http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ Transition Towns Forum: Forum: TransitionWebProject - Recent Topics en Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:20:06 +0000 http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/new-forums-update-and-help-sought#post-2691 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:42:20 +0000 edmittance 2691@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Hi all,</p> <p>Happy 2010 - I hope it brings you much cheer, many vegetables, renewable energy sources, two Transition conferences and a shiney new Transition Network website... </p> <p>This is a quick post to point you to an update on the web project and share our thoughts on forums. </p> <p>Latest news on where we are at:<br /> <a href="http://transitiontowns.org/webprojectblog/2010/01/20/website-launch-update/" rel="nofollow">http://transitiontowns.org/webprojectblog/2010/01/20/website-launch-update/</a></p> <p>I've just got off a skype conference with the Transition Technologists and it's looking very close. Our goal is for a 'soft' launch on Monday the 1st Feb, and if not then, then soon afterwards. And we'll need some help getting in there and beta-testing so hope you can come and give it a go when we say 'go'. We have imported all the subscribers to the newsletter so if you read the newsletter, you will be primed and ready to log in following launch. But more on that in due course... </p> <p>In the meantime, this is specifically about Forums: </p> <p>Part of the new web platform is new forums. These will be more accesible and have better functionality than our much loved yet ever-so-slightly-out-of-date ones we see here. </p> <p>We would like your help/support/advice/beta-testing - you have been here for some time, are familiar with what does and doesn't work, which threads were the most popular, which subjects were the most significant, how the 'structure' of the forums worked etc. </p> <p>The new forums will be integrated with the rest of the site which will mean we can track our activities, get email alerts when new comments are made, see other commenters' profiles, have forum threads appear in wider searches across the 'transition themes' with other content etc. </p> <p>Sadly we cannot migrate the content from these forums to the new ones; a combination of budget and 'it being amazingly complicated' means we have to say farewell to these. We're sorry about this but there aren't any alternatives. </p> <p>We will keep them online for a good few months yet, but the focus of activity will move to the new site. </p> <p>Ben and I want to start really simple so that we can make the most of what we've learned on these forums and work outwards with your support or advice if possible. </p> <p>We reckon we'd start with: </p> <p>Transition Themes - one forum per theme<br /> Technical help - space to help people with logins, updating their initiative profiles etc. </p> <p>What do you all reckon? </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/high-level-features-that-i-envision-being-useful#post-725 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:59:06 +0000 marcpalmer 725@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Here's a stream of thoughts... I've filled in the form to become a contributor to the platform.</p> <p>- [ ] Separate the site into groups/spaces with user groups tied to these (i.e. a TT Stroud "Space"), with<br /> superusers who can operate over all to moderate/help out. Signup, password reminders etc needed<br /> - [ ] Wiki/CMS with spaces per group etc (look at confluence/spaceo.us? - I have experience with one + possible working relationship soon with the latter, an enterprise tool)<br /> - [ ] Blog per space (multi-user) with RSS feed + comments, eg a TT Stroud blog where certain members of TTS are permitted to post.<br /> - [ ] Forums per space and globally, eg. TT Stroud forums for energy, textiles etc but also "TT Global ideas" forum for example<br /> - [ ] Mailing lists per space and globally with simple integrated interface to join / unsub them. e.g. "TT Local network coordinators news mailing list" but also "TT Stroud textiles mailing list"<br /> - [ ] A transition roadmap for each group showing what areas to consider tackling locally (energy/transport/textiles), with a tick-list / indicator of how many areas your initiative is currently covering and suggestions for other areas that will need to be tackled, a "colouring by numbers" way to look at what needs to be done.<br /> - [ ] Ability to send referrals to pages on the site between groups (addressing scheme for members i.e. "TT Stroud/marcpalmer" as a target "address" - implies a directory of people in other groups / contact forms to reach out to other groups, but the server hides their email addresses from public view, and forwards on messages.<br /> - [ ] Overview of transition movement stats i.e. "21 new transition towns this month, 90% have energy plans", for motivational<br /> purposes<br /> - [ ] Library section - direct hosting of key documents - pref all in PDF format, cleaned up, good consistent formatting etc<br /> - [ ] Screencasts + introductory videos explaining how to use it<br /> - [ ] User "portal" home page showing just the information they want - i.e. latest blog posts from their group, most recently edited<br /> documents and most popular forum posts, prioritising those they have contributed to previously. Indication of membership of<br /> subgroups, with links to click to view their "spaces"<br /> - [ ] Emphasize use of photos to give faces to names and improve local community forming</p> <p>I've got a fair amount of experience in high profile website stuff from the software design, feature design and implementation angle... </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/web-project-recommendations-available-for-download#post-1674 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:08:42 +0000 edmittance 1674@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Hi all,</p> <p>just a quick note to say thank you for the support/advice/wisdom/hearing ear/patience/food/laughs/connections/references/accommodation and other really brilliant stuff you brought to the Transition web project - not forgetting it began here in the TT fora. </p> <p>Ben and I presented the recommendations to the Transition Network board yesterday. They approved them, and, some money stuff ongoing, we're now going into prepping for the implementation phase.