That is indeed the point of the model pages. They are the “static side” of JL, meaning that they are actually on a different website, which is running Wordpress. The classified ads are there. We are working on getting the two sites to play nice with each other so you don’t need to create an account to make changes on the static side.
The Boiler plate for the model pages I had in mind was something like:
E-Type
History
Model guide
E-Books & Photo Essays
So aids like John’s bulkhead would go in “E-books & Photo Essays”
But before we start populating a structure I would like to get a few things thought through and implemented:
Content should be vetted, preferably not just by moderators (I would like to generate a group “model experts” for each forum category, and be able to devolve some of the admin work to them).
John should be able to update the document on his own.
Searching should be easy (ideally included in the forum search - “XKE, SI, Firewall, what goes where?” should yield a hit to that resource on the static side, and it should be at the top of the list.)
So it isn’t just a technical issue, there are a few organisational things to think about too.
37 users have read this, but no one has commented.
Gentlemen, there are only 3 of us moderators. Migrating all of the old information from the old site represents a significant effort. If people don’t even comment on how the information should be organised, let alone volunteer to lend a hand in the process then it would seem that there is so little interest in the content that we might as well just ignore it.
When the old site finally does go offline there will be yelling and screaming. It will fall on deaf ears.
On some sites, when a valuable resource like the bulkhead diagram is deemed “worthy”, (usually by consensus) a link to the post can be added (by a moderator) to the top of the forum where the “worthy” link list is locked in place.
However, with our new format, that link could be placed in the forum header instead - and - to avoid clutter, link to a smaller page that could contain the sub-groups, model guide, history etc etc
The post itself is then added to the section relative to that particular model.
So following your suggestions Andrew, if the trusted regulars of a model (a conundrum in itself ) vote a post “in”, i.e. reviewed/vetted, unless there are literally several requests per day the addition could still be performed by a moderator -perhaps alleviating the headache of granting additional semi-admin privileges.
Possibly, but if vetted “properly” (again, a bit of a head-scratcher) unless it’s easy to implement I don’t think it’s that important for new entries.
On the other hand, there are times when something like an e-book DOES need updating, e.g., in my own area of interest, the XJ40, several common faults that have come to light as the cars age have no listing.
Sorry Andrew, having a bit of a hard time interpreting this sentence other than “searching should be easy”, could you maybe rephrase it?
I think one of the greatest resources we have is the photo gallery and if I can help in some way to migrate that resource or at least part of it, you have one volunteer.
I might be able to help. I’ve done some work with MySql and php. Can you give me some specifics, such what info need to be migrated and how it is stored for the old site?
The new technical infrastructure we have is actually two sites. The discourse site, which is just the forums, and a wordpress site which is more suited to hold information like e-books, brochures, and photo galleries.
Discourse doesn’t do “stickies”.
The basic idea is that regardless of the vetting process, it would still be preferable to have the person who created a document to retain editorial rights and abilities to the document. On the one hand, if it’s Kirby’s book, and Kirby notices that there is something to add, then Kirby is the person most likely to know what needs changing, and on the other hand, it gets us out of the admin overhead loop which used to be the case with the old site.
What we would like to avoid is something like:
Larry has a great doc about some arcane XJ40 detail.
Larry sends the doc to Andrew (Who knows diddly about the XJ40)
Andrew puts the doc where others can get to it.
Larry realizes that there is some error, sends an updated doc to Andrew.
Andrew is on vacation.
I would prefer a workflow which is more like the classified ads. Once you’ve registered an account for the static site (That is where the ads are) you can submit an ad. The ad needs approval from a moderator before it goes live, but once I’ve approved your ad you can modify it as you wish, changing the text, photos, price - whatever you wish. (Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned that!)
What I mean is that one should be able to drill down through the mass of information stored on the static side easily. Imagine being able to say “Show me all the howto guides and photos about the vacuum reservoir on a SII XKE”. Would that be cool? How about if you could quickly add “And if there are any upgrades which make sense”.
