The Website Development Group is one of the Development Groups.  It is responsible for carrying out the technical tasks required by Freelending CIC, including the development of the freelender.org website.

The creation of creative text for the website is the responsibility of the Marketing Group.

 

Contents of this Group's Home Page:

Next meeting - 9th December 11.30am Quarterly Agenda Items Priorities for Website Development Wiki Pages for which this development group is solely responsible: Pages for which this development group is jointly responsible: Wiki pages Links to External Websites Outstanding Actions Decisions Made 9th November 2009 15th September 2009 (at Steering Group meeting) 7th September 2009

Next meeting - 9th December 11.30am

Click here to get details of how to join the Website Development Group Teleconference.

(If these meeting arrangements do not suit and you want to be involved please use the contact form link here) 

 

Agenda items include:

1. Date of next meeting.
2. Decisions made at previous meeting - are they a correct record?
3. Actions outstanding from previous meetings.
4. PC: Look at CSS stylesheets from Web Developer magazine.
5. Categorisation of items / services (see link for background info).
6. EJ/PC: Timescales for 'giveaway' tags & functionality, given that PC wants to add many (hundreds of?) giveaway items?
7. PC: The allowing of phone numbers to be notified following item request?
8. Which wiki page to use to suggest new website text?
9. Review user feedback about website, and determine required actions.
10. Review the possibilities for the freelender-org home page.
11. Review Suggested Website Text,  and determine required actions.
12. How to make Webpages more accessible (PC)
13. Priorities for website development beyond release 1.0 - review the list below.
14. [ Delivery dates.  Currently no dates for future releases. ]

 

Quarterly Agenda Items

1. Hosting arrangements - next review December 2009.

   - automatic notification by text/email if the site goes down

   - putting infrastructure in place for alternative hosting, e.g. at www.freelend.org, for use in case of failure

2. Open source policy - next review January 2010.  Issues include:

   - would allow people to discover and exploit security issues

   - precludes sale of freelender application for fund-raising.

 

Priorities for Website Development

Priorities for Freelending CIC:

• give items away

• give lender's telephone number to borrower when a request is made
• clubs
• saved searches + email people when an item in a saved search is added

Possible priorities for funders:

• multiple languages, especially Welsh

 

Wiki Pages for which this development group is solely responsible:

FrontPage (date of next meeting)

Website Development (The Technical pages)

Website Release Schedule

Website Documentation

Future Functionality

Item and Service Categories

Searching Tips innovative ways to use the site

user feedback

web docs from other sites

 

Pages for which this development group is jointly responsible:

Wiki pages

Suggested Website Text (responsibility shared with the Marketing Group).

The freelender-org home page (responsibility shared with the Marketing Group).

 

 

Links to External Websites

• www.freelender.org, the live site.
• The Freelender bug-tracking system.
• The Freelender mock-up site, which was used to prototype the website prior to implementation.

 

 

Outstanding Actions

 

From 9th November 2009:

1. EJ: Test the website using IE6. As part of this, test requesting an item (which has caused a crash in the past).  Add any problems found to CodeTrack.
2. PC: Test the website using IE8. As part of this, test requesting an item (which has caused a crash in the past).  Add any problems found to CodeTrack.
3. PC: Add feedback from Mike to User Feedback page.
4. EJ: Add lack of item comments to User