[wplug-web] Re: WPLUG Website

[Mark Dalrymple]

Hey Mike!

On Jul 23, 2006, at 1:47 PM, Michael Semcheski wrote:
> Recently, the topic of changing the wplug membership structure has  
> come
> up on mailing lists.
>
> I went to the website to look for old board minutes, or news, etc. to
> see how this issue has progressed, and I couldn't find it.

Yep.  it's a problem.  In the short-short term, we can give Dave  
Ostroske a login and he can create files locally for minutes and  
whatnot.


> Not too long before that, there was a short discussion about changing
> the website's underlying cms.

The need for a wiki (or other similar CMSy thing) is the main thing -  
stuff can be put there and edited by folks without access to the  
machine.  I know Patrick was talking about mediawiki and that it's  
easy to install.  I have no time (Google demands a lot of my time  
now, plus less involvement due to gas prices and having one vehicle  
in the family) to take something like that on (plus I get soooo  
frustrated installing opensource software packages and the associated  
configuversionitis.  it drives me nuts)

The current website is an apache process that serves as a reverse  
proxy for the mailing list stuff (which also runs in apache), and  
OpenACS running in AOLServer.  I think jo2y had RT running as well.   
The openacs version is a bit old, and is need of an upgrade (Which is  
why I haven't installed a wiki package for it yet).  I haven't made  
the time to do the upgrade, which will be a PITA because of local  
customizations.

One of the nice thing about OpenACS is that it has an integrated  
access control mechanism, making it easy to dub people as editors of  
particular parts of the site.  I'm not adverse to adding something  
adjacent to OpenACS (like http://wplug.org/lists/) for a wiki or some  
similar thing - so long as there is some kind of access control.   
It's entirely too easy for a small organization's wiki to become  
completely covered in spam.  This I think is the ideal short-to- 
medium term solution.  Keeps me out of the loop since I know I'll be  
the bottleneck.

If you'd (or anyone else) like to totally replace the system, that's  
fine.  It currently runs out of Postgresql with a pretty rich data  
model, and I can dump things like the membership database and meeting  
schedule (which are the two primary uses of the database outside of  
the general site architecture).

I'm a bit leery of grand plans, having survived two previous WPLUG  
efforts of building a grand system (first Lain, and then the  
zmanevand php monstrosity) - it was in the middle of the second one  
where I finally got tired and built the openacs based WPLUG website  
over a weekend, and the meetings module in another - it's been going  
now for about 4 years).

But if you have the will to lead things, you've got my support (just  
not necessarily time :-)  One thing I don't want to happen is to  
jettison a working system in favor of a new regime that never gets  
finished.  Once there's a working development site somewhere, I'd be  
happy to throw the switch and hand the reins over.

Cheers,
++Mark Dalrymple, markd at borkware.com
   "As I *am* getting older, here is my advice for the young ones on the
    list: Show up. Enjoy. Reflect. Love. Share. Forgive. Believe in the
    abundance. Do good work. Laugh. Learn."
     -- Aaron Hillegass