I've been working behind the scenes the last while on some significant changes to the CLUAS site (probably definitely the most significant changes to the site in its history). In a nutshell I am migrating the site to a completely new set up (from a FrontPage based website, to a site managed with the ASP 2.0 DotNetNuke v4.3.5 CMS framework on a Windows 2003 server, running off a SQL 2005 database. You got that, yeah?)
Having said that the overall look'n'feel of the site won't (immediately anyway) change dramatically. I'll roll out updates in dribs and drabs:
First up probably will be a pretty straightforward one - a new horizontal nav bar to replace the collection of links that you see today on the top of most pages.
Then there'll be the biggest and most visible change - the discussion board. At some point in the next 10 days the entire board will be migrated to a compltetly new system and database. It will probably mean the disucssion board will be down for about 24 hours. The good news is that the archive of posts and all member profiles will not be lost, and the new board will be very similar to (but not 100% the same as) the current board, so from a user point of view it should not be a major learning curve to get posting again. The bad news is that you will have to re-create your password before you can post to the new board. More details on what all this means when I get closer to the date of migration.
I don't expect everything to go smoothly, there will be hiccups, but this is a project with long term goals (basically the new set up of the website means that others can take over the tasks of editing and publishing new content to the site instead of it being centralised with me). The impact on the site will be considerable.
There's also a whole bunch of other advantages for visitors to the site - and for members signed up to the site. More anon, in due course.
So all I ask is that you bear with the changes and any hiccups that may be incurred en route. I am doing my best at the momment to prepare and ensure that it goes smoothly as possible and that there are no hiccups. Cross-browser compatability and ease of navigation are priorities, for example.
As changes become visible I would very much appreciate honest and constructive feedback on the forum here. And make suggestions - the beauty of the new overall DotNetNuke system is that it is really straightforward to implement site wide changes.
Watch this space. And if you're technically minded / curious you can check out the following links:
-> www.dotnenuke.com - Content Management System that will be implemented
-> www.activemodules.com - software that will drive the future CLUAS discussion baord
Cheers.
Eoghan
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