Hi The QUANTA website was not taken down intentionally, I am now working to get the site back on-line, but did not know it was down until I received a message from the mailing list! If people know the site is down please let the committee know as we want to know as quickly as possible so we can fix issues as soon as they become apparent.
Thank you for your suggestions Geoff, I would like to let you know about the outcome of the committee meeting. The committee decided that moving to a cheaper platform was a good idea and I have now been tasked with finding a service to use (I know there are plenty around so will be feeding back my thoughts to the committee). It was also agreed that the new site will be mainly static so the committee will not be making much effort in updating the site (though we will use a different CMS system we can make updates as required. In relation to your point number 3 however the magazine will not be made available to members or the public, I have spent quite some time on the current Typo3 CMS getting it ready for a new members area and having all the latest magazines available for users to download and we were about to get the emails sent out so members could access the site (the magazines are only made public after 1 to 2 years as this is one of the benefits of membership of QUANTA). However, as the committee has agreed to create a more static website, use a CMS easier to maintain and configure which does not have this ability this functionality will now be lost. Given that Typo3 has been difficult to maintain AND the vocal membership does not want to pay for am maintained server this seems to be the only option. Of course if anyone wants to join the QUANTA committee and help implement these features I would be pleased to have some help. As for your other points: 1. once the new site is up and running the news MAY not be updated on a regular basis, Dilwyn has already had training and issues with Typo3 and he may not want training on another platform (I will have to speak to him about this). Also the feeds to facebook and twitter will be stopped. 2. It will be up to the committee as to what is displayed and when, Typo3 and the new CMS do have facilities where articles and content can be set to appear/disappear at certain times, however, this is down to the editor to set. If it is not set they will be there until we are notified to remove the article. If anyone sees anything out of place a simple email to commit...@quanta.org.uk would quickly get the article updated rather than waiting 3 months then posting on a public forum! 4. It is unlikely that the committee will update the static website with QUANTA news. It will be just a static site with information about how to join and about the various QL's. *. The membership area will not be recreated as this will be in a different CMS and the site will be a static site. Of course these are my current opinions of what will happen, if the current QUANTA membership or the QUANTA committee decide something else is needed then perhaps this will change, however, the only way I can see this changing is if more volunteers help with the website but people seem more interested in attacking the site rather than contributing to it. Realistically Geoff, if you have a real desire to implement the features you have mentioned, can I suggest you take over the webmaster role on the committee? Keith On 19 October 2012 12:48, Geoff Wicks <gtwi...@btinternet.com> wrote: > > > ------------------------------**-------------------- > From: <matras...@aol.com> > Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 8:10 PM > To: <ql-us...@q-v-d.com> > Subject: [Ql-Users] Quanta Web site down? > > > The Quanta site has been down for at least 2 days. Has Quanta closed down? >> >> Regards >> >> Duncan >> ______________________________**_________________ >> QL-Users Mailing List >> http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/**smsqe.htm<http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm> >> >> > I think the website has been deliberately taken down. It was no longer > available from the day of the committee meeting held to discuss it. I hope > it is only temporary. > > There was nothing wrong with the site as such other than that it was not > kept up to date. If all the committee, including the officers, pulled their > weight it would not be a difficult job. > > To my mind there are four areas to keep up to date: > > 1: News. This is already happening so no problem there. > > 2: Shows information. When the site was taken down it was still > advertising the Austrian show held 3 months previously. It should not be > difficult to keep show information up to date as there are only two or > three shows per year. > > 3: Quanta Magazine. This is the most difficult part, but would only need > updating 6 times a year. > > 4: Quanta News. This would be a new area in which the officers should keep > the members up to date on Quanta developments. Up to now Quanta has > regarded the magazine as being the first source of information for the > members. This should now become the web. > > There is also the question of the members' area. You have made > constructive suggestions that Quanta should consider, > > Best wishes, > > > > Geoff > > > > > ______________________________**_________________ > QL-Users Mailing List > http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/**smsqe.htm<http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm> > _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
