[NCUC E-team] FW: Web site refeshing

Tue Jan 20 13:56:30 CET 2015

Hi Stefania,

Thank you for your input.

Yes, it also occurred to me that as the membership list is automatically generated by a php script, it would require some re-writing to achieve this.

I will also look into NING and we can all decide on the way forward.

Many thanks,
--
Maryam Bakoshi
Secretariat – NCSG, NCUC, NPOC
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

Email:  maryam.bakoshi at icann.org
              secretariat.ncsg at icann.org
Mobile:  +44 7737 698036
Skype:  maryam.bakoshi.icann

From: William Drake <wjdrake at gmail.com<mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com>>
Date: Tuesday, 20 January 2015 11:47
To: "Milan, Stefania" <Stefania.Milan at EUI.eu<mailto:Stefania.Milan at EUI.eu>>
Cc: Maryam Bakoshi <maryam.bakoshi at icann.org<mailto:maryam.bakoshi at icann.org>>
Subject: Re: Web site refeshing

Hi

Thanks, I didn't realize it'd be complicated to put their URLs. Please do move the conversation to the e-team list and see what if anything people want to do. I'm on a train now and will be largely unable to engage until next week, so up to you all whether the suggestion is worth the work.

Bill

Sent from my mobile phone

On 20 Jan 2015, at 11:37, Milan, Stefania <Stefania.Milan at EUI.eu<mailto:Stefania.Milan at EUI.eu>> wrote:

Hi Maryam (and Bill)

As you might have seen, we added some bits of content in Washington, but we definitely need more!

Joao (now on the EC, for Latin America) also offered to help, so I am wondering whether we should move this conversation to the e-team list.

Anyway, a few points of clarification:

- the list of members is automatically generated by a php script. This means that we cannot add stuff manually, but we have to change the script (e.g., allowing it to 'fish out' from the member database also the webpage, when members have indicated them).

- alternatively, we can explore the option of re-installing NING. at a first sight (a simple google research) it seems that there are NING plugins for Wordpress, which might not have been there when the website was redesigned using this content management system. See for example http://www.ning.com/help/?p=5439.<http://www.ning.com/help/?p=5439> To me, this sounds a better way to proceed. Certaintly, we need to 'personalize' the website, and make it a viable tool for information and exchange, rather than a simple (and often out-to-date) repository.

- embedding NING could be done following these step:

  1.  You need to design first your Ning network, then adapt the styling to your WordPress site since you could alter more HTML code. This should make them look more identical.
  2.  Make sure you add the community link (your ning network) on both navigation menu tabs. Don't forget the sort order.
  3.  Choose your main site: if Wordpress, setup your Ning to point to a subdomain: example my.domain.com<http://my.domain.com> or community.domain.com<http://community.domain.com>. This is all up to you. Consult with your domain registrar and Ning support on this par

(taken from http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/embed-a-ning-network-in-a-wordpress-website?commentId=4244211%3AComment%3A987177&xg_source=activity - just food for thoughts, but seems like a viable option -- again, at a first sight!)

- concerning re-organizing the members' list: that is a great idea, but again it would entail messing up with the script. we might not want to do that -- instead we might want to create a sort of cluster visualization, that can be embedded on the website as an image (while being generated by a dataset that we can update in back office mode) ? it would certainly be a great tool to increase transparency as well as encourage participation.

I could certainly help with some of this, but t would be great if you Maryam could do some research to see what are the viable/best option.

It would be great to have a revamped website pre-Singapore... it would also address the concerns of new members, and be a useful tool for the membership committee...

my two cents

s.

________________________________
Da: William Drake <wjdrake at gmail.com<mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com>>
Inviato: martedì 20 gennaio 2015 06.43
A: Maryam Bakoshi
Cc: Milan, Stefania
Oggetto: Web site refeshing

Hi Maryam

Hope you are well…

So now with the election well behind us, I wonder if we could begin to circle back to to some of the outstanding ideas andtasks I had mentioned last year? After all, you’re supposed to be doing 13 hours for us and I’ve provided no useful guidance of late so….time for me to start, no?

One of the things I mentioned is to start to liven up the website a bit.  I’m copying in Stefi, who’s done the most work on this for her views and help.

We used to have a NING where people could build their own personal profiles and join bottom up self-formed interest groups, but the members who rebuilt the site using Page Press a couple years ago killed that functionality.  As a result, members may not know who each other are, what their interests are, and that they should be in contact with persons xyz if interested in topic abc. That doesn’t support “in-reach” and engagement.  So to begin to reduce the level of anonymity among members, may I suggest the following to start:

At http://www.ncuc.org/participate/members/

Could you please look up the organizational members’s websites and build in links to them under their respective names?  I doubt any wish to be anonymous, why would you join and be publicly listed if so, but if someone tells us post hoc to take it down, fine.  After we’ve done this, we can send a message to individual members and say see this is useful, would you too would like to have links from your names to your personal web pages.  If so please provide and we’ll put them in. This would be a start.

Beyond that, we might think about whether the old style of just throwing everyone into one long list is the best functionally or aesthetically.  I have no fixed idea on this, but for example, I wouldn’t mind if under or next to my name it showed like 3 main interests or groupings I am active in, so that people who shared those interests might get in touch with me.  Perhaps others would like the same? We could ask…?

What do you think?  Just some pre-train brain dribbles that occurred to me on a semi-sleepless night…

Thanks

Bill

***********************************************
William J. Drake
International Fellow & Lecturer
  Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
  University of Zurich, Switzerland
Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency,
  ICANN, www.ncuc.org<http://www.ncuc.org>
william.drake at uzh.ch<mailto:william.drake at uzh.ch> (direct), wjdrake at gmail.com<mailto:wjdrake at gmail.com> (lists),
  www.williamdrake.org<http://www.williamdrake.org>
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