| Tagged in: web design , upgrades , JoomlaChicago | Jul 22, 2009 |
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| Posted by: John Coonen in News |
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Here's a quick update on the JoomlaChicago website.
I. Phase One - Complete!
"Phase One" is always the hardest phase isn't it? You know, the first step. The JoomlaChicago Leadership Team accomplished a complete overhaul of the website over the past three months, with the three over-arching objectives:
3. Convert the site to a social destination
Now that the functionality is upgraded and final bugs are being worked out on the site, we are entering Phase Two: Design.
Thank you to ALL the volunteers who have stepped up to help upgrade the site's functionality, design and other improvements.
Phil DeKoker - Site Migration, Admin & Security Kendall Kabe - phpBB Forum and JomSocial BridgeMike Carson - Event Registration Pro & General Assistance
Nick Martinelli - Moral Support (while having a new baby girl!)
Ken Novack - Beta Tester
Linda Coonen - Site Content & Sanity Ensurer
Tom Canavan - Security Enhancements
Azrul Rahim - JomSocial, MyBlog & JomComment Software
II. Now Phase Two Begins: Design!
"Form follows function," right? That means, it's time for our super-fabulous Web Designer, Robert Nowak, to step in. Now that the functionality of the site is operational (with some bugs still needing to be worked out), Robert can study how the site flow works, and give it a facelift.
Over the next 30 days, you'll see major design changes to the site to make it faster, sleeker, more attractive and more communicative. We've very fortunate to have Robert helping re-design the site. I've already gotten a sneak peek at the design and it is simply marvelous.
I must say, I'm not easily impressed either. It truly is a work of art. I can't wait to unveil it!
During this Design Phase, you'll also start to see new content! John "JB" Vanover will join our very own Joe Scarry in offering up a regular Blog on the new "The Loop" Blog section. Hopefully, it will inspire you to get onto the site and write your own blog too - right here on JoomlaChicago! Finally, during the Design Phase, Avery Cohen and Ken Novak will work their magic, and we'll have some great Google Analytics and Web Marketing systems in place!
Come October 1st, we'll being Phase III: Content.
Content means "happy." I for one will be "happy" to be on Phase three. :)
By December, you will witness an entirely new website, completely re-written from top-to-bottom. I want to make sure you are VERY PROUD to be a Member of JoomlaChicago, and when people ask "What is this Joomla CMS you speak of?" You can simply point them to this site, and be fully confident that when you show it off, at bare minimum you won't be embarrassed; at the best case, it will help you achieve your professional objectives.
Want to get involved? You're 100% WELCOME to join our team. Just send me a PM here on JoomlaChicago.com. It's that simple. Meanwhile, please spread the good word about the incredible folks here at JoomlaChicago.
If you're not growing, you're not going. Thanks!
View / Hide Comments
Commented by: Justin Kerr, July 22, 2009
You have done a great job on the site migration and the implementation of additional features. Congratulations! I have been clicking around, trying out the interface and its features. The design phase will add a lot, I think, as some of the interfaces are a little bit confusing (to me, anyway: for example, clicking the Forum tab in the social media component leads to the same location as the header's "Joomla Forum" tab). In any event, I'm sure that minor interface quibbles will get worked out in design and other phases.
Can you provide more specifics in regards to "convert the site to a social destination" -- do you mean, more social media-driven, or a combination of this plus networking, meetings, etc.?
Finally, I was wondering if you had any information posted about how you're going to handle the intellectual property aspects of this social media Web site. In short, who will own the user-submitted content (or a license to use it), and how will it be used? I ask because I'm always hesitant to provide content to for-profit social media portals (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), and I didn't see this addressed in the Terms of Usage. Come to think of it, I can't seem to find a Privacy Policy either ...
Please forgive me if you have already posted information about these issues, as I must have overlooked them. I look forward to seeing the next changes hit the site!
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Social destination - meaning, we really want to use, if not expand, the interactivity elements of the site via Social software extensions, including but not limited to the "FaceBookie" features, Forum, Blog and Comments, etc.
Terms & Conditions: Give it time.