Current Status

This project is defunct. It will be revisited in the future as Ubuntu Vancouver grows and community needs are re-assessed.

Background

This page originated from several mailing list discussions regarding web sites. Threads are here: http://www.meetup.com/ubuntuvancouver/messages/archive/

Problem Statement

Describe the problem you are trying to solve, or that you feel needs to be solved. Be as specific as possible. Add your text to the other problem statements. It's important that everyone's voice be heard, so please add text, not modify or delete.

• Problem - Feature set of our current web presence has many limitations including but not limited to:

  • only one administrator with editing abilities on the meetup.com portion (i.e. one person approving every meeting)
  • only one mailing list
  • look/feel/branding of both meetup.com and wiki.ubuntu.com are not within our control
  • url of both sites is hard for new Ubuntu Vancouver members to recall
  • two separate site 'memberships' are required - one for editing the wiki, one for viewing location information of meetings

  Problem - The split between the meetup.com and wiki.ubuntu.com is unneeded and fractures our group. Furthermore, the two sites can't be easily integrated with one another with the current technical infrastructure.

  Problem - The split is not just between the meetup and the wiki. we host our pictures on flicker, our questionnaires on Google. As our group grows, we will be needing newer services and functionality. we need more control.

  Problem - We need a showcase. For people who have not yet decided about us or about Ubuntu, we need a place where we can put our best foot forward, show our prowess, our professionalism, and our team work. Meetup is not enough for that.

Data

Add any specific data here to support (or refute) problem statements above.

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excerpt from Jono Bacon, Community Manager, as part of OpenWeek IRC sessions this morning Nov 3rd, 2009. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuOpenWeek || Session: Getting People involved in your LoCo/Team
:
(09:20:44 AM) jono: the first thing you need is a firm web presence

(09:20:58 AM) jono: now, so so so many team make the same mistake when they form

(09:21:01 AM) jono: it works a little like this:

(09:21:17 AM) jono: 1. Start a team

(09:21:29 AM) jono: 2. Create a communication channel - typically a mailing list

(09:21:41 AM) jono: 3. Get close friends involved - the team is now about 5 people strong

(09:21:53 AM) jono: 4. Promote a little - a few blog entries, Twitter posts

(09:22:00 AM) jono: 5. Decide a web presence is needed.

(09:22:10 AM) jono: 6. Spend the next two months bickering about which CMS to use

(09:22:43 AM) jono: the first few months of any team are like the first few months of a babies life - it is about making a social connection

(09:22:52 AM) jono: and not arguing about what color their clothes should be

(09:23:18 AM) jono: the first few months should be about building a team - starting to develop these social connections

(09:23:40 AM) jono: it is about ensuring that people can meet each other, get to know other people in the team, learning what skills everyone can bring to the team etc

(09:23:57 AM) jono: the arguing about CMSs issue always detracts from setting up a team

(09:24:21 AM) jono: as such I always recommend: create some wiki pages on wiki.ubuntu.com and just use that for now as a means to store information, the CMS can come later

(09:24:52 AM) jono: the content on your web presence should be focused on these social connections

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Declaration of Interest

Add your name to this list to indicate that you want to be involved in this project. Optionally, describe the level of interest that you have.

• Eric Hedekar - I'm interested in helping design/implement/maintain/organize the webpage. I'd be willing to do this entirely by myself or with as many collaborators as are interested. Essentially, I'm volunteering for the webpage admin team.

• Reza Alemi - I am volunteering 14 hours a week until April 2010 when I can revise my contribution, as a member of project management team and a developer/content provider, whichever is needed.

• Rudy has declared that he's interested in being part of the Website Administration Team: http://www.meetup.com/ubuntuvancouver/messages/8130369/

Declaration of Resources

If you have resources to add to the project, please state them here. Resources can be time, facilities, money, etc.

• Reza can provide a 15 Mbps send/receive from Shaw, a one year domain name of your choice, and an AMD64 configured as part of Karmic Cloud for the project and can help with the server admin tasks (mailing lists, websites, etc) if needed.

• Sebastian Mantilla has declared that he's willing to host the site on his server: http://www.meetup.com/ubuntuvancouver/messages/8074171/

• Kirk B has offered space on his server and his Wordpress abilities: http://www.meetup.com/ubuntuvancouver/messages/8075811/

• Matt Dultek has offered a domain name of choice and his Joomla abilities: http://www.meetup.com/ubuntuvancouver/messages/8078637/

• Rudy offers time and skill as a web developer (PHP/Java). --rudy

Comments, Regardless of Interest

This is an area to add your thoughts, regardless of how interested you are in the project. Everyone in the group should have a say.

• I think this website is a good chance to show Ubuntu for what it really is, and to help change the myth that Linux is just for geeks. (may be we can even pass ourselves as non-geeks. Who knows! ) --Reza

• One of the things Jono Bacon talks about a lot in regard to Ubuntu community building, is keeping the barrier for entry low. Because of this, I think it would be really good to use launchpad accounts as a means of logging into our site. --Eric

• There has been at least one request for a separation between discussion mailing lists and meeting mailing lists: http://www.meetup.com/ubuntuvancouver/messages/8076040/

• In keeping with the community spirit of Ubuntu and open source, all members of the group should have an opportunity to have input in the prospective website since the site will be the online "face" of the group. --rudy

• Questions for discussion:
• What does the group require from our web presence?
• Do our current applications (meetup.com, wiki, flickr, etc.) satisfy those requirements?
• If not, what is the best way to satisfy those requirements? --rudy

• The migration from any of our current applications (meetup, wiki, flickr, etc.) to any other resource (our own website/mailing list/photo host/wiki) will need to be a gradual shift for the entire group. They should probably be run side-by-side for some time with a group of people beta-testing the new resource, before the main shift. History should be copied over to the new resource (at least in the form of an archive). --Eric

• There was an informal brainstorming chat on IRC Nov 7th and the logs can be read here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CanadianTeam/Vancouver/webproject/brainstormlogsNov7

Prototypes or Mock-Ups

If you have a mock-up or a prototype of a website that you would like to share, provide a link here:
Scott Nelson has prototyped a site using Drupal: http://ubuyvr.virishi.net/
Eric Hedekar has prototyped a site using Drupal: http://ubuntuvancouver.erichedekar.com/ (though his server is admittedly painfully slow)
Reza has created a project in Launchpad, complete with a Sprint, a blueprint and a milestone; following Dan Trende's advice. read more ...