Webmaster Report & Worklist/Action Items

To submit suggested site improvements or report a problem, contact webmaster.

The majority of this page was written 4/4/05 or prior. Additions are noted with dates.

File Review

I spent some time reviewing all the historical files. Although I never like to change a site's structure in case people have bookmarked pages, I found some of the organization unruly and bent my rules in a few places. For example, there were newsletters in their own folders and others under the business folder. This is not really an issue for the site users, but would make the navigation (and maintenance) more orderly if everything of a similar nature was in the same place and at the same level.

Site Structure

2/19/06--The following site structure paragraphs have been implemented. The site was changed to a PHP site today. All pages previously ending in .htm now end in .php. PHP allows for much easier global updates, adding new sections, programming, etc.

I would like to make the body of the home page the news area from now on. I have been duplicating the news items on the headline news page because that's the way it had been done, but it's just redundant work. Once the news page "fills up," I will move it to a secondary page just as this has always been done so that there is always an archive of news. The only time I plan to use the second news page is for additional detail. And in some cases, a piece of news warrants it's own detail page.

I would like to remove the right hand nav menu so that all of the customary and unchanging navigation links are either on the left or along the top. This will give me room to use these two columns for news and section postings including ads, see more below.***

Advertising

There is a section in the policy manual about selling advertising on the website and I see that we have proactively tried to do so in the past.

I show an example of the ad format I suggest, 120 X 120 pixels, with a link to the business' website, lower right. We could also work in banner ads, but I would probably want to put them near the bottom because I'm generally in favor of having people see the content before getting distracted with ads.

7/19/05--Classified section added. Advertising and classified info and pricing found here. Classifieds are currently posted by webmaster, will be converted to an online post-your-own.

Forum

2/19/06--A forum has been available for use since the beginning of this year at http://forum.awsaeast.com. People can self-register and confirmation will be sent by email. Let the webmaster know if you would like any new sections for particular purposes. It has not yet been officially announced because moderators are needed.

7/19/05--The forum software phpBB has been installed and the instructions to participate will be discussed at the Eastern Region meeting at Lake Holly.

I had hoped to start a forum by the time of the Eastern Region meeting (2005). The issue that I am having is that specialized applications cost money for Windows servers which is what I operate. Applications for Unix servers are often free and open source, and I may consider doing this on Beale's server. The forum product that I have tried, and many of those found do not yet have the bugs worked out for the latest operating system, W2003, and latest Cold Fusion server, MX, so I have put the trial product on my older server, but I need to do a few upgrades before putting it into production. This would allow a discussion such as those that take place in emails, and there would be a record of them and they would be easily viewable by interested and allowed parties.

Databases

2/19/06--Although database capability has been established, it has not been without some problems. The use of databases has still been on hold until these can be resolved. The member database that has been considered to replace the pages accessible at the top of the site has been put on hold for various reasons, mostly the concern for privacy. The method of checking privacy preferences on the USA Waterski membership form is not clear for our purposes. In the meantime, these (static) pages have been disabled because they are so old and outdated.

A benefit of using a database is that annual and recurring information can be retained and reused each year. Items can be made active and inactive seasonally or when they get old until they are pertinent again. One main disadvantage to using a database is the history trail. When an item is changed for reuse the next year, the old details are gone. An archive static page can be made any time one wishes to save the information and this should be done at least twice a year with the seasonality of our sport. The static archive page can be publically posted or archived off-line.

Basically, an online database can be easily used for any information that has a similar structure that one would typically put in an Excel file. Each of the following can be a table in a newly formed Eastern Region database.

I have started a database table for posting tournaments. Since many tournaments are repeated each year, only the date and details will need to be changed. They can all be turned off at the end of the year and turned on as the details are firmed up. The downside: this year's tournament list is just about complete, won't need the database until next year.

