Fwd: Re: [it-wg] Re: Website Opportunity

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Chris Gibbings

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Dec 21, 2016, 4:27:14 PM12/21/16
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Fyi about new website
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Christopher Kindig" <christoph...@ecovillage.org>
Date: 22 Dec 2016 4:26 am
Subject: Re: [it-wg] Re: Website Opportunity
To: "Niveen Adel" <nive...@gmail.com>
Cc: "Cynthia Tina" <cynthi...@gmail.com>, "Chris Gibbings" <chrisgi...@gmail.com>, "Henny Freitas" <hennyf...@gmail.com>, "herman Runbox" <her...@runbox.com>, "IT Working Group" <it...@ecovillage.org>, "Rede Portuguesa Ecoaldeias - Portugal" <ecoal...@gmail.com>, "Ernesto Sun" <ernes...@ecovillage.org>, "cc: Antonio Marin" <in...@ecohabitar.org>, "alfonso flaquer carreras" <alfl...@gmail.com>, "Sandeul Ayoung Chu" <sprin...@gmail.com>, "Mark Rowatt Anderson" <mark.rowat...@ecovillage.org>, "IT Technical Team" <it-...@ecovillage.org>, "Andrea Giraldo López" <and...@awakenedlifeproject.org>

Hello Everyone!

HAPPY SOLSTICE!

I am sorry I could not respond to your email sooner, Niveen. I was at Findhorn for staff meetings all last week. Very busy schedule, and it was super productive and clarifying!

One of the things that came out of the meeting was the realization that the new website does not have to be launched ASAP; we actually have until March. This means that we can complete the new Solution Library before the site goes live! Possibly the new social features as well. This also means that we have a bit more time for the regions to provide their feedback and content. :)

I still need an outline of the content each region would like to see see on their regional site. Please let me know if there are any questions or if I can assist with this in any way. :)


Here are my responses to Niveen's questions:
  1. The regions section, seems as just a link or menu item in gen international and not a full site, with a customized identity. I thought we would have a special site for each region, in this I would imagine the menu of the region to be highlighted on top an the gen menu to be less highlighted.
That's right; the regional sites live within the main global ecovillage network site. I laid this out in my first emails and questions I answered about the new site. All of the regions will share a common header, top navigation bar, and footer. The regional menu is in the sidebar on the regional page, and is totally customizable, including the color and the contents. With that said, we received similar feedback that it would be great to perhaps at least run a colored bar across the top of the screen below the main navigation that ties it into the regional site. We will look at this! 

If a region prefers to do a totally custom look and feel on their site, you can build and maintain a custom site and we can just link to it from your regional page within the website.

  1. Will we have same menu items in different regions or would it vary according to each region requirement. In this I don't remember that the requirements have been gathered from the regions?
I sent a recent email asking the regions to supply their requirements. I said that I have it set up now that each region has an About, contact, volunteer, donate, event, news, and project page, and that we can edit, remove, or add any pages requested. What does GEN Africa want? :)
  1. In gen Africa we separated various types of projects so not all our projects are ecovillages. we have permaculture etc
Can you please show me an example or provide a bit more detail of what you mean and what you'd like to see differently? 
  1. We also had a section for fundraising and another for resources which I cant find.
Can you please send me a link to each page you want to make sure is recreated? (And/or content for any new pages you'd like?)
  1. Each menu item in region will need sub menu, thats why I believe placing it on top would be more reasonable
There are technical and user challenges to changing the top navigation. Which items in the region will require a submenu? We can probably display that in the regional sidebar menu.
  1. The next gen will we have one next gen or a next gen for each region?
There will be a NextGEN page that discusses the focus of the program, and which introduces all of the places that NextGEN is active in the regions and around the world. In addition to this page, each region can list in their navigation menus a link to their NextGEN program. On that page it can detail more of the initiatives and ways to get involved with that regional group.
  1. After last gen africa conference we are now building a gen africa ICT working group so how do u think we can involve them, its stil to be framed in gen africa but I would like to get your suggestions.
I'm sorry I do not understand the question - what is ICT? And what exactly do you mean how we can involve them, please? :)
  1. I though also you mentioned adding the e marketing feature for products?
As I mentioned in my last email, the store is not yet completed. The store will be built and managed by GEN international. We will consider ideas from regions about items to carry. Eventually we'd like to look at offering a marketplace for ecovillages to sell their goods, but this will not be in the site at launch and we do not currently have a plan or timeline for making this.
  1. Adding social media features
Which features?
  1. Can I send the job offer along gen africa?
Yes, I encourage people to share the job listing with anyone they think may be interested!


Please let me know if I can help with any additional questions. I notice that many of the questions were answered in previous emails, but I understand that there is a lot to this, so if there is anything else you have questions about, please let me know!

Thanks so much!

Christopher



On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 8:55 AM, Niveen Adel <nive...@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Christopher
The site looks simple and to the point.
I have few comments:
  1. The regions section, seems as just a link or menu item in gen international and not a full site, with a customized identity. I thought we would have a special site for each region, in this I would imagine the menu of the region to be highlighted on top an the gen menu to be less highlighted.
  2. Will we have same menu items in different regions or would it vary according to each region requirement. In this I don't remember that the requirements have been gathered from the regions?
  3. In gen Africa we separated various types of projects so not all our projects are ecovillages. we have permaculture etc
  4. We also had a section for fundraising and another for resources which I cant find.
  5. Each menu item in region will need sub menu, thats why I believe placing it on top would be more reasonable
  6. The next gen will we have one next gen or a next gen for each region?
  7. After last gen africa conference we are now building a gen africa ICT working group so how do u think we can involve them, its stil to be framed in gen africa but I would like to get your suggestions.
  8. I though also you mentioned adding the e marketing feature for products?
  9. Adding social media features
  10. Can I send the job offer along gen africa?
Thanks

Niveen Adel
Islamic Heritage Project Manager
CULTNAT
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
mob.: +(201003888091)

Vice President GEN AFRICA (The Global Ecovillage Network of Africa)

Board member of GEN (The Global Ecovillage Network) 



On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 4:16 PM, Cynthia Tina <cynthi...@gmail.com> wrote:
All of that sounds good Christopher....

