Buff, NY ** North Ridge Website Updates **

It was discussed at the meeting that we may want to update the site and rearrange a few things.

Please post your ideas here. I'll contact Ken and let him know that we will be shooting him some ideas. He can tell us if our ideas would work on the site and if they are possible.

 

Wouldanyone be opposd to a member listing/costume index a la the Rebel Legion/501st?

EDIT: The pictures section could be cleaned up. It had a pretty good format going, but as pictures were added it kind of looks like it was just "tacked on" to what was originally there. Making all of the pages for evet pictures uniform would be cool if it's not too much of a pain to do. Gotta keep the "easter egg" though

Also, does anyone else have anyother content? Marty has some fan art, anyone else have any fan fiction or anything like that? Or possibly photos of members' SW collections?

 

Excellent ideas Bryan!

 

Expanding on Bryan`s idea, how about, like, member profiles, or something, maybe with a picture. Or even a monthly member spotlight kinda thing.

 

Would we have permission to use Rochester's BPO duel pictures?

 

I like the member/costume index idea...
a member of the month would be neat too!!

How about an Upcoming events page or section... this would need to be updated often so people would know where their next opportunity to see us would be.

 

How about a quote (with picture including some NR folks would be great) from Compass House about the impact our support has on the house?

 

Uhhhh ... that's because that's what I did.

You're absolutely right. That's one of the things I'm planning for the redesign. It's really gotten out of hand, which is typical for such a site. And thanks for appreciating the Easter Egg.

The front page will be redone to reflect the graphics used in the forum here, but we will be keeping the Galactic fonted graphics throughout. An improved navigation will be done in Flash, with an alternate text navigation at the bottom of pages for the visually impaired.

As for NEW content, that's what we should discuss before I go too far.
Here are a few guidelines / suggestions:

(1) Photos should not be repostings (or sparingly) from other sites, and only with permission.

(2) Fan art / fiction is cool, but I'm not the HTML slave of everyone who wants to put stuff on the web. No offense meant -- you probably have cool stuff and all -- but the site isn't the place for it, unless the group formally decides to use one of the image gallery systems available where people can upload their own stuff.

(3) We can also link to member's fan sites, and if you need one there are options, both free and with cost, that I can show you if you are interested.

(4) Whatever could be shared or posted here should be. We need to drive people to THIS site, not spreading similar content between them or replacing what belongs somewhere else.

(5) Member profiles? See point #4. However, a little about the leadership would be nice somewhere on the site.

Other things ...

(A) I need a blurb and details about Compass House

(B) I'd like to know when the "Best Web Site" contest will be coming up, so I can plan accordingly.

(C) If we have strong affiliations, such as with the 501st and Compass House, we should consider linking to them on the main page with a logo graphics.

(D) Calendar -- I think we should totally do this.


I look forward to all your input!

MTFBWY,

Ken

 

We are all in favor of a picture of each of us with a small profile. The pic would be of us in costume and maybe even a list of events that were attened by the member.

How much space do we have available to use?

 

Space is no problem. I guess we could make a "member's page" or something ...


And what I was getting at before is if people want to post fan art and more detailed stuff about themselves, there are other options in addition to something like this. I recommend MySpace or LiveJournal. They both have free options, and are do-it-yourself wonders wihtout having to know any web design. Just some food for thought.

 

Here are some more ideas:

1. Creating a fill in the blank form for event requests.

2. Creating a guestbook for people to sign. It seems like many people use the "Sign Up" option thinking it is a guestbook. We could get a handle on how many people go to the site after an event that we appear at.

3. Perhaps a small disclaimer saying that "if you need help registering on TheForce.net or are interested in joining the group, click here". I get a bunch of emails from people signing up on the website and very few ever make it to the forum here. (see #2)

4. Clearer information on the sign up page, such as real age, where they first saw us (web search, event, friend, flier, meeting a member in the area).

 

Ex-cellent ideas, Chris!

 

it could be done similar to the 501st website... a large pic of the person in costume, with a smaller pic (subsetted) of the person w/o the costume...

i think it's a nice touch

 

Great ideas! I like the member profile and the upcoming events.

 

Do we have some sort of timeline on this? It would be great if the website were updated before the FF awards came up. After all, we ARE going to be in contention for most active forum!

 

timeline? if you ask me, it's asap. we need to update regardless of the awards.

 

I second that!

 

Yes, I can start making changes right away, but some of these things requires people to send me stuff, like pics of themsleves and bios, etc.

And I DO need to know when the awards are so I can determine what needs to be updated first and what can wait so it's done properly instead of being rushed. Besides, I do this for a living, and I need to balance my projects accordingly.

PLEASE give me a hint what the timelines are ...

 

The awards are in April. I am waiting to hear back as to when the nomination period starts and ends.

I guess a start would be organizing the event pictures. I'll get working on rounding up pictures. I know there are a bunch of event pics that people wanted to get up in addition to the ones already up.

 

How about these changes to start?

 

Those sound like excellent ways to get this process started. Anything to make it easier for new folks to get involved or navigate the site will be good.

 

I sent an email to Ken this morning requesting updates.

 

Sorry I've been under the weather ... I've been meaning to get back with you on this sooner.

A regular guestbook wont work because the software I use doesn't filter out spammers. In a matter of weeks, it could contain hundreds of Cialis-type adds. I'm not kidding -- I've had to take down all of them off clients' sites over the last year or so. But the reason people are using it to contact you ISN'T because it's not grade-school level obvious. Because it IS that obvious.

The real reason is because we DON'T HAVE A CONTACT PAGE.

As for the signup, I will make a few adjustments:
(1) Make age a REQUIRED FIELD, along with where they found us (expanded options)
(2) Text guiding people to join the forum. But new members should be sent an email to be effective

As for bios, we should start with the officers and at least have those ready. Do we want them in the first person or third person? We should decide beforehand for consistency. And yes, keep them to a paragraph. An example of healthy-sized bios can be found at pages off http://southtownsanimalhospital.com/staff/our_staff.htm and on http://mainstreetagency.com/staff.htm.

 

Um, do we really need to make age a required field?

 

I`m sure it won`t be made public. Probably just a verification thing.