The problem with the photo gallery is that it is currently stored in a somewhat non conventional manner - if it had been a question of just copying a directory of files from the old server to the new one then we would have done that long ago (believe me!).
So I suppose we are talking some sort of manual transfer? If not in directories I suppose it’s some sort of proprietary database format not easily translated or imported into another system?
mmm… Presently, (on the old site) each archive is “filterable” by model, just like the new site search function - a form of owner search could also be preserved by username rather than email address (once all the splits have been resolved!!)
to save others looking at this problem the old site search “instructions”:
We’ll search the Title line for the words you enter (all words have to be found for matches, partial individual word matches okay)
To search for a Poster’s e-mail address, enter a full or partial address in the first field with at least the ‘@’ included (other search words are ignored)
I’ll have a ponder on this I suggest others do too! I’m sure there are bound to be some system analysts among us besides myself (and I’m just old school)
The top of the tree is “Model pages” as you see at the header of the forum.
For each model category we have on the forum, there is a separate “container” under “Model Pages”
Each “Container” would then have separate levels for: Brochures, E-Books and technical references, Photos, Spotter guides, Owners clubs, Events etc.
None of this is written in stone, the first task is to have some discussion about how the information should be organized, what information belongs on the wordpress side, and what information doesn’t.
My website was implemented in Wordpress, but by my daughter so I know relatively little about it. She now tells me she’s moved away from it because of ever changing plugins.
Just for clarity, is it the new site that is using Wordpress?
BTW, Peter Crespin posted your plea for help in content migration in some forum and I responded. He said he had no knowledge of the specifics but would forward my question to those how did. Heard nothing since, so either it reach the right people or it did but the weren’t impressed with my less than stellar experience in the site migration stuff.
I’ve done programming for over 50 years, but mostly scientific. It only in recent years that I began doing some web stuff. My current project is ConcoursBuilder. It creates JCNA concours judging assignments, scheduling, and entrant packages given only entrants and judges, all selectable in dropdown lists etc. It’s taken me the better part of 2 years but Ver. 2.20 is almost finished. It’s currently a Windows application, but I have hopes of putting some parts of it online, e.g., the JCNA Class finder.
Here is a test site which I have created to try a few things out. It is a copy of the JL Wordpress site.
As to “format” well… there isn’t much. If anyone is a wp whizz and wants to give it a whirl, they should contact me and I will set them up with an account.
I got that by clicking photo in an old-site album. When I then when I view the source in a Notepad++ I search for jpg. I’m pretty sure this can be automated.
Andrew - just had a walkaround with my morning coffee - what a lot of stuff lives over there in WP world!
I’m assuming we went with both discourse and wordpress because of the limited functionality of each system in specific areas, right?
Without going into a bunch of different topics, the first thing that came to mind was whether or not the WP site needs a “front door”? Could the components be linked from sub-menus on the main discourse pages (assuming that the forums are top level of Jag-Lovers?)
I realise this is a rather trivial point but I thought I’d put it out there to get the ball rolling & maybe some other users will jump in .
In the main drop down model list on the left of the discourse pages, is it possible to have a second level of menu? (sub-menus) e.g. saloons> e-book >
If not, how about the links to all things saloon sourced from the individual model page?
In my case, even though I might occasionally want to have a butchers at other models and various other resources, my main interest is my particular model and all things related to it. One day I might want some spares for or purchase a different model but 99% of the time it would be my own model classifieds that would interest me.
Just a few thoughts before breakfast, more to come later!
Please use the same username and email as you have here on the forum. I will then PM you a password here on the forum (I didn’t bother setting an email server up so I have to do the passwords manually).
) vote a post “in”, i.e. reviewed/vetted, unless there are literally several requests per day the addition could still be performed by a moderator -perhaps alleviating the headache of granting additional semi-admin privileges.