I like the idea of having both a main NextGEN page and the sections on each regional page. Just let Andrea and I know what additional text/links/images are needed. 

And I hear you about the drop down menu drawbacks. It may be too complex/impossible but perhaps having the drop down on desktop screens and no drop down for mobile devices? I also think that as more and more sites have the hover drop down, users are becoming more comfortable with them. I really like the idea of a mega menu, these are often much clearer and more engaging (with images). 

But either way this is great for now and I appreciate the thoroughness with which you are considering all the possibilities!


Cynthia Tina
cynthi...@gmail.com | +1-781-244-0484 | cynthia.tina52 (Skype)

NextGEN North America (NextGENNA) | Co-Founder

Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) International | Board Member

Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) | Board Member


On Mon, Dec 5, 2016 at 10:39 PM, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
Hi Cynthia and Chris!

Thank you for your feedback. Wow! It means a lot to hear that from each of you! :'D 

Also thanks to those who sent me personal messages of congratulations and support.


To answer Cynthia's feedback:

NextGEN page -- absolutely! We were planning to offer the same submenu structure for the NextGEN page if it is desired. I really like your idea of putting the regional NextGEN pages linked to from the main regional menus as well. So how about this, a brief overview of NextGEN on the site: There is a main NextGEN page that introduces the program, and links to the NextGEN regional pages. In the submenu can be more information about initiatives of GEN, as well as donating, volunteering, etc. Each region of NextGEN can also be listed as a page on that menu, so each region can put together their own page about their regional NextGEN activities. Does that sound good? Any questions or ideas?


Regarding the drop down menu. Might be a long answer to a relatively simple (but worthwhile) question! We really thought through the details of the menu, and set it up this way as part of the 'mobile first' design strategy. The conclusion was based on a few reasons; Mark just reminded me of some of them:
  • without a lot of care and attention they tend to deliver bad UX. 
  • there is no consistency as to what happens when you click a top level menu item. Does it take you to a top level page, or show the menu, or do nothing (if the menu shows on hover).
  • it’s bad on touch devices. And it’s hard to know reliably if a device is touch-only device. Screen size tends to be the best proxy, but large tablets and small desktops tend to overlap so it’s not so reliable. Therefore, it’s hard to reliably show a dropdown on a non-touch device, but not on a touch device.
  • it’s harder to manage - to work well for the user, all second level pages need to be represented in the menu, otherwise it creates confusion as to why some things are in a menu and some are not. However, blindly adding all second level pages isn’t so great either, as it can lead to very long menus, or constant shaping of them.
  • Dropdown menus on small to moderate sized sites rarely (IMHO) add significant user value, and frequently confuse the user experience. (Too many options create 'paralysis of choice'; better to direct users to main areas.)
With all that said, I still think there is some value to having a drop down if it does not overcomplicate or overwhelm the options. (An arrow in all directions is no direction at all!) So we are thinking that later next year we will look again at adding a special drop down menu. Instead of a list, we would do it right and make it into a full width "mega-menu", which can include images, sub-headings, etc. So it's not info overload, but helps to guide people through the section/site.

Does this all sound reasonable, and like an okay plan? Totally open to anyone's feedback on this!


Thanks again, keep it coming, and take care!

Christopher






On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 9:50 PM, Cynthia Tina <cynthi...@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for the update Christopher! It is exciting that we are so close to launch!

Personally, I like the site a lot... easy to understand, clean lines, bold colors, etc. One suggestion for improvement is that it would be nice for the drop down menu to appear when you hover your mouse over a menu item, instead of having to click and load the page to see the options. 

I'm also wondering if it is possible to add more sections to the NextGEN page, similar to the regional pages, for us to have donation, volunteer form, and info about the various regions of NextGEN? Hmmm, It may be tricky to share all the news from all the NextGEN regions on one page. Do you have any thoughts about how to structure this? Or perhaps there is a NextGEN section for each regional page?

I've just shared your email with the GENNA Council and NextGEN, so stay tuned for more feedback from these groups.

Thanks for you work!
 - Cynthia




Cynthia Tina
cynthi...@gmail.com | +1-781-244-0484 | cynthia.tina52 (Skype)

NextGEN North America (NextGENNA) | Co-Founder

Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) International | Board Member

Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) | Board Member


On Sat, Dec 3, 2016 at 1:18 PM, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
Hello IT comrades,

**I have been trying to complete and send out this email for the last 2 weeks. I apologize for my delay! I wanted to wrap up as many loose ends and answer as many questions as possible in advance!**


Brief update from the US election...

Writing you from a node of the resistance, about 50 miles from the DC belly of the beast. I am so embarrassed and disappointed on behalf of this backwards country that this awful guy just got elected. :'(

He pulled a great con, and is now going to let down and hurt a lot of people, while swinging an ugly social wrecking ball around. Truthfully, it has been very difficult dealing with this shocking development. Hopefully it serves to awaken a lot of people of the great power and responsibility of participation, and encourages people to take sustainability and organizing into their own hands. I know I am feeling like taking it up to the next level. ;)


So with that -- back to the world of GEN, and the website we need to save the planet through ecovillages! 