</p> <p>You won't be amazed to hear that we are sharing all our work on a share and share alike licence, so were you to be so inclined, you can download the report and presentation below:</p> <p>Recommendations:<br /> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/twg-recommendations-doc" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/twg-recommendations-doc</a></p> <p>Board presentation:<br /> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/twg-board-presentation" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/twg-board-presentation</a></p> <p>Board saying thank you to everyone who added their bit to the project:<br /> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/edmittance/3595102808/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/edmittance/3595102808/</a></p> <p>And a nice picture of a tree next to the river Dart:<br /> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/edmittance/3595104826/" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/edmittance/3595104826/</a></p> <p>Good work all! </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/ubergeek-week-seeks-technical-wizards#post-1559 Fri, 08 May 2009 12:30:07 +0000 edmittance 1559@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Hi all, news from the web project working space on Wiser Earth: </p> <p>We are close to the end; the board meeting at which we deliver the recommendations is loitering around the corner, expectant and hopeful. </p> <p>Now that we have defined 'what' the web project is, we need to define 'how' we are going to deliver it. Graham Mitchell is in the facilitation hotseat for a dedicated period of time (Friday 8 May - Wednesday 13 May) to bring us to technical recommendations through thorough and robust discussion. </p> <p>Please help us by contributing your experiences, thoughts, wisdom and greatness in this time limited technical discussion. </p> <p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/ubergeekweek" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/ubergeekweek</a> </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/web-project-update-and-call-to-action#post-1419 Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:43:36 +0000 edmittance 1419@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>The web project is coming on in leaps and bounds. This is a:</p> <p>1. brief project update<br /> 2. call for interested people to join a workgroup<br /> 3. bunch of related links at the bottom</p> <p>1 ::The update bit::</p> <p>Since we formally launched in late January, we have held a range of brilliantly informative workshops (thank you to those around the UK and beyond), our survey is published and is out gathering data (excellent responses to date, we’re going to push it again), and we have three pilots researching the three key project elements which are either out on the web or awaiting a final sign off from the board. These are all amazing feats. </p> <p>During this phase, new project research streams have emerged from conversations and the project has found new areas of opportunity around the network... </p> <p>In the bigger picture of ‘The Web’, the project’s scope is evolving – the project (and its process) was originally focused on building one ‘platform’; there is now increasing awareness of the multitude of Transitioners already happily using a vast array of other platforms… </p> <p>How can we integrate independent initiatives’ web activities and honour their choices, independence and diversity instead of assuming that they will all want to use one tool?</p> <p>Meanwhile, many Transitioners have pointed to the importance of retaining our focus on supporting the ‘physical’ aspects of the movement (we are a web already!); tying the web project into the existing processes and supporting not just a platform but an educational and support ‘toolkit’; a routemap to help Transitioners make their own decisions and find and offer support about what web stuff they want to use for their needs… </p> <p>How can we launch and nurture a living network-owned support and education toolkit? </p> <p>So… from specifying one piece of software (a platform), the project has evolved a fair amount to take into account the network’s processes, protocols and possible partnerships. </p> <p>All this is ripe for discussion on the workgroup below:</p> <p>2:: The call to action bit::</p> <p>We’re going into a project phase change right now and are inviting your input and support. </p> <p>As well as the surveys, workshops, interviews and pilots, we have been discussing the project in a separate space (so as not to swamp these forums). This has been a lively, straight talking, yet diplomatic affair. </p> <p>We have agreed that we’ve had enough talk and want more action. We need to work together to write documents which will form the recommendations later in the project. </p> <p>These range from technical to social (hosting websites to thinking about routemaps to help non-techs make sense of the web).</p> <p>In light of this, we have set up a group work space on ‘Wiser Earth’ (an easy to use and useful community web platform with the tools we need). It is an open space, so anyone can read what we’re up to. </p> <p>If you would like to add thoughts, all you need to do is register on Wiser Earth (no more than 5 minutes). There is an easy howto page telling you how to sign up.