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next steps
Let us know what you think would improve the website by leaving your comments here, or in the Website Look and Feel feedback forum.
Before jumping in with Drupal, I'd suggest we get answers about the basics:
- Who is the audience (or audiences) for our website?
- What do we want our website to do?
- What information should it provide?
- Who will be maintaining this information?
- How much time are we willing to spend maintaining/updating/enhancing the site?
Next Steps:
- more images to spice up the written text
- assess the wordiness of the front page
- replace the linked text on the more permanent front page things (like "meet the minister" etc) with linked images
- make key areas or common requests accessible with one click using the top drop down menus (need to think of exactly what people might want one-click access to...)
- Study the CCK module (to create a standard Sermon text template?)
- Study CSS customization (for unique or alternating block styles)
TweetTags
new Mollom module configuration allows forms to be checked for spam (spam is bad, ham is good)
Update your sandboxes, a Drupal security update has been installed on this website.
Shalom,
Steven K.
There was a web hosting outage this morning... from about 3am to 8:30am. Did someone forget to feed the squirrel?
All appears back to normal.
Shalom,
Steven K.
I was able to learn how to make certain Forums private so we can use them for internal committee business. My idea is to have agendas and reports and minutes and pretty much anything that would ordinarily generate many emails to be centrally located in a forum structure.
For example, the Council agenda could be posted and our committee reports could go as Replies to that agenda - and we'd have everything together. Easy!
We'll need to tweak the Permissions area to create council permissions. The ability to say who can see or participate in which forum is actually housed within the Forum module setup - not as a separate module.
And yes, I'm proud of myself that I figured it out! :-)
Shalom,
Larry
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Tweet & shorten URL modules have been added to the Faith website.
From http://drupal.org/project/tweet :
"This module provides links to post pages to twitter in a new window or tab.
The tweet will be in focus and will contain customizable text that can hold the
relevant URL, title and anything else you need it to (like hashtags). The URL
can be automatically abbreviated at the administrator's choice of service by
integration with the Shorten URLs module by the same author.
(When Twitter is opened, if the user is not already logged in, Twitter will
prompt them to log in, and after logging in will redirect users to the tweet
form as described above.)
URLs work for any page or node, including teasers, and appear in the Links
section on nodes and teasers by default. Administrators can choose whether to
show the link as an icon, as an icon and text, as just text, or not at all, as
well as on which content types it should appear. If icons are chosen,
administrators can use the default icon or use their own (download free examples
here).
Check out this video to learn the very easy steps to set up
Tweet with Shorten URLs."
Shalom,
Steven K.
I tested the Tweet feature and it works pretty well, but it does need a tweak. It launched my Twitter account with no problem and it put the url in the proper place but only the www.faithunited.ca part was hot. The rest of the url info was there but was not part of the link. So when a user clicks the link in my tweet they get the Faith United home page but not the specific node. I haven't looked at the module yet to see what can be tweaked - and I haven't watched the video above - maybe the answers are there already.
Thanks for adding this functionality. I'll be sure to tweet stuff from the website much more often.
Every little bit of exposure and connection helps...
By the way, you can find our tweets at: www.twitter.com/faithunited
Shalom,
Larry
Not quite right yet. It could be the "/q?=" is adding length (Twitter limits the URL to 30 chars).
Let's try this one - "is.gd" - it is short and tweet.
Shalom,
Steven K.
Installed & verified in my sandbox (WAMPserver localhost).
FTP'd to Faith website. Second time around's a charm.
Shalom,
Steven K.
Some module updates today. Pathauto & IMCE should work as before. If not let me know,
Shalom,
Steven K.
Security update for Drupal. I am getting better at this, only took 1 hour to complete, including a dry-run on my sandbox first.
Shalom,
Steven K.
latest version released, installed and tested in offline sandbox, OK.
Installed on church website, tested (Faith-Events, Worship Services), OK.