Website Schedule Update

The website project has been steadily progressing, and the results have been pleasing. We were on schedule for the first half of the massive project, however we ran into a few larger and more complicated questions once we fully defined the requirements and got into importing more of the drupal data. 

This caused more work than expected. Meanwhile, delays were compounded because of an exceptionally busy schedule, which I am working to improve (hiring childcare help, resigning a position with another organization, etc.)

Added to this, Mark, our Developer, will actually be away for 3 weeks starting mid-December for holiday break. 

So because of these items, we have had to re-access and re-adjust some of our timeline and milestones.


Timeline for Launch

Instead of trying to force a soft launch before December 15th and hoping that absolutely nothing goes wrong while Mark is away, we're going to wait until he returns and launch it sometime between January 15-30. (The project requirements should still be considered met by the end of 2016, however, as the site will be nearly completed and into the testing phase, preparing for launch.)

At launch the site will include nearly everything: the projects, user profiles, regions, events, news, and pages we're used to. Also, language translation tools, migration of previous data, a responsive template, header, footer, etc.!


Updates after Launch

There are 4 remaining milestones (out of 24) that will not be totally ready by the initial launch date, however. 

1. First and most important to complete is the Solution Library. What we are working on will be a major improvement on today, but it has taken longer than expected to define the requirements, is more involved than we realized, and will take special time to put it all together. Our goal is to launch this by the end of February (or a couple weeks into March if there are any unexpected delays). In the meantime the existing SL (with all 325 newly restored solutions, thanks Ernesto!) will remain online as it is, and will be linked to by the new website.

2. The national sites, such as RIE, also fall into this camp -- they will stay up online as they are for about 1-2 months longer, so they will have their new spot on the new site by the end of February or March.

3. Next, we'll implement some really awesome sharing and collaboration tools across the site! This includes comments on pages, even more interactive user profiles, private messaging, and more.

4. Finally, we're working on details of a partnership with FIC (ic.org/Directory) where we will share community listing data, and collaborate to improve each directory for all! To pull this off is quite a challenge, however, so we are taking it in steps. From launch we will share (nearly) the same project listing form. Then after the above items are completed, so likely in March or possibly in April, we will begin to work on a more robust interaction between the sites so that data is updated in both places, you can see the results on each other's sites, etc. :)

So, of course I wish we could have fit it all in by the end of the calendar year. But this is a really massive overhaul of a complex multi-faceted site, so considering the timeline and resources, I am still pretty impressed by the progress and plan, and I think people will be happy with the outcome. I hope that the adjusted plans are alright with everyone.


Check out the new site!

Now, I can finally reveal the new website in the works. 

You will likely note that there is still fine tuning to do.  ;) This is not finished yet. In much of the content, including photos and exact wording, some things just have to be updated and fine-tuned by our communications team yet. 

We also do not yet have the Ecovillages (Projects) part of the site up yet, user profiles are now being finalized, the new store is not yet shown, and search engine optimization (SEO) has not yet been applied. The sidebars also have not been finalized for each page, and for the regional pages - I have a standard set of useful pages I can set up for each region, however you can customize if you want them all and the exact content. (more below)

One huge accomplishment of this site is that it was built 'mobile first', and totally responsive. This means that the design works for people regardless of the size of their screen or device, and it is lightweight so it can load quickly.

Taking all that into account, what do you think so far? :)



Region Pages

Here is the part you've been waiting for, an overview of the Regions part of the website. If you click that link or on 'Regions' in the main navigation, you'll see a brief intro to each region, similar to the current site. These logos can be updated when new ones are made, and the content can be fine tuned as per each region's interest. 

When you click on a region it takes you to the regional site. The first page is essentially the 'About' page for the region. On the right hand side you can see the regional logo and a menu listing the navigation for the regional site. 

Let's go to the CASA page for our reference. There is the basic lineup of pages for each region:

CASA (name of region as home/about page)
News (displays blog posts -- articles, media, newsletters, etc. -- from that region.)
Events (displays events from that region)
Ecovillages (displays ecovillage projects in that region)
Solutions (solutions from the solution library from that region)
Subscribe to Newsletter (opportunity to subscribe to international and regional newsletter if produced)
Volunteer (a form where people can select what you'd like help with and send you a message about it)
Donate (this will go to a page in the store that allows you to donate once or on a recurring basis to a region)
Contact (a form that allows people to contact the region, which goes to a regional contact email of choice)

As you'll see if you click through those pages, most of them have not been set up yet. (Will be easy to do.) I have not set up these mockup pages for any of the other regions, but this month will complete them for all regions.

Each region can choose to not display any of these pages, and can of course decide to change the name of the pages, and/or to add additional pages of your desire and design. CASA for instance also has a page called 'Tacotal Experience' which I included on their menu. We will give you admin access to make any changes to your regional menu or to add pages yourself, or I would be happy to help and put any of the changes through for you. :)


Your Content & Feedback
    There are a few pieces of content that you could start to prepare.

