Your opinion: improving the site

[Tristan]

Alright...so the conversion pretty much worked.  I think everyone's going to need to set new avatars, and I will probably ask for some help getting attachments moved over (I dunno how much of that carried over), but I think after some more configuration, we'll be ready to go.

So, look for some details to come very soon about when the forums will be shut down for final conversion.  I'm going to refine the process so that the downtime should only be a little while, but the worst possible thing that could happen is for a post to come after I've already started the conversion...so as long as that process is underway, the board would be down.

I'm thinking some time during the coming week, perhaps Thursday-ish, but I'll be back with more information.

[btconet]

Just curious - What platform ARE you using?

[Tristan]

Ever heard of Drupal?  I wondered if it might be "too much" for the site but it scales very well, both upwards and downwards.  Good stuff.  I tried WordPress, which is smaller and simpler, good for static pages and blog stuff, but when I started thinking about the forums and multimedia content, I got to worrying if it could handle it...the good thing about Drupal is that it seems to take anything you throw at it, so it should suit us for a long time to come.

It's also pretty fun to play around with, and provides a great learning experience for anyone who might conceivably do any sort of web development...I'm already thinking of a couple other projects I could put this to work with.

[btconet]

Never. I just went and peeped at their site, and indeed it does seem sort of like overkill at first, but as you said, it can lead to bigger and better as you're ready to add modules and switch up content.  The TWJs on BTCo would have been better formatted as a blog, but lacking the patience and time to implement them, they basically had to use the same format as the forum, which tends to lessen their appeal.

I just hope you're skilled and ready to take the time to fashion such an upgrade and keep up on it.  Few things are more tiresome than falling behind on site maintenance to the point where it becomes a chore instead of a hobby.  I *just* got around to installing phpBB3 and putting redirects on the various predecessor links to properly point all links to the forum in the right place.

Are you planning on using drupal for all aspects of the site build, making it more of a community website (like a Wikipedia) as opposed to a traditional html site which is authored by very few people?

[Tristan]

That's why I swore off of plain HTML long ago.  Drupal looks like overkill, but the beauty of it is that, once it's up, barring technical issues, all I really ever have to worry about is content.

I have a very Googlesque vision for the site, as a place that collects and organizes the information about DC's transit...which as of now is in 300 different places.  In terms of community and access, a slightly more structured/controlled Wikipedia would be an accurate description of what I'm shooting for.

I do intend on letting Drupal handle everything it can practically be asked to handle, which should be just about anything.  That way, when I get a big idea, which happens in the most inconvenient times, I don't have to worry about what it would take to get it done and how much work it would be, technologically speaking anyway.

[btconet]

When I started BTCo in '99, html was about the only thing out there that was available for "free" and easy enough to learn, so in 10 years, I've pretty much had to limit enhancements to facelifts and the like, as I've never been ready to think outside the html box so to speak.  Sadly, I don't even have any real knowlege of CSS, which has kicked me in the tail, as when a link changes on the navigator, it needs to be changed on EVERY page!

I may at some point be willing to entertain revamping the transit site into a more comprehensive vision that allows for open ended contribution and has better navigability, but I'm JUST now getting back into getting it up to snuff, and don't really know what options are out there.

I wish you the best with drupal, and hope all the effort that goes forth into molding DCATZ into your vision will bring about the sort of site you're looking to host.  From one webmaster to another, I can assure you that sites offer lots of frustration with few rewards, and as such are a labor of love.