[simpits-chat] RFD - website changes & updates...

[Bob Reed]

All the changes sound good Gene.

Bob Reed
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gene Buckle" <geneb@deltasoft.com>
To: <simpits-chat@simpits.org>
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 1:56 PM
Subject: [simpits-chat] RFD - website changes & updates...


> First of all, we've managed to collect 28 members on the simpits-chat
> list.  I was right, the Usual Suspects showed up and basically no one
> else.  This is in line with the ongoing, pathetic lack of participation by
> the list membership at large.  The exception of course is you, The Usual
> Suspects. *grin*
>
> I've got three things on the board right now.
>
> First of all, I'm nearing completion on the profile editor.  I need to
> assemble the edit & display pages.  Creating new profiles work fine.
> I've added a fullname field so people can use a handle for their login
> name.
>
> When this is done, it will fill out the data on the profile pages
> (currently at http://www.simpits.org/aboutus/profiles.html) from the
> membership database instead of from a static page.
>
> Second, I'm going to restrict access to the file areas to registered users
> only.  This should put a stop to the wget users that show up, snarf the
> content and then are never to be seen from again.  You should see what it
> does to how much bandwidth is used when some knob has 10 streams going,
> trying to grab all 400+ files on the website file are at once. :)
>
> When the registration system goes live, I'm going to shut off the FTP site
> entirely and move all the files to the website download area.
>
> Third, membership will be free, but you MUST be subscribed to at least the
> simpits-ann list.  If a person fills out the profile application and their
> email address can't be found in any of the mailing list databases, it'll
> flag the profile as needing validation.  I'll have the program email me
> and I'll subscribe the new user to the simpits-ann list and set it to
> digest mode.  There will be a cron process that will go through the
> database every day, checking to see if a profile email address has the
> simpits-ann list set to "no mail".  If this happens, the profile will be
> disabled and I'll be notified.  I'll of course re-enable the profile if
> the reason for them setting the no-mail flag is reasonable.
>
> The primary reason I'm doing this is to at least try to get the lurkers to
> be aware of what's going on.  If they want to use the resources of the
> community, they can at least be aware of what the community is doing.  I
> don't think that requiring a digest subscription to the announce list is
> that much of a hardship.  Unless activity explodes on the list due to
> heavy uploads or heavy posting on the forums, they won't get more than 1
> message per 24 hour period anyway.
>
>
> You'll notice that I didn't post this to simpits-tech.  The reason for
> this is that frankly, 99% of the participating members are on this list.
> People that participate in the community get to help decide the direction
> of the community, while the rest of them can stand out in the rain and
> wonder what the hell is going on. :)
>
> I'm interested in hearing from you - I _want_ input on these things that
> I'm about to put into effect.  Are there changes or additions you'd like
> to see?  This is _your_ resource, I'm just the cranky librarian. :)
>
> g.
>
>
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