    1. Home/About page - which is your region's first impression. 
    2. Menu - are you good with the standard regional pages, or which changes and/or additions would you like?
    3. Custom footer - near the bottom of every page on the 'International' part of the site, just like the current website, we show the option to volunteer, to join the newsletter, or to donate. We built in the option for regional sites to choose if they want any different calls to action or custom wording here. Is Volunteer, Newsletter, and Donate okay for you? Or which different options or text might you like to see there? We will give direct access to edit these or to turn them on or off, or we can help to do this for you. Here's an example of what you'll see on the regional sites now:

    Inline image 1



    4. General Feedback -- taking into consideration the caveats above (we still have a lot of work to do, I know!) do you have any additional feedback or questions you'd like to ask at this time? If you're feeling happy about the direction of the project, or prefer to wait until we have more in place, that is perfectly acceptable!



    Much of the GEN International staff is flying out to Findhorn next Friday to begin a week long pow-wow about our goals for 2017. We will be taking the time to look at the site and working through some feedback there as well.

    I figure that after this round of feedback, and from what I hear from you through email, we will have a good sense of which adjustments should be made before we are ready for the launch. It is possible that you may want to add some features or functionality to the site. This feedback is also welcome, but may not be able to make it into the first launch of the website. Still I will do my best to fully hear the feedback and ideas, to evaluate and discuss them with Mark, and to document them in the place (Trello) where we are storing ideas for further adjustments to the site.



    GEN IT is Hiring a Web Developer!

    Finally - I am excited to announce that we are hiring for a new position, a Web Developer with GEN International. It is for 25 paid hours per month, plus or minus 5 hours depending on the needs of that particular month. This person will report to Mark as Senior Web Developer, and will work some with me as IT Director as well. Please check out the position details if you're interested to apply, and please do share it to your network and people you know who may be interested! Anyone can send applications to me at this email address by Wednesday December 14. 


    Thanks everyone for your patience while we undertook this massive project. I hope you can start to see the positive results of this process. I look forward to receiving your feedback, and to providing deeper admin access soon so that you can go in and start to edit the pages and menus yourself if you're keen to. We want to get the projects and user profile systems squared away before providing that access, but it should be available in early January. 

    In the meantime I am here to answer any questions and to help adjust the pages for regions as desired! 

    Let me know how I can be of service.

    Thank you!

    Christopher





    On Thu, Oct 20, 2016 at 12:15 AM, Chris Gibbings <chrisgi...@gmail.com> wrote:
    Thanks for keeping us updated, Christopher. Great to know that things are progressing. I'm looking forward to a user frielndly website.
    Warm regards,
    Chris

    E: chrisgi...@gmail.com,   T: (Australia) 0490 669 336
    Global Ecovillage Network Oceania and Asia: http://genoa.ecovillage.org/ 
    Bellbunya Eco retreat & Sustainable community: www.bellbunya.org.au

    On 20 October 2016 at 02:14, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Hello IT folks! :D

    (my apologies if you receive this message twice.)

    I am excited to report that Mark and I are working on completing the Region parts of the website now, including the admin access component. Once complete we will replicate much of it for National sites.

    Regions won't have to install or host anything locally -- all admin will be accessible through the browser. :)

    This will probably take 2 or 3 weeks to complete, as it includes building some widgets to display regional news, projects, and solutions. So sometime in the beginning of November I can provide a demo for feedback, and possibly we can provide access right then so you can start edited page content as desired.

    We may not have all of the major areas of the site ready for feedback then, but we're working on it!

    Thanks for your patience while we're working through this massive project. :)

    All the best,

    Christopher


    On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 11:42 AM, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Thanks everyone for your support! :)

    I would love to send out a link of our progress, however it is so rudimentary now and there is so much left to do, that it would probably not be worth it yet. I promise I am excited to share it once we get it to a stage that feedback will be helpful, so in another 1-2 months. I will be in touch!

    As always, please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas!

    Take care,

    Christopher


    On Wed, Aug 24, 2016 at 4:51 PM, Henny Freitas <hennyf...@gmail.com> wrote:
    Great to hear, Chris! Many, many thanks for the update!
    Here at CASA we have just finished to (re)design the new concept of the new page and are ready to put our inputs when time allows us.

    And, by the way...it's freezing right now in Brasil. So no Summer time for us... :( 

    Love and laugh,

    Henny
    (CASA Latina Communication Coordinator)

    Henny Freitas
    EarthCode Project

    On Mon, Aug 22, 2016 at 3:31 PM, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Hello All!

    I hope summer is treating you well. :)

    I just wanted to give you a very brief update on the website project. 

    We broke the project into many milestones. I am pleased to report that we continue to make progress and are currently right on schedule. 
    • We have selected and set up a new server, installed Wordpress, and the basic plugins we'll need, and set up a development and testing environment.
    • We have determined the basic layout and many of the basic templates for the new site. 
    • We have imported all of the website content into the new site. It is set up so we can reimport the data to update it when we need to. We will be importing the users, events, and projects as we build those areas over the coming months.
    • We plan to have most of the pages and navigation completed by the end of September. Then we move onto those special content areas of the site, and the social features.

    We are still shooting to send it out for review by the regions by the end of October. (Possibly Nov.) 

    Then we can make adjustments, and send out instructions for how to access and edit the site.

    Please let me know if there are any lingering questions, concerns, or ideas about any of this!

    Thanks everyone, and take care out there!

    Christopher







    On Mon, May 9, 2016 at 10:50 AM, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Thank you Niveen!

    I have read many such comparisons. :) That is a good one!

    After processing that research, and through years of experience, I am strongly in the Wordpress camp for our new website.

    Are there any specific aspects of the comparison which delight or concern you or your team?

    Please let me know if there is anything that I can comment on or help with!

