threatens to become.

Now most dictatorial, authoritarian bodies go straight into brown-trouser 
mode at the very thought of this -- what, let the public openly express 
themselves?  Aarrghh!  That's the very antithesis of the power-seeking 
control-freakery they represent.  It's also *precisely* why I welcome it.
(Child of the sixties.  Jerry Rubin.  Abbie Hoffman.  Wavy Gravy.  Pig for 
President.  Don't worry about it.)  We now have the technology to do this, 
and it's time we started using it.

[Please note: I'm *not* advocating a totally irresponsible publishing 
free-for-all -- there are laws of libel to consider for starters.
I'm advocating an (extremely) easy-to-use, self-publishing site for 
*everyone* interested in Glastonbury -- within legal limits.  Which can 
be very broad.]  A topical, thought-provoking, interesting and amusing 
website with Glastonbury as its subject, which everyone in town will want 
to read at least once a week.

What's the best software to use to accomplish this?

It's got to have editorial control; ability to delegate sub-editing to 
others -- even to the individual level if need be, e.g. personal web 
journal ['blog' - heurrk!] for any reader who wants one (see Julie 
Solheim-Roe's 'Scarlet Jewels') and obeys the obscenity and libel laws; 
calendaring; headlining; comments on articles published; image publishing; 
audio/video streaming?; large document publishing (cf. Palden's 
'Glastonbury Archives'); group participation in writing an Encyclopaedia 
of Glastonbury (a long-cherished project of mine); open political and 
social comment -- satire, even?  (You bet.)

I'm not necessarily looking at a single package to accomplish this.  My 
own preference would be for an assemblage of packages: a wiki, a 
web-journalling app, a CMS, a gallery -- etc.

But which?  Ideas please.

Cheers,
-- 
Martin Wheeler   -   StarTEXT / AVALONIX - Glastonbury - BA6 9PH - England
mwheeler at startext.co.uk                http://www.startext.co.uk/mwheeler/
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