</p> <p>It is open and ready to go. Later this week I will be asking people to identify specific tasks that interest the, so we’ll see the real action kicking off at the end of this week, beginning of next week… but in the meantime…</p> <p>Wiser Earth work space:<br /> <a href="http://www.wiserearth.org/group/transition_webproject" rel="nofollow">http://www.wiserearth.org/group/transition_webproject</a></p> <p>Wiser Earth: getting started howto guide:<br /> <a href="http://bit.ly/mkXo" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/mkXo</a></p> <p>Survey:<br /> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/transtion-web-project-survey" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/transtion-web-project-survey</a></p> <p>Thanks,<br /> Ed </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/next-steps-project-manager-and-interim-solution#post-923 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:26:27 +0000 garyalex 923@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Some of you will already know that there was a meeting in Bristol last Tues. 21 Oct., that was meant to be about collaboration with Ethical Junction, but ended up discussing future steps for the new software platform. </p> <p>At a follow up Skype chat this morning, we all felt it vital to bring that discussion to these forums and the wiki. So, here is a summary of what we came up with for your consideration:</p> <p><strong>Survey Questionnaire</strong></p> <p>1. A questionnaire has been developed by the people that were part of the Ethical Junction discussion (now moved to here). It is nearing completion, being improved by a friend of mine from Diss who is a professional market researcher.</p> <p><strong>Interim software platform</strong></p> <p>2. The original proposal to develop a new platform will take a long time, so we suggest a quick, interim solution. </p> <p>3. After some discussion, we felt that we wouldn't want to move twice (this forum and the wiki are already a temporary solution), so whatever is chosen should be capable of being developed into the main solution: "no blind alleys".</p> <p>4. We will specify this interim solution on this forum and the wiki (as well as the main solution) and also ask a new question in the survey "What would you like immediately from the software platform?" I will create a new wiki page for us to use for this discussion.</p> <p>5. We thought we would look at several possible starting points and named a) the current Ethical Junction software, WiserEarth, Plone and Drupal as possibles.</p> <p><strong>Project manager post</strong></p> <p>6. We will use some of the money from the Tudor Trust grant to appoint a project manager to take forward the implementation of this interim solution, to take us through to the main solution.</p> <p>7. The post will start as soon as possible, will last for 2 or 3 months, will probably (but not necessarily) be based around Bristol or Totnes, for ease of access to the full time Transition Movement people.</p> <p>8. We will look for someone who is already up-to-speed on TT issues, and recruit by word of mouth through the network rather than the usual route of advertising. We should suggest suitable people.</p> <p>9.Ben will do a draft person specification and I will do a draft job specification, both by next Wednesday. These will also go on the wiki for discussion here.</p> <p>I think this is a plan that will move us forward dramatically and rapidly. There is a lot of careful thought and wisdom already expressed in this forum, and I hope we can build on the ideas and expertise there to carry this through.</p> <p>Check the software platform page, <a href="http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionSoftwarePlatform" rel="nofollow">http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionSoftwarePlatform</a> for links to the new pages, which I hope will be ready in the next few days.</p> <p>Gary </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/transition-networks-web-project-at-last-a-formal-project-outline#post-1250 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:07:52 +0000 benbrangwyn 1250@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p><strong>Transition Network's Web Project has reached a significant milestone.</strong></p> <p>Not long ago we hired a project manager (Ed Mitchell) for the initial phases up to recommendation, and he's shaped the project as per <strong> <a href="http://transitionnetwork.org/TransitionWebProject/TransitionWebProjectOutline-final.pdf">|- this project outline -|</a></strong>.</p> <p>By way of a quick summary, we've got the core team sorted (a nimble threesome of Ed Mitchell, Gary Alexander and Ben Brangwyn) and we have an initial set of pilot leads. At this stage, we're building up the two key Working Groups: 1) Technical and 2) Social.</p> <p>If you haven't yet received an invitation from us to join the project, and, based on your reading of the document linked above, you wanna get involved, please email "webproject@transitionnetwork.org", letting us know how you'd like to contribute. And if you feel like entertaining us, perhaps you can try including a sentence with more commas than that one.</p> <p>Joking aside, this is such an important project. The really challenging piece of this - establishing a system that connects up people, facilitates their projects, lets them synthesis and co-create learnings, and then makes that knowledge easily available to all other interested parties - if we get that right, then we'll enable a dramatic acceleration of resilience building and CO2 emission reductions.