    Thanks,

    Christopher

    PS - It has been exciting and productive so far to lay the groundwork for the new site with Mark, our new developer. We are really thinking everything through! I think you all will really like what you see (when we have something to share in a few months), and we are of course building into the plan making adjustments based on your feedback. :)



    On Mon, May 9, 2016 at 9:56 AM, Niveen Adel <nive...@gmail.com> wrote:
    Dear Christopher, team
    Below is comparison between wordpress and drupal, I got from an It specialist in my organization.


    best regards


    Niveen Adel
    Islamic Heritage Project Manager
    CULTNAT
    Bibliotheca Alexandrina
    mob.: +(201003888091)

    Vice President GEN AFRICA (The Global Ecovillage Network of Africa)

    Board member of GEN (The Global Ecovillage Network) 



    On Fri, May 6, 2016 at 2:31 AM, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Hello Herman!

    Thanks for your support and kind words about the project! :)

    I am very happy to be able to help GEN transition to a website that works well!

    I am psyched that you see the value in common infrastructure. :)

    I agree that IT can be challenging, and even frustrating at times. And the ironic thing is that it is supposed to make things easier for you, not be an extra pain in the... ;)

    To answer your questions:

    "How can we participate in this project in a way that ensures uniformity of web design across the regions and yet autonomy in content management?"

    ...Great news - we hired our new Wordpress Website Developer! His name is Mark.

    Mark also has experience with and an eye towards clean simple design and intuitive UX (user experience, sometimes used interchangeably with UI - user interface.)

    Our plan was to create lightweight elegant designs that are built to be fast, easy to use, and designed for mobile from the ground up.

    We mapped out everything we need to build for the new site, grouped into stages of development. It will take a few months before we get through enough stages to be able to share what this looks like. It may be August or more likely September.

    But as soon as we have this "minimum viable product" of a website together that I can share with you, I will send it out for feedback. You can see what the regional template looks like, and let us know if you'd like any specific changes to your pages.

    This could be the color, font, image size, page layout, sidebar location, etc. :)

    So with the common header and navigation we can establish the solidarity and uniformity of the network, and each region can use common templates and building blocks to make adjustments based on their preferences. 

    These adjustments may not be easy ones, and may require customization of code, so once we get the requests clear, we can leave them up to Mark to take care of.

    As for the content on the pages, Wordpress has a very easy to use system of editing pages or posting blogs. We will use a plugin to assign custom admin access to website content administrators in each region. They will be able to log in to change content on pages specific to the region, and to add articles or pictures, etc., as blog posts. 

    Hopefully this helps to answer your question, albeit in a long way!

    So - until we get to the point where we have something to show you, in the meantime what each region could do is to gather 3 or 4 really beautiful high definition photos which represent your region, and what is happening that most inspires you. If they are photos already on the site, just let me know which ones.

    Transferring from Typo3

    As for transferring your website, I found an interesting piece of software! https://wordpress.org/plugins/cms2cms-typo3-to-wp-converter-with-redirect/

    GEN could pay for and use this, or a tool like it, to import your website into wordpress format. We might put it into it's own website, then transfer the data out of that and import into our new site, but that is just Of course it wouldn't look exactly the same at first, but we could try to massage it some to make it work, and both hand you the keys to make adjustments to the content, and receive your feedback on template adjustments you'd prefer (or think would be better for the site overall.)

    Hopefully this is a helpful summary to see our approach to the project. I welcome your feedback, ideas, and of course any additional questions you may have!

    Thanks for your collaboration!

    Christopher




    On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 6:19 AM, herman Runbox <her...@runbox.com> wrote:
    Hi Everybody,

    First of all, a big thank you to Christopher and the GEN International team for seeking out this funding opportunity and for sharing this initiative with the regions. I think it is a big step towards developing a common infrastructure for the GEN family and for us to leverage synergies in the IT work that we do.

    At GEN Europe, we've felt the strain of a number of recent IT challenges accross our spectrum of systems and services, as is characteristic of any growing organisation that has come to depend more and more on its IT resources. This, I'm sure is something that everybody at GEN would have experienced in some form or intensity at some point or the other!

    We've had a number of conversations at the GEN Europe offices to talk about how we might improve our systems over time, and it was with some excitement that we heard about the WordPress initiative and the opportunity that this presents. Like the other regions, we also have some questions, particularly about how we can participate in this project in a way that ensures uniformity of web design accross the regions and yet autonomy in content management. Perhaps this group would need to meet again soonish, to clarify and agree on the project processes, roles and structures, and how it is envisaged that each region is supported to make the transition from their current site to a mutually agreed wordpress template. (We've had a preliminary look at what is involved migrating from Typo3 to WP, and by all accounts, it does not seem to be a straightforward copy and paste)

    At the same time, a final decision on how we at GEN Europe might take up this opportunity, would also need to consider the other Web projects that we are currently busy with.

    Anyway, we are keen, and look forward to hearing about the next steps so that we can evaluate the opportunity properly and together with the GEN Europe IT WG, make an informed decision about how we will proceed.

    Thanks again and kind regards,
    Herman
    GEN Europe Project Coordinator


    Sent from herman's pad


    On 9 abr 2016, at 4:00, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:

    AWESOME!

    Glad this information was clarifying and caught you at just the right time Henny! ;)

    As far as the timeline - I will lay that out here so you can see where we are and what is possible. 

    Now that we have a plan, software to match it, we received notification of the funding grant, and the regions are showing interest in the new website opportunity, I am now in the process of getting to know a few different candidates for our new lead Website Developer. I will work closely with this person to bring the new site to life, and ideally hope they will stick around after the new site is live to help troubleshoot and enhance the site over time. 