I have started a database table for posting news. The topic of using a database to post news is a bit more complex because news doesn't "fit into a box" like other types of similarly structured information. I envision giving Doug Robbins and anyone else appropriate a login. The posting page will contain fields for a title, summary, detail, a link to a page with more detail, etc. ***We may still want to post some news statically on the site, so I was thinking of using two columns, unless I find this approach to not work well. This would allow the database postings to fill the body of the page like the news that is currently there. Then in the right sidebar, there will be other items like commercial announcements or things that people might ask me to post. I envision the database news in the body to be the things that Doug will post, like winter meeting announcements, regional accommodations, etc. I can also post some of these as desired. The news will sort with the latest entry first, and if it is desired to bring an older entry to the top, like a reminder or second request, it just needs to be edited.

There could be a database table for bios. Theoretically every eastern member could have a login and provide a bio similar to the form that they are requested to complete. Maybe as a starting point, though, Juniors' and council persons' bios could be done online; these are the ones in our guide book. The juniors could be managed by the Junior Development person or group, i.e. when their age exceeds the juniors they are made inactive. New people are enterred and given a login.

Doug and I discussed a member database that could potentially replace the pages accessible at the top of the site that Faith Ross and Doug have been keeping current. We can get a copy from USA WaterSki anytime we want, but making any modifications in parallel to what they might be doing would be impossible to re-merge. I have opened an email dialog with Sandy Hardee to see whether we want to start with theirs, modify it and never remerge it, or never modify it but use it as a read only copy and get periodic updates.

7/19/05--A member database has been established. The member list will be obtained several times per year from USA Waterski. The programming is complete to display the information on our Eastern Region site in "public" and "private" format. The private display can be accessed by persons with a login, TBD at Regional meeting. The "public" display will either be truly public or accessible by membership number.

7/19/05--An officer and committee person database has also been established, http://www.awsaeast.org/official/ecom05new.php. This table is populated from the info in the members database, based on membership number. There is also an online admin interface available for the EVP to use to update the officers and committee positions (currently not in use).

Announcements and Other Annual Files

These are the files or topics that I see repeating from year to year in the Headline News (this is probably still very incomplete):

What will help in the reuse of database entries is if the Summary Notices are labeled with the year. That will trigger someone into planning to reuse it.

Updating

Now that I've talked about databases, other file types and moving materials to the web, a summary of updating is warranted.

Both Microsoft Word and Excel files can be converted into html, but the conversion includes huges amounts of unnecessary Microsoft tags. If a page on the website represents a page that someone needs to update off-line for multiple uses, the easiest way to update the web page MAY be to send the entire file for replacement each time. I could have done this with what Doug Milner was sending me.

An easy way to update a web page with minimal changes is to print it, mark it up and fax it to me at 802-329-2141.

The third way is to have a user admin interface which is what I've described above as the means for updating a database.

Cost Shifting

Anything that anyone has in electronic file format could be put on the website. Although we all enjoy having a hardcopy Guidebook, the web allows us to save in print marketing as desired.

Data Management

Anyone that is keeping files for the region and disseminating them could base the master copy on the server instead of their own hard drive.

If anyone has web development skills and/or software or would benefit from having the ability to update specific pages directly, speak to me.

Appearance

Last but certainly not least, I intend to improve the appearance of the site. If anyone has any input, send it. Otherwise I'm going to use my judgement. I'm probably not going to create a masterpiece, but I believe I'm stronger in this area than the past webmasters, so I think of it as a priority during my tenure.

I would suggest that if anyone has a good photo of a trick and jump skier, please send it. I have lots of slalom and a few jump. I would like to recreate the logo and make it quite a bit cleaner.

Multiple Domains/Sites

This past summer (2004) when there was a temporary problem with the domain name awsaeast.org, I purchased awsaeast.com for the region as a back-up plan. Although everything was resolved with .org, having .com has given me the flexibility to do a few things. I have been using it in various capacities and I didn't want anyone to be confused. I happen to have exceptional email spam filtering and virus protection, so I've been using an email address at the .com domain and hosting it myself. I don't have access to Beale's server nearly as conveniently as to my own, so I've used mine to submit forms, also.

Secure Transactions

2/19/06--I have a secure server, so I can take secure CC payments for ads or any other things we might want to sell at https://secure.madriverweb.com/payCC/.