Shalom,
SK
Today is a new day - new web hosting & email hosting ((HostPapa), and a few module updates.
Shalom,
Steven K.
We are transferring the church website to another web hosting service, so there might be some temporary interruption.
Please accept our apologies for any convenience. Come back to visit our website real soon!
Shalom,
Steven K.
Drupal version needed an update. Admin. menu did not play well with 6.13 in my sandbox.
Admin. menu was disabled temporarily (Awww! Time out!!) until it could behave itself.
Lo & behold, the Admin_menu has also been updated (for 6.13), so all is well (for now).
Shalom,
SK
Mollom does a great job of identifying comments as "HAM" (good stuff) or "SPAM" (not good stuff) to prevent our website from being deluged with - you got it - SPAM.
On the 6th of June, Mollom blocked 118 SPAM attempts from one IP address. I can sleep better at night, and we can allow comments from Anonymous visitors.
Shalom,
Steven K.
CCK module has been revised; downloaded, tested in sandbox; website updated.
The README.TXT file states:
"Now go to Administer -> Content management -> Content types. Create a new
content type and edit it to add some fields. Then test by creating
a new node of your new type using the Create content menu link.
The included optionswidget.module provides radio and check box selectors
for the various field types.
The included fieldgroup.module allows you to group fields together
in fieldsets to help organize them.
A comprehensive guide to using CCK is available as a CCK Handbook
at http://drupal.org/node/101723."
So I did - I mashed up a new Worship Service content type and added new fields using CCK development to amalgamate the Worship page content (weekly service info) with Sermons page (videos of Sermon & Children's time) and Sermon Text content (could be body of this node).
Check it out under Worship pulldown as Worship Services is a Views listing.
Shalom, SK
Views6.x-2.6 security update
LIGHTBOX enabled - click on a thumbnail image (image node predefined) and the Original image is displayed in the lightbox. Same for thumbnails in Image Galleries - saves having to go to the BACK button, and offer options to go to the image node, or download image (optional).
Shalom, SK
Mollom module is updated.
FCKeditor is back in, WYSIWYG is out. I liked the Teaser feature, not sure why it is not available with the WYSIWYG module, so I back out the WYSIWYG module, and restored the FCKeditor module.
SK
Hi Steven. This web site is amazing you really are good! Just wanted to let you know that our last Tots on Tuesday will be June the 23rd. I was hoping you could post it on the calendar. Then we will start up again the first Tuesday after Labour Day. Thanks for all the work you do. This site must have taken you hours and hours and hours. It sure looks it anyway. Thanks again. Enid
Enid, you are a dear heart! Not only for what you do for the children at TOTS (Tots On Tuesdays), but what you do for the child in me. You are GOLDEN!!
Faith-Calendar is duly updated - TOTS Season Finale & Season Premiere are posted!
Shalom, Steven K.
CCK, TOKEN, CONTEMPLATE (content template) modules were updated.Having second thoughts on the WYSIWYG module, as the old FCKEDITOR had a Teaser Break line, which I miss! Although, the tinyMCE editor for comments is downright convenient.Shalom,SK
WYSIWYG module allows the choice of TinyMCE for Filtered HTML (default) or FCKeditor for Full HTML, by selecting Input format.
Drupal security upgrade 6.11 > 6.12
Admin_menu & Date module updates
Marinelli theme update
Volunteering: 1.5 hours of installation & testing on sandbox & production sites
Results: priceless
Drupal security upgrade 6.10 > 6.11
Pathauto & Fivestar module updates
Volunteering: 1.5 hours of installation & testing on sandbox & production sites
Volunteer: priceless
From the "DrupalCon" users convention held March 2009 in Washngton DC, an interesting presentation about Building Church Websites using Drupal, and this comment from an observer:
"The Organic Groups module comes highly recommended as a way to keep committees organized online (PSDUUA). Not only can an online directory be easily maintained and displayed once set up in Organic Groups, but each committee gets its own forums, blogs, etc. without stepping on other committees' toes."