    ...In case this interests you, one candidate I am talking with is Lukas, who worked with Katie to build Friend's of GEN's donate.ecovillage.org, and who recently became lead developer for Numundo.org. Another is Mark, who is well known for his heroic help to the Findhorn Foundation and other organizations, and who is also the developer of the CentersGathering.org website. Both are immensely qualified, passionate, brilliant people, so we are evaluating their interest, availability, and other details. James also just sent me another candidate to contact, and I am still open to receiving more offers of people who are interested in working with GEN International in this way.

    So - while we are still figuring that out, we have determined a server to test out that caters especially to Wordpress sites. Ernesto, GEN's Server Manager, will be testing the new server as soon as next week. Once he is confident with the test results, and we switch over to it, it will run our existing site(s) faster, make the server much easier to manage, offer 24/7 service, and it will make automatic backups so we are no longer at risk for losing data randomly. As long as the test goes well, at this point, so in a couple of weeks from now hopefully, I will be able to install a Wordpress site to start developing. It will take me probably a month to transfer over and set up the site as much as I can. Depending on availability, interest, and need, Tobias may also help with this.

    Beginning in May, which is when the funding for the project arrives, we can officially start the new developer. First order of business will be to set up the new templates. Then to set up the more custom core features and data rich parts of the website. Sometime in or after this I would think that we could provide initial user access to begin to shape the content and design on your pages.

    With the complexity of our website features, and including working with FIC to integrate the two databases, it will be a constant development sprint from the start until September or October, when we aim to have the test site ready to receive feedback from the regions, staff, board, etc.

    We have to complete and launch the site by the end of 2016, so we would have a few months to gain feedback and to make any necessary adjustments and preparations to launch. 

    It would be great if we could do this a lot faster, I know, but with the scale of the project, and the available funding having to stretch through the year, it will be a hustle - that I believe we can pull off - to get it all ready in time. So we will do our best, but December 2016 is a safe bet for when it will be completed and launched by, with summer being when access is granted to customize, and fall being when we have the chance to seek feedback and make adjustments. Maybe sooner, we can see if we can plan and work for that, but let's go with that as our general game plan for now.

    How does this timeline and plan work for you?

    Thanks for your energy about this! :D

    Christopher

    On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 9:10 PM, Henny Freitas <hennyf...@gmail.com> wrote:
    Wow, Christopher...

    That was indeed a very clarifying message. I'm glad to realise I finally got it all. Thank you very much for your kindness and patience. We have been discussing the subject at CASA and realising the benefits of the WordPress platform. As you must know we have been struggling to try and keep mantaining both platforms at CASA and ended up finding it very difficult to mantain either of them.

    At the moment we are designing the new content of our platform and this news just reações us on time! Do you have any idea when this new opportunity will be available to us all? We are ready to try it and thrive it through! 

    Kind Regards,

    Henny
    xoxo


    On Friday, April 8, 2016, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Hello Chris,

    Yes, certainly, we will build the site to be able to share information between regions/international.

    I would like to elaborate on some perspective and strategy here, which I mentioned in earlier emails and in the website plan document, which may be helpful to share and evaluate again.

    Instead of thinking of each region as having totally separate websites, I was thinking that each region can have their own unique segment of the website, which they can access to customize if desired, working with the template, tools, and support they need.

    So instead of it being for example GENNA.ecovillage.org, it becomes ecovillage.org/GENNA. Instead of it being a different subdomain for each region, and a totally different website, each regional website becomes it's own unique segment of a larger website.

    The main regional home page can give an introduction to the region, and show a stream of regional events, news, and projects posted or updated. It can also link to the region's own website if they prefer to use their own web platform (I am guessing GEN Europe may opt for this?), or lead visitors deeper into the regional website pages.

    Each regional website can include a unique sub-navigation menu, and each regional site can add as many pages or pieces of content as they would like. These pages would appear in the browser like ecovillage.org/GENNA/About, /Events, /News, etc.

    This strategy has multiple tangible advantages. One is the simplicity and reliability of keeping all of the sites as a part of one website, so we all benefit from the same up-to-date software and the same database of information. Also - we gain more of a sense of unity and collaboration being within one site together, while also having the autonomy to shape our part of the site as we please. We would no longer have to duplicate and update a lot of the same information across the regional sites, but can instead share some of the same pages and resources. By sharing some common design and structure, regional sites can feel more like they are part of the same family, the same organization, the same network - while still retaining their own unique identities, focuses, and flair.

    This strategy will also have significant benefits for SEO - search engine optimization. Basically, instead of splitting the "pagerank" that google is assigning to each subdomain, we can all share and grow the pagerank together, boosting the likelihood for all regions that pages and content posted are more often found in the search engines. Also worth noting, is that the subdomain strategy has gone out of style in a technology and marketing sense. It appears techie, and distracting. Plus it detracts from the main idea we are uniting around and want people to connect with first: Ecovillage.

    To reiterate something mentioned earlier, of course all traffic that keeps going to existing subdomains will be forwarded to their corresponding pages in the new website. (So if someone types in for example genna.ecovillage.org, it will automatically forward to ecovillage.org/genna).

    So - about the question of sharing content between the sites, you can see how being on the same website will make this more easy to do! I know of at least 3 different ways we can do this. 

    Hopefully this helped to provide more insight into how we can effectively share info between sites.

    Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas about this, or about any other part of the new website plan. I will be glad to explore it with you.

    Thanks so much for your feedback. 

    Enjoy your weekend!