</p> <p>So, if you want your grandchildren to sing songs about you as they sit around a renewable energy heat source, munching on locally made toasted currant buns, then have a serious think about getting involved. </p> <p>Cheers. Ben. </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/project-manager-for-transition-platform#post-1115 Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:31:58 +0000 benbrangwyn 1115@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>We've just recruited Ed Mitchell to project manage the first phase of this initiative. He's got 4 elements to this phase:</p> <p>- build the teams and set up project infrastructure (comms, wiki, chat etc)<br /> - establish requirements<br /> - assess possible solutions<br /> - make recommendations</p> <p>He should be done some time in April. </p> <p>He'll be communicating to many of the people who have contributed to these "platform" forums as he goes through this process.</p> <p>Ben. </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/forums-combined#post-1145 Sat, 24 Jan 2009 02:06:31 +0000 benbrangwyn 1145@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>To simplify the forums for the Transition Platform, I've just combined the 4(!) previous ones into this. Nothing should have been lost, 'cos technology always performs flawlessly. </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/leadership-in-a-self-organizing-world-may-14-17th-usa#post-1139 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:57:31 +0000 annestadler 1139@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Many of us have been experimenting with new forms of organizing and leading for years and decades. Some have spent several years experimenting with Open Space organizations. Others are seeking new ways as the old practices are insufficient to the challenges they are facing. It’s time for us to gather to bring together our experiments, efforts, stories, wisdom, and questions. </p> <p>To register, go to <a href="http://www.selforganizingworld.net." rel="nofollow">www.selforganizingworld.net.</a></p> <p>We are convening at the beautiful green built Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort (www.sleepinglady.com), nestled in the Cascade foothills outside Leavenworth, Washington, about 2 hours from Seattle.</p> <p>Harrison Owen, creator of Open Space Technology, will be joining us and launching his book Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a Self Organizing World<br /> We’ll spend our time together pooling our collective learning about what “wave riding” is really like, what our pioneering efforts are showing us and what’s next.</p> <p>Transition Town folks are especially welcome!! </p> <p>We hope YOU will be part of this too! </p> <p>Please, register now, mark your calendar, and invite all your friends!<br /> I look forward to seeing you there! Anne Stadler </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/fundamental-decision-hosting-centrally-or-decentralized#post-728 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:30:48 +0000 marcpalmer 728@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>It occurred to me, mulling this over, that the hosting mechanism for the platform is a fundamental issue and needs to be seen as a requirement, not an afterthought.</p> <p>How one reaches a decision on this however is also dependent on whether the platform is intended for actual contributing members of a TT group somewhere in the world, or "all comers" who may eventually be using it for locating local services that support the local currency, or perform currency transactions or authentication. The latter issues will require support for potentially huge amounts of traffic if transition is a success.</p> <p>Central hosting would make things much simpler. There's one website to maintain/update/debug, you can scale it using Amazon's EC2 compute cloud, etc.</p> <p>However this goes against the spirit and the actual requirements really, of local transition groups. Where's the resilience if you use centralized Amazon EC2 or some other scalable compute cloud / ISP? Who knows if Amazon will even be trading post peak-oil - the energy costs of data centres will at least send the costs through the roof, perhaps making elastic computing a bad proposition anyway (funding of hosting for a high demand scalable global website is yet another issue to discuss). Who's to say free/cheap/reliable internet access will be available internationally 24/7 after peak oil?</p> <p>So ideally one would have individual sites running the local "copy" of the platform, dealing with only their local data, but the published documents with global relevance available globally (albeit perhaps by a resource constrained internet conection). These could even run off local networks (a revival of local ISPs previously wiped out by the majors and "virtual ISP" market?), or ad-hoc wifi networks or perhaps Wimax or some as yet not invented high speed mid-range wireless net.</p> <p>There are several challenges with this however:</p> <p>1. It means local people have to be able to set up and maintain (and backup) the system<br /> 2. How would such a system scale up to handle high local demand / local currency implementation etc<br /> 3. It means the environment in which the system would run would be unpredictable</p> <p>The above, in my opinion is a recipe for disaster, unless some smart - and probably technically complex solution.</p> <p>A total brainfart at the moment, but I could envisage a peer-to-peer local networking system with virtual machines like Amazon EC2, a sort of mishmash of something like <a href="mailto:Seti@Home">Seti@Home</a> and VMWare/Parallels that would mean that adding capacity would just be a case of someone else in the local area with (local) net access plugging in a PC/Mac and running the application that does the peer-2-peer and virtual machine bootstrapping and network management.</p> <p>It would be far more flakey than Amazon EC2 or similar... but can we actually rely on a global ISP?