This is something that should be of great interest. Let's discuss this. I have placed this link to the presentation material: drupalcon_2009dc_building church websites.pdf
If we cannot keep the Bulletin & Announcement links current, there is no point to present old information on the website.
Shalom,SK
Marinelli theme update
Views & Pathauto module updates
mostly bug fixes, no new functionality.
Latest updates installed to Marinelli theme, Views & advanced_help modules.
Added new modules:
Besides making the page address more reflective of its content than
"node/138", it's important to know that modern search engines give
heavy weight to search terms which appear in a page's URL. By
automatically using keywords based directly on the page content in the URL,
relevant search engine hits for your page can be significantly
enhanced.' Administer under Administer / Site building / URL aliases
Shalom, SK
I finally figured out how to do image attaching the right way!!!!
And good work on those meta tags - because you know, I never meta tag I didn't like!
(hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
><>
Done in 1 step:
1/ edit page and replace the existing image (under Attached images) with Upload image. Preview, Revision note & Save!
Images are autosized to use a preview 300 pixels wide; the original is reduced if necessary to 500 pixels, thumbnail is 100 pixels wide.
Multiple images can be added to website in 3 steps:
1/ Saved picture into /var/www/html/sites/default/files/images/import with Filezilla.
2/ Administer / Content management / Image import and select the picture to import
3/ edit Home page and replace the Existing image (under Attached images) by selecting from the list.
Image nodes are listed with a Simple Views called
Image Posts http://www.faithunited.ca/?q=images
After our huddle two weeks ago, I added metatags module and now Faith United website pages are found by Google search.
Try to Google search "Faith Church" and what comes up is Faith United at the top!.
Try to Google search on "Faith United Church" and second on the list is "More results from www.faithunited.ca »" for all pages on our site including the PDF files!!
Yeah web-team!!!
Why are we doing all this? Not for personal recognition, but to allow the rest of the world to find us and find out sbout who we are.
Shalom,SK
I learned something today about the Views module - it's not that simple!
Not to be confused with the Simple Views module, which really is simple to use, the Views module is fussier, but more powerful.
I had a problem getting the M4 Musical Event node to be top of the Events list. Even though I edite the node and made it "sticky", that is it should be stuck at the top of lists, it did not. Unfussed, I edited the Views for Events and added a sort for "Node:Sticky" Descending order. And it worked!
Have a look at the Events page.
Turns out it is not enough to make a node sticky, but the views module needs to be sticky too. Kind of like contact cement that needs to be applied to two surfaces, let it get tacky, then press together.
Shalom,
SK
I just created a Simple Views item to view images posted using the Image Import function. It creates nodes of type=Image, that can be listed/viewed easily, deleted if necessary.
http://www.faithunited.ca/?q=images
John, Larry:
A useful Drupal module for website administration puts all things admin on a pulldown menu, like clearing cache which is ordinarily buried under Performance.
User Permission for Admin. Team members only.
Hope it helps - better use of time.
SK
Check out the pictures from last years Fun Day under Faith Events page:
http://www.faithunited.ca/?q=node/36
http://www.faithunited.ca/?q=node/91
Y'are dude - sweet!
Way...
Check out http://www.earrelevantfaith.com/
I am in awe-some company - lead the Way,J
SK
It has been about two months since we launched the new Drupal -based church website, and after a huddle with John S. and Larry D. it was agreed that it is time to move forward and "evict" the old church website and give the new website a new home.
All I can say is "WHEW!" to one of those things you don't do everyday. It's kind of like road construction with having to maintain the flow of traffic with minor disruption, unlike a construction building site that remains isolated for public safety.
If I have missed a link that points back to the old Drupal.faithunited.ca, just let me know.
Shalom,
Steven K.