    Christopher









    On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 2:24 AM, Chris Gibbings <chrisgi...@gmail.com> wrote:

    Thanks Christopher. Wordpress is sounding very positive.   A specific issue that i have heard raised a couple of times and which is important to our region is the ability to share data between multiple websites, as we do now with gen sites (but hopefully, easier). So, for example,  when i post a news article on GENOA's website about an EDE in Orissa, I want it to be also available on the GEN international website, assuming they want it there. Is this the sort of thing that wordpress can do well?
    Warm regards,
    Chris

    On 07/04/2016 7:21 PM, "Christopher Kindig" <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Hello Niveen!

    Thank you so much for talking this through with GEN Africa, and giving preliminary acceptance of it. :)

    I appreciate your concern to make sure we are switching to a stable robust website platform.

    It sounds like the Wordpress you referred to is the platform from 5-10 years ago. It has continuously improved, grown, and evolved since then, now making up nearly 25% of all websites online, including many leading websites. It is for far more than blogs or simple websites -- as it includes thousands of sophisticated plugins and services to allow a Wordpress site to do just about anything any other site could do, but easier. 

    Here is a recent article about this: http://www.wpbeginner.com/why-you-should-use-wordpress/

    For example, FIC's website ic.org runs on Wordpress. This includes the Communities Directory, which is a complicated interactive database of over 2,500 community projects from around the world that receives about 300,000 pageviews per month. FIC opted for the plugin called 'Formidable Pro' to handle this, and it has been great. Another popular option to make advanced databases in WP is called Gravity Forms. 

    FIC's site also has solid plugins handling Events, Classified Ads, and an exceptionally successful online store. I lead the transition from FIC's custom built website onto Wordpress using these plugins, and we have never looked back, because all of our important indicators of success (traffic, sales, donations, etc.) have all gone up, while our persistent management and development headaches - from an inability to edit the site without the special knowledge in one person's head and in their custom code - are all a thing of the past. :)

    The backend is stable, simple to use, and easy to teach. Bugs do appear, front and back-end, like they do with any platform or software, but since Wordpress plugins are supported by professional companies, and the WP community is so huge, solutions are often well documented and help is only an email or call away.

    Please let me know if you have any other general or specific concerns about this, and I will be glad to address them. :)

    Thank you so much!

    Christopher


    PS - Thank you Henny for your update that CASA is evaluating the Wordpress opportunity as well! Let me know how I might be able to help with any questions or concerns you may have. Thank you! :)



    On Thu, Apr 7, 2016 at 3:06 AM, Niveen Adel <nive...@gmail.com> wrote:
    Dear Christopher

    I have consulted gen Africa council. We are preliminary ready to make the transfer  to word press after more elaboration from you. This was mainly for the sake of being up to date with new technologies, benefit from the  the opportunity, to continue to use the support already offered by Gen international It and also explore the benefits of the grant.

    As  IT representative of gen Africa, I  need to know if wordpress allows the connectivity between different projects. The gen sites I feel its professional because it has the relationship features of database. Wordpress is used for blogs and simpler websites, its result is a website not really a portal with a stable CMS back end. These are inquiries not statements because I am stil not aware of wordpress and I would like you inform us of that instead of me repeating the research.

    thanks



    Niveen Adel
    Islamic Heritage Project Manager
    CULTNAT
    Bibliotheca Alexandrina
    mob.: +(201003888091)

    Vice President GEN AFRICA (The Global Ecovillage Network of Africa)

    Board member of GEN (The Global Ecovillage Network) 



    On Thu, Apr 7, 2016 at 1:29 AM, Henny Freitas <hennyf...@gmail.com> wrote:
    Dear Christopher,

    Here at CASA we congratulate GEN for the grant awarded and are surely interested in the Wordpress site.

    We are discussing details about the opportunity and will get back to you as soon as possible. 

    King Regards,

    Henny 


    On Wednesday, March 16, 2016, Christopher Kindig <christopher.kindig@ecovillage.org> wrote:
    Hello IT representatives of GEN regions!

    I come bearing lots of good news! And an opportunity for your consideration. :)

    It has just been revealed that GEN will be awarded a grant for IT in a few months! 

    It is big enough that it will just about fund GEN International's IT budget and ambitious plans for the year. :D

    Here is the application for the project, in case you would like to see the details: https://docs.google.com/a/ecovillage.org/document/d/139XJpuYpMoudux90CphXa7l3p_MYKnD1A6k6_DeCpy4/edit?usp=sharing

    In this email I will share some of the considerations around the project, and to invite your feedback about the plan. 

    Also, just so you know, there is a high likelihood that we can apply for similar funding next year, for the next wave of website enhancements that the regions and organization might be calling for. I look forward to inviting your ideas for the next application. Feel free to send me any of those ideas or requests as they might come up, or we can re-access it at near the end of the year when we are ready to start the next application.


    Included in this Plan

    A central focus of the plan that was funded is building a webpage on our site about how Ecovillages confront the challenges of and causes of Climate Change. It is an important link for our movement to make, and it could help us to gain a lot more attention. It is a page/area of our site that we can continue to strengthen our efforts and outreach on. ...Going to have some neat infographics as well! :)

    I would love to invite your local stories of actions and projects taken towards greater resilience and sustainability, in the face of climate change, as we would love to feature some from each region. Some time in a few months I can send out a more formal request for stories. Feel free to begin searching for them and sending them to me if you are inspired to start! :)

    Included in the budget is that the grant pays for some of the new software we are using, like MailChimp for newsletters (contact me if you would like access to use this to send regional emails), Nimble for contact management, and Shopify to build a GEN Market (which will start by selling educational materials and eventually will be opened up for products from ecovillages). :)

    Also very noteworthy! GEN and FIC have decided to combine their project databases! This way ecovillages and communities will be able to be found on each other's sites, and we will be able to provide more up to date detail and collaboration between the listings and the organizations. 

