The most important activity since the March assembly was ,of course, launching of the WordPress based Region III web site. Redesigned from the ground up, taking over a year to put together, oaregion3.org is now using one of the most popular web hosting systems available.
Here are some of the highlights of the public side of oaregion3.org:
- Has a clean design, without the clutter too often seen on the Web today.
- Easy navigation via the main menu.
- When a smartphone browser (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android) is detected, the site will be presented in a small-screen friendly format.
- Administration can be done from any modern Web browser, plus limited maintenance can be done via a smartphone app (iPhone, Android).
- Items can be set to automatically expire, which is useful for event notices.
- Images and other media files can be easily incorporated into pages and posts.
- Documents can be uploaded (with proper permissions) and made available for distribution.
In addition to the public side, there is a section reserved for members which becomes visible after logging in.
The member site has some useful features:
- Members only pages and posts.
- Members only upload and download areas.
- Discussion forums.
- Wiki collaborative document system. For collective knowledge keeping, wikis are valuable tools.
- Internal mail system (from one WordPress user to another).
- Access to site administration interfaces and tools.
Some of these features will need additional work to fulfill their potential.
On other news, there is administrative work needed concerning the oaregion3.org domain name. Currently it is “owned” by Don E. of Austin, a long-ago webmaster. This situation has caused trouble around mid-August when the domain registration comes up for renewal and sometimes lapses for a day or two. The ownership of our domain needs to be brought officially under the auspices of the Region as an institution.
From time to time I receive reports about mail to “@oargion3.org” getting “lost” because it is being flagged and “junk” or “spam” mail by out ISP. It is a continual balancing act to set the ISP spam detection / rejection filters at the right levels. Being too strict risks legitimate mail getting lost and too loose opens mailboxes to copious offers for “personal care products” and “investment opportunities”.
At the upcoming Assembly a new Communications Secretary will be elected and that will also be the time for me to pass this service into new hands. As part of the service transition, I am working on a how-to guide for managing the web site and a “best practices” document for the benefit of those who accept stewardship of oaregion3.org.
We have come far since I took over the Region III web site. I have just scratched the surface of what is possible, but I leave a foundation upon which much more can be done:
- 7th tradition contributions via on-line form and PayPal.
- On-line convention registration.
- Improved document management and archiving.
Clyde H
Region III Webmaster and Postmaster
[email protected]
