RE: [RULE] Call to arms and requirements for the website

[Eugene Wong]

Hi all.

I could be naive, but I think that the entire web site could be managed with 
CSS & SSI. I have web site 
[http://www.geocities.com/transitinformationpackages/] built on only those 
2. I am trying to make the entire site as 4.01 Strict. My point is that a 
lot of the maintainance can be done with those 2. It took me so long to 
start that site, but now it is very low maintenance. Every update must be 
done by hand, but it is very easy.

> Hello,
>
> following the several suggestions on how to manage the website, here
> goes a random list of requirements.
<snip>
> content in pure text format??:

With CSS & SSI, people can download a template & add the content themselves. 
The style sheets will take care of any colors, & layouts, without the use of 
frames, tables, & other annoying things. It will also be good for other 
browsers like browsers for blind people.

>              not care of site layout, ie generate/maintain only the
>              actual page content (no headers, footers, etc)
>
>              do it offline and upload the result

These are definitely true for CSS & SSI

>              upload at once many pages, specifying for each its
>              location in the directory tree
>
>              insert in each page pointers to chunks of PHP code (see
>              as example the source of the current home pages)

I don't know about this. I'll let the experts speak.

> news:

I have news on that web site. Each news item is 1 include file. With the 
main news page, I just include them, & list them accordingly. For the main 
site page, I copy the 3 most recent news items to 3 different files, & list 
the the 3 different files. I never have to touch the main site page, because 
I have the main site page looking for 3 specific files. I admit that it is a 
weird work around, but it requires only about a few seconds of work, & a 
minute of checking.

> useful links

This is not a problem.

> threaded customizable site map:

I'll let the experts speak on this. I don't know how much work it is. My web 
site, so far, is very simple, so if I wanted a page like this, I could do it 
by hand, which isn't the best way to do things. Maybe a bash script that 
records all the file names of the directory tree, & parses the files for 
relevant info?

> web page management:
>
>     it must be possible to show as today the N most recently changed
>     web pages on the home page

I'll let the experts speak on this. Maybe a bash script to parse the files & 
collect relevant info from the HTML tags?

> *LIGHT* HTML code and page layout:
>
>      The site structure and content must certainly become easier to
>      understand and navigate than today, but think to people trying to
>      know how to get RULE through a 14.4KBps modem, links, a 486 and a
>      monochrome monitor (not to mention blind users). Let's limit as
>      much as possible frames, nested tables, colors, JavaScript.

I agree. The colors that I have on my site are somewhat unprofessional, but 
they are there for readability. There is no JavaScript, nor frames, nor 
tables.

I'll let the professionals & experts speak on the other stuff that I haven't 
touched on.

Ultimately, it's up to you. I could give you a template to get you started. 
It has all the HTML tags in the right place. You'd just have to fill in the 
blanks.


--
Sincerely, & with thanks,
Eugene T.S. Wong

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