    The biggest part of the plan, is that it includes transferring our website to a platform that we can more dependably develop on and support. The plan is to move from a very highly customized Drupal site (and GENsites) to Wordpress. Here is some more information about that.

    Website Transfer Opportunity

    Briefly, there are a number of advantages to a Wordpress platform. It offers far more reliability, and while there are less than 2% of the world's websites are on Drupal, Wordpress has nearly 30% and growing. The platform is thriving, which means it is a lot easier and more cost effective for us to develop on, extend, maintain, hire for, train, and support a Wordpress based website.

    Wordpress makes it very easy to add and adjust content. Plus with the theme and plugins we will be using, it gives you relatively simple tools to customize and improve your Wordpress site pretty much as you wish. If your region wants the new Wordpress site, there are a few design options. Your region could opt to just go with the template we set up (this has not been designed yet, but it will be slick), or you can work with GEN IT to help make customizations and adjustments for you, or you could make those customizations yourself. To get the site just right for you, or at any time in the future, regions can deploy volunteers or hire their own local Wordpress developers to improve their website.

    There is of course a lot of room for flexibility in the way that each region would like to participate in this plan. Each region can of course keep your website on a different platform, server, etc., if you prefer to instead. We can just link to your website on the page about your region. I am also looking into seeing if we can keep GENSites websites going, at least for some time, for those regions who might like to remain on that platform.

    Which platform would you prefer?

    I am wondering if regions could weigh in on this - would any regions particularly like to stay on the GENsites platform? Or would you be open to GEN IT rebuilding your website in the new Wordpress site, and giving you the access, training, instructions, and support to use it instead? 

    For those regions who do not want to have their site set up in Wordpress, and prefer to keep or want to build their own site on GENsites or elsewhere, the intro page to your region on the new site can just give some basic information (all provided by you in the region), show a stream of content and probably a map of ecovillages connected to the region, and focus on your request to click over to explore your region's full website. 

    Please take your time to consider and to make this decision. It will take months for us to build the new site, and it will probably be the fall before it is tested, reviewed by you all for feedback, tweaked to be just right, and launched - so there is still a lot of time to think about it! Please do feel free to ask me any questions, or to offer any ideas or feedback.


    Here is my best account of where each region's site is now hosted, with a short statement or question for each region:

    GEN International - GENSites - switching to Wordpress

    GEN Europe - own website platform on 'Typo3' - interested in Wordpress site? Or prefer link to your current site?

    GEN Africa - GENSites - Interested in Wordpress site? Or prefer to stay with GENsites?

    GENOA - GENSites - Interested in Wordpress site? Or prefer to stay with GENsites?

    CASA - GENSites - Interested in Wordpress site? Or prefer to stay with GENsites?

    GENNA - GENSites - switching to Wordpress (as per brief conversations about this already)

    NextGEN - has a Wordpress installation, but website forwards to FB - prefer to keep forward/link to FB, or want Wordpress?

    http://rie.ecovillage.org/ - GENSites - Interested in Wordpress site? Or prefer to stay with GENsites?

    http://portugal.ecovillage.org/ - I am not sure of platform - Interested in Wordpress site? Or prefer to stay where you are?



    I appreciate each of you for your dedication to GEN, and for your time and consideration on this project. Hopefully it is something that really boosts the organization, regions, and network to accomplish our missions. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, questions, concerns, and ideas. I will do my best to hear you and to help you, and for this project to be accommodating for each region's unique interests and ideas. 


    Thank you kindly, and take good care,

    Christopher




    --
    Christopher Kindig

    Chief Operations Officer
    Global Ecovillage Network



    "Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up!"



    --
    Henny Freitas
    EarthCode Project





    --
    Christopher Kindig
    Operations Director, IT Director
    Global Ecovillage Network
    (GEN International)

    Connect with us:
    Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
    Scottish Charity No. SC043796
    Connecting Communities for a Sustainable World
     www.ecovillage.org



    --
    Christopher Kindig
    Director of Operations, IT Director
    Global Ecovillage Network
    (GEN International)

    Connect with us:
    Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
    Scottish Charity No. SC043796
    Connecting Communities for a Sustainable World
     www.ecovillage.org


    --
    Henny Freitas
    EarthCode Project




    --
    Christopher Kindig
    Director of Operations, IT Director
    Global Ecovillage Network
    (GEN International)

    Connect with us:
    Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
    Scottish Charity No. SC043796
    Connecting Communities for a Sustainable World
     www.ecovillage.org



    --
    Christopher Kindig
    Director of Operations, IT Director
    Global Ecovillage Network
    (GEN International)

    Connect with us:
    Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
    Scottish Charity No. SC043796
    Connecting Communities for a Sustainable World
     www.ecovillage.org




    --
    Christopher Kindig
    Director of Operations, IT Director
    Global Ecovillage Network
    (GEN International)

    Connect with us:
    Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
    Scottish Charity No. SC043796
    Connecting Communities for a Sustainable World
     www.ecovillage.org



    --
    Christopher Kindig
    Director of Operations, IT Director
    Global Ecovillage Network
    (GEN International)

    Connect with us:
    Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn
    Scottish Charity No. SC043796
    Connecting Communities for a Sustainable World
     www.ecovillage.org




    --
    Christopher Kindig
    Director of Operations,
    ...
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