</p> <p>Or do we just consider how to get TO peak oil, with as much activity beforehand by local groups, and hang the consequences for what happens after it all hits the fan? </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/meet-at-transition-cities-conference#post-978 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:24:56 +0000 garyalex 978@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Hi folks,</p> <p>Is anyone else going to the Transition Cities Conference in Nottingham next week? It would also be a good place for several of us to meet to plan how we will be proceeding with the software platform. </p> <p>I'm going, largely because it is a big gathering place of transitioners and would be a good place to get views about the software platform. I'll try to ensure that the survey is live by then, and get people to complete it and also get their views more informally.</p> <p>Hope to see some of you there. Please let me know if you will be there.</p> <p>Yours,</p> <p>Gary </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/draft-survey-on-software-platform#post-967 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:44:45 +0000 garyalex 967@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Hi folks,</p> <p>We now have a draft of the survey for the software platform ready for your comments. It was built by Geoff Dixon, (with the help of his company) a friend who is a professional market researcher and also part of Transition Diss. It builds on the versions that came out of the discussion but its approach is very different as you will see. That is because Geoff felt that our approach would lead us to lots of data we would be unable to make sense of. We hope you approve of what we have done.</p> <p> It is at <a href="http://www.vivid-interface.com/online/tn/tt001.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.vivid-interface.com/online/tn/tt001.htm</a></p> <p>We know it needs a little tidying, but also want to know if you think the general approach is good. Also, are there any major ommissions? Any small things to be improved?</p> <p>Please send your comments in the next few days. We will incorporate them and then we will make this live for use the the network next week.</p> <p>Yours,</p> <p>Gary<br /> ================================<br /> Dr Gary Alexander</p> <p>Author of "eGaia, Growing a peaceful, sustainable Earth through<br /> communications"</p> <p>Website: <a href="http://earthconnected.net" rel="nofollow">http://earthconnected.net</a></p> <p>Mobile: 07766 - 711999 </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/starting-point-to-specification-for-software-platform#post-968 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:14:08 +0000 garyalex 968@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Hi friends,</p> <p>I have now completed a draft of a specification for a software platform for 'connected communities', which is available on my website <a href="http://earthconnected.net" rel="nofollow">http://earthconnected.net</a> .</p> <p>This is actually the culmination of work I have been doing for quite some time, and builds on my DissConnected.Net website, but also, it builds on lots of the discussions we have been holding about the Transition Network Software Platform. I think you will find that it covers much of what Ben proposed in his document and Tom in his diagram plus explanation.</p> <p>I offer this as a starting point to the specification for the Transition Network as I know people are getting anxious that we get started quickly. Obviously, the replies to the questionnaire will also feed into the Transition Network specification.</p> <p>I would be grateful for your comments, on overall issues, details and whatever.</p> <p>Yours,</p> <p>Gary</p> <p>================================<br /> Dr Gary Alexander</p> <p>Author of "eGaia, Growing a peaceful, sustainable Earth through<br /> communications"</p> <p>Website: <a href="http://earthconnected.net" rel="nofollow">http://earthconnected.net</a> </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/collaborative-design-methodology-approach-structured-documents#post-837 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:39:23 +0000 dahacouk 837@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>In order to assist the design process I'd like to propose that we work with and discuss structured documents. The problems with forums (like we are using) are:<br /> * Important information gets lost very quickly when there's lots of input.<br /> * There is no quick overview of what has been said over the years.</p> <p>So, we need to have a wiki or some other document centric approach to building the requirements and, in fact, everything we are discussing.</p> <p>Discussions on this forum should be about documents. Documents will contain lists of requirements as suggested by all members, etc. Then there'll be a voting system (or call or meeting) to establish priorities.</p> <p>We have to work together not just chat together and that means working on documents where information doesn't get lost. I hope people can see that this road leads to sanity...</p> <p>Cheers Daniel </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/collaborative-approach-comments-invited#post-604 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:59:59 +0000 benbrangwyn 604@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>This topic is reserved for comments to <strong> <a href="http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionSoftwarePlatform">| this page |</a> </strong> which lays out the overall approach for creating the Transition Software Platform.</p> <p>We've invited a specific group to make comments before we release this to the rest of the network. </p> <p>If you happen to find yourself here and you're knowledgeable about these matters, please feel free to add your own thoughts. </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/where-are-we-in-the-process#post-867 Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:59:58 +0000 sambris 867@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>Hi I would like to be involved in the the evaluation stage of this process but I am a little unclear as to where we are...</p> <p>I found this on the forums:<br /> "project aims to kick off in Sept, then 3 months work before implementation phase starts. Depending on solution, initial limited rollout is likely to start early 2009."