Big changes to Occupy KC Website

[Brian Buckley]

Hello Occupy brethren,

When you visit the Occupy KC website today, you will notice some major changes. This email explains those changes, why they were necessary and describes the many improvements.

We've changed the Content Management System (CMS) from Virb to WordPress. A CMS is the term that describes how content is managed by a website. Think of content as almost everything on a site--pictures, blogs, articles, links and more. Virb was easy and user friendly. But that ease came at a cost. It was not powerful enough to do what we needed. Most other Occupy sites use WordPress. After evaluating several options, we too decided WordPress would best suit our needs. While it is more difficult than Virb to develop, it gave us a more rich set of features and is much more powerful. We've also used some powerful WordPress plugins such as BuddyPress and bbPress. But to keep matters simple, we will refer to the CMS as WordPress.

The URL of the website is unchanged. Our official site is still occupykc.net. Again, it is what manages the content of the website that has changed.

Differences:

Sign Up:

The first big difference you will notice is that users will have the option to log in. WordPress keeps track of users and gives those users roles. Unregistered users will be able to only navigate the website. Those who sign up will be able to post comments and blog entries. Some users will have a role that allows direct editing and modification of certain pages. Still other roles will have the ability to edit or delete material. 

When you visit the website, you will see "Log In" and "Sign Up" in the upper left corner. If this is your first time visiting the new site, click "Sign Up." Enter the required information, follow the instructions in the "Verify your existence" box at the bottom of the sign up form and click the "Complete Sign Up" button. After acknowledging the email, you will be a registered member of the website and enjoy privileges such as the ability to create posts and comment on existing posts.

If you do not want to sign up, you can still see almost all of the content in the new site, including the GA minutes, working group pages, the Flickr gallery, the Calendar, etc. You will just not be able to create any comments, posts or edit any pages. This allows the general public to continue to come to the site, find information and see the latest and greatest things we are doing, just like on the old CMS.

Once you Sign Up, all you need to do is click "Log In," enter your user name and password, and WordPress will give you privileges according to your role. What is a role? Read on. 

Roles:

When you first sign up, you will be given a role of Member. This role will allow you to use the forums to post new topics, comment, attach files, etc. When you make your fist few comments, they will need approval by a Forum Administrator. This prevents trolls and those with malicious intent from using our site for hate speech and other nonsense. After your first few comments are approved, WordPress will "trust" you and your further comments will be posted without approval. 

Once you Sign Up, you will also be able to join a Group. (Those who do not sign up will not be given the option to join a Group.) Go to the site and click on the Working Groups section. You will see a list of all OKC working groups. Simply click the "Join Group" button and you will be given access to that Working Group's page. You will be able to create posts and comment on existing posts.

Most people will be fine with the default role. However, there should be one or two people from each working group who have the authority to approve posts or change the Working Group mission statement. Here is a brief overview of these more advanced roles:

Contributor: This role allows the user to contribute to blog postings outside of the Working Groups section. These posts need approval. This role will be especially useful for prompt updating of GA minutes.

Moderator: This role can edit, close or delete topics being held for review. It can edit the group description and edit group documents. It can edit, close or delete any forum topic.

Event Moderator: This role has the ability to create and modify calendar events

Author: This role can publish immediately to the site, without any approval. This role can also create and modify calendar events.

Editor: This role can approve posts being held in review as well as all the abilities of the Author role.

Administrator: This role can change group-wide settings, can make other group members moderators and can even delete the group. This role can make blog postings which are published immediately without review.

These roles are a combination of WordPress roles and BuddyPress roles. You can find complete descriptions forBuddyPress Roles and WordPress Roles by visiting their respective websites. We encourage each Working Group to define people who should be granted these roles, then let the Media WG know so we can assign those roles quickly.

More participation:

One criticism of the old CMS was that people could not contribute blog postings and communicate via the website. People had to go to Facebook in order to engage in online dialog. All this has changed. WordPress is blog-based and encourages user participation. Anyone who signs up and joins a group can post to that group. If you have an idea for Direct Action, and you've Signed In to the site, you will be able to post your idea and others can comment on your idea. If the idea is acted upon and no longer needs to be on the page, a Moderator can delete the stale post and make sure the posts are current and relevant. Anyone who Signs In may also comment on other people's posts. This creates a great online communication environment, especially for those who want to be involved in a Working Group but cannot make all the meetings.

GA Minutes and Future Proposals:

The old site forced us to use Tumblr as the mechanism to update GA minutes, and lengthened the process. Also, it did not allow a mechanism to have a "future proposal" post where people could comment on the proposal. WordPress takes care of all that. Now, anyone with the Contributor role will be able to post GA minutes immediately to the Website as a blog posting. Furthermore, GA minutes are condensed to just have high level information with a drop down for full minute meetings. This allows the user to scroll through several GA minutes quickly, and only expand the minutes for which the user is looking. 

Posting a future proposal or commenting on that proposal is even easier. Anyone with the default role will be able to post or comment there.

Less Reliance on the Media WG:

Because Virb lacked roles, any requests to change information on the website had to go through the Media WG, and only those with the Virb user ID and password could make changes. With the introduction of roles, any user with the proper role can appropriately change the website material. If you have an idea for the Education group, you can post it. If a Treasury Administrator wants to change the wording of the Treasury WG mission statement, s/he can do it. If an Event Moderator wants to update the calendar, so be it. If the person who takes GA minutes wants to post them to the website right after GA, that can now happen. This allows all of the working groups to independently and promptly update website content without having to track down the right Media WG person and wait for that person to change the site.

Bugs, Defects, Enhancements:

With any new website, there are bound to be bugs, quirks, and things that need to be changed. The Media WG has done quite a bit of testing, but there will undoubtedly be areas that need to be fixed or enhanced. For those of you who find any bugs or flaws, please contact the Media WG and we will do our best to correct any errors in a timely manner.

Special Thanks

While several Media WG members helped on this site, Rico took on almost all of the responsibility and single-handedly created the site from scratch. He had never worked with WordPress before and has spent over 100 hours making the site awesome. Seriously Rico, you are a rockstar.

In closing, please use the website. Log in, join Working Groups, create posts, comment on posts and use the new site to foster an environment of healthy online communication. Also, please feel free to forward any questions or concerns to the Media WG and we will respond as quickly as possible.

Thank you.