I've altered the Permissions for commenting to allow "Anonymous Users" to post comments. Perhaps one of the barriers to participation is that people don't want to register first? Since we have the "captcha" module working there is no worry about robots spamming us. We can always change it back to "registered users only" if we find it creates problems.
LD
Modules CCK and FckEditor were updated last night, and the Marinelli theme received a point update (oops, did they miss something?)
When the theme is updated, we have to remember to preserve the banner images for the Faith masthead.
When the FCK editor is updated it is important to remember to change the module settings to use the FCK editor default under CSS otherwise the theme CSS (that dark blue background) gets into the editor box and you can't see the text very well at all.
Just some thoughts for the next time, when we might ask "what did we do last time?"
Shalom,
Steven K.
DRUPAL updated to version 6.10 as well as module updates for Calendar & Date modules and Marinelli theme.
Needed to remember to overwite the files in /var/www/drupal63/sites/all/themes/marinelli/img/banners with our masthead file FaithUnitedMasthead_970x200.jpg
We lost the nice graduated grey block borders, went white and faded into the background. Not sure if this is a theme CSS that has changed.
The Drupal theme we are using is Marinelli. There was a minor release (v2.91 from v2.90) that made a correction to restore the nice graduated grey block borders. Yipee!
At the bottom of the LH sidebar, there is a new Drupal Block for the UCC WonderCafe.ca website, which has active and vibrant discussion groups from an intriguing demographic. Topics go beyond the religious, forming an interesting socio-economic sketch.
The block will not show up on the Calendar page, but mostly everywhere else.
I have also made the Contacts block as prevalent.
I added a new block for Verse of the Day from Biblegateway.com
It is updated daily (dynamic flash), and will not require our attention, unlike the Prayer of the Week (static html) which needs to be updated by webadmin resources.
It has been a few weeks since the Verse of the Day block has been enabled, which updates itself with a new verse from the bible on a daily basis.
The old "Prayer of the Week" block has been disabled, and now the left and right hand sidebars are more balanced in height. The "Prayer of the Week" block required regular upkeep to refresh the content, and if forgotten, the message gets stale.
If anyone would like to start a Blog (that's short for Web Log) to put thoughts down, or to share a favourite prayer or verse, they are more than welcome to do so.
All it takes is to:
1/ register yourself (one time only), then
2/ login with your username and password (if you forget your password, we can reset it for you)
3/ on the left hand sidebar, look for Blogs then My blog, then
Mollom provides a one stop solution for all spam problems and can protect the following Drupal forms:
If Mollom thinks this is spam, it will challenge with a CAPTCHA when a SAVE is attempted.
I learned something today: the calendar events on the RH sidebar were not updating on a daily basis, until I disabled the Block Cache, under Admin/.../performance/
I made a few tweaks to the worship and faith formation pages. I also changed "hyper" links to "Quick" links.
I think I'm going to have a go at the staff page - I just flew in the table from the former site when we started and now with the wysiwyg features i think we can make it prettier.
The latest GCAL module is installed, but there was some difficulty reading the Google calendar, as I suspect we have recurring events ad infinitum, which exceeds some cache capacity.
I modified our GCAL block (on the RH sidebar of most pages) to display only Today's events, which works, and IMHO is more informative, relevant and timely.
Other upcoming events and more details can be found either on the Calendar page (which displays the full Google calendar), or the Events page.
We received our first spambot attempt to register at our site. If we did not have Administrator approval active, it may have become a problem.
CAPTCHA module was added, which will ask a new registrant to identify a word in a string that a spambot could not answer.
Better might be an Image Captcha, but it is best served with True Type fonts, that are licensed and would need to be uploaded to the sites/all/modules/captcha/fonts folder.
I restored the Google Calendar upcoming events onto the RH sidebar on all pages except the HOME page & Calendar page. It is not visible to Anonymous (no login).
I reduced the content to 5 events to avoid scroll-down; if you don't like we can disable the GCAL events block & module, but I would like to see if this is worthy.
SK