</p> <p>I have three questions</p> <p>1) Can I be part of the evaluation team please?</p> <p>2) What is the decision making process of the evaluation team? Voting? Consensus?</p> <p>3) Would it be useful to have a wikipage for each possible solution that people could edit and contribute to? </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/requirements-suggestions#post-662 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:48:52 +0000 Geoff 662@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>I've just read everything on the platform, and I'm keen to be involved in some way. I've established the Transition Town Stafford site and forums, and have been a software engineer and team leader for 25 years covering projects from requirements to commissioning including content management systems and Wikis. I'm currently engaged in a discussion about what on-line facilities would help in a Staffordshire-wide context.</p> <p>Some random ideas to throw into the pot, focusing on what I've recently seen as problems, and probably from a different perspective than I've read here already:</p> <p>Regarding keeping people involved with forums so they keep returning and contributing: It's very useful if forums allow users to subscribe to topics and/or allow for posts to be received by email, perhaps as digests. Being able to contribute by email is also useful. As an example (not a suggestion) Yahoo Groups do this, unfortunately the Transition Network forums don't... (how easily could that be added as a parallel project?)</p> <p>Being able to register with certain forums which are of interest, eg:<br /> - all locally based forums within 10 miles<br /> - all energy sub-groups<br /> And perhaps being able to exclude certain ones<br /> As an example (not a suggestion) phpBB allows the administrator to control which forums are included in the Active Topics List. It would be good if individual users had such control for a personally tailored Active Topics List.</p> <p>Some sites are easier to use than others. And we need to be particularly aware that we are hoping for a wide cross-section of society to get involved. In my experience this means keeping things very simple since I people can easily produce solutions that non-IT people find far too complex. I'm thinking here of my own recent experience with encouraging people of all ages to use our forums. What might help here is the concept of novice and expert modes, ie. hide the more advanced features until the user turns them on. This may of course be a way of time-boxing the project: start off with the essential features required by novices, and then add more advanced features.</p> <p>We need something quickly, and that should be part of the requirements, ie. minimising the risk of failing to launch a solution before a certain date. So often software projects get delayed. I think we should be focusing on what makes us unique, ie. transition, rather than too much software development. Would it be possible to review existing 'solutions', assessing how easily each could be modified to accommodate our requirements? I'm sure all of the possible existing 'solutions' have people developing add-ons, I'm particularly aware of this for Zope. Everything in the software world moves very quickly, and for this reason I think that finding our how much free support is available for different 'solutions' would be one way of future-proofing the decision. I strongly suggest use of Open Source 'solutions', and particularly stuff from the Apache Foundation. </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/introduction-2#post-586 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:25:30 +0000 benbrangwyn 586@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>For those new to this forum, you may want to check out <strong> <a href="http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionSoftwarePlatform">| this page |</a> </strong> which lays out the overall approach for creating the Transition Software Platform.</p> <p>A formal team will be assembling to tackle this portion of the project. They will set the protocol for posting to this forum.</p> <p>Further information concerning this project can be obtained by contacting the Transition Network on "info[AT]transitionnetwork[DOT]org". </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/collaborative-solutions#post-599 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:47:08 +0000 Lowcarbondiary 599@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>As a co founder of the LCCN (Low Carbon Communities Network), I'm keen to see as much cross collaboration as possible between like minded groups. The key here is that we are communities working together for and with each other and need to develop a platform which can be tailored to our varying needs. I recently attended the 2gether08 conference in London and was really surprised by the number of "ubertechs" out there who are really excited by the proposal outlined here - even when explained in my everyday English and not "geekspeak" - they are keen to provide information and advice.<br /> I'm sure we'll get a great team together for this. </p> http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/introduction-3#post-587 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:33:08 +0000 benbrangwyn 587@http://transitiontowns.org/forum/ <p>For those new to this forum, you may want to check out <strong> <a href="http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionSoftwarePlatform">| this page |</a> </strong> which lays out the overall approach for creating the Transition Software Platform.</p> <p>A formal team will be assembling to tackle this portion of the project. They will set the protocol for posting to this forum.</p> <p>Further information concerning this project can be obtained by contacting the Transition Network on "info[AT]transitionnetwork[DOT]org". </p>