[Robotgroup] About that website...

[Blank James]

While looking at adding a user account so that the main page of the 
website could be easily updated I realized how fragile it is.

Currently the website is based on a rather old version of MoinMoin Wiki 
software. So any changes in the root directory of the website could 
damage the rest of the site. Media, content, and site software are 
intermixed right now. Not a pretty site/sight.

What I propose doing is to "re-bigulate" the site. By that I mean work 
on it to get it in a state where future maintainers would have an easier 
time maintaining it.

To accomplish this would take some time and a lot of effort. My plan 
would include:

Porting the wiki to a modern version of MoinMoin or a different wiki 
that had a clear upgrade path. With XML export and import so that moving 
to a different wiki in the future should just be a matter of exporting 
the current data and importing it into a new format.

Running the "Front" page using Wordpress. Which has XML import and 
export capabilities. And would allow multiple people to add entries and 
work on the page simultaneously.

Separating the media on the site from the site. Get it so that the media 
lives as one unit separate from the software that runs the site. That 
way to move or transfer the media could be done easier.

Give the media a permanent URL structure. This would make it so that 
anytime the site needs to be updated the links that are hard coded would 
not have to be updated. I propose this over a relative URL structure 
because it is much easier to go from a permanent-well-defined structure 
than the other way.
Something like
http://media.robotgroup.org/2007/videos/meeting122007.avi
http://media.robotgroup.org/2007/images/vern/thereping/storm_trooper.jpg




One of my goals is to make sure that the data never gets locked into a 
proprietary format which I think is possible if every package to 
maintain the site we choose has a XML import/export function. Also to 
make sure that nothing ever gets lost or that someone would have to work 
for weeks to track down broken links which is why I suggest permanent 
URL structure.

My other goals are to make the site easy to update for anyone without 
having to focus on learning HTML or worry about breaking it; and to make 
sure we have a easy way to archive the site.

I do plan on volunteering to carry out this process but I will need help 
in making this a reality. Who is with me?

James D.
r at unfocusedbrain.com