2008-06-30 Web Design Status Meeting 13:30-14:30 and subteam sessions 14:30-15:30

Status reports:

Content (Georgette)

1. Phil added more NJ parks to the database. He observes that the database is now loading more slowly as a result. Walt noted that we will want to pay more for faster site response when we go live.
2. Georgette has been working on updating Dan's hike of the week entries. She completed those for 2007 and 2008.
3. We need an agreed upon protocol for adding photos to the database. Drupal retains the original plus a copy at display resolution and a thumbnail. We need to define what display resolution we will use. (Action item: Doug to recommend size and review with Walt.)
4. We need to finalize the hikes feature list. Ann will take over the action item to summarize the team recommendations for features.
5. There is a need to standardize the wording for the regions/areas and to use the names consistently across the site. The words on the map should match the title that appears in the pop-up box. (Action: Doug needs to change the words on the map to use the standardized area names. Question: who holds the master list? Georgette?)
6. Doug spent many hours building the overview map using Phil's regions and parks work. The team wishes to commend Doug on the excellent work he's done to develop the interactive map.
7. Action item: Doug needs to document/explain the process for updating the links inside the Flash popups on the map so it can be maintained in his absence if necessary.
8. Action item: on the map pop-up, when hiking area overview is clicked, the team felt this should take you to the appropriate area in the Region/Parks database and not to the same place as Enlarge. Doug to fix this.
9. Action item: Walt will investigate fixing it so one can select multiple trail types in the Hikes search box.
10. Action item: Walt is investigating the issue of hikes that become uneditable when they contain Web addresses. He explained a workaround process: go to Admin / Content, Type=Hikes then scroll to the hike to be edited and click the Edit field at the right.
11. Amita is working on the NYC & LI sections of the regions and parks database. Status of the effort is unknown.
12. Work planned between now and next meeting: continue working on Hike database and Hikes overview; create volunteer job description to help Katie identify volunteers to help with content.
13. Action item: On the map, the team recommends an opaque background for the pop-up rather than having the map underneath bleed through. Doug, can you change this?
14. There was discussion of the title "NY NJ Trails Overview" used on the page that introduces regions and parks. We didn't come up with a good replacement phrase.

Technology (Walt)

1. On the group pages, the right column sits on top of not-themed content that we need to see. Action item (low priority): Walt to eliminate right column from these pages.
2. There are 6 or so responses to the Drupal job posting. Action item: Walt and Ann to review and make recommendation to Ed.
3. We reviewed Claudio's current priorities: (1) to get IE working right and (2) to implement the NICE menus. It was noted that Claudio felt he should do the menus first and then IE, but he needs the content for the menus. Action: Walt will populate the appriopriate table with Georgette's list and let Claudio know it is there for him to implement.
4. Action item: Claudio needs to fix the Go Hiking page (broken in Firefox)
5. Action item: Walt to do research to determine if Hikes search function we want (four separate term selections) can be done using Drupal so he can give Doug the specifications for themeing the search page.
6. Walt created a view to enable things like hike descriptions to be printed. He noted he needs to create another view (not sure what for ... Walt, do you remember?)

Business model (Ed)

1. The responsibilities for the Drupal position we are trying to fill should include helping us with themeing and teaching us about Drupal so we can maintain the site going forward.
2. We need to develop a content management plan with attention to access permissions and who does what. Walt noted that Drupal has three levels of edit privilege: none, what you create, anything. Ann noted we may want some generic userids with the "what you create" privilege so we can give volunteers or staff edit privileges as needed.

Updates to last week's action items:

• Action item #1: Ann to take over last week's action to consolidate team recommendations for hike features so the list can be finalized at the next status meeting.
• Action item #3: This task should be assigned to a volunteer, not to Doug.
• Action item #4: Walt thought he sent email with the info on adding photo credits, but no one remembers seeing it. He will document the process and Georgette will review it.
• Action item #5: Walt will work on the design of the Group page to make it easier to navigate the content to find stuff so we can use it for team communication.
• Action items 8 & 10: Done.
• Action item #9: Ann will be using Projjex for the team project plan and action item tracking. The Web site will continue to be used for posting meeting agendas and minutes. A new Projjex database will go live after July 4 and everyone will have access. Please sign up when you get the email announcement from Projjex.

Subteam discussion:

 

1. The last fifteen minutes of the meeting was spent discussing content management and management of the Web site.
2. Georgette noted that editing using Drupal is similar to using Contributor (the old tool). This should make the transition to the new site relatively easy for staff and volunteers. It can be hard to find things you've done using Drupal if you don't remember how you named them. Walt showed how to find stuff under the Admin tab, thus making it a bit easier.
3. Ed reminded us that time and efficiency are important for the staff who have to use the new site. We need to develop a training and documentation plan for the site launch. (Keeping it simple, of course!)
4. As we get into designing the parts of the site that staff will use (e.g., the Volunteering page), we need to involve the staff in designing and testing.
   We also discussed the need for a Moderator function for some content -- e.g., we need to review new hikes and such before posting them to the live site.

The next Web Design status meeting is July 14 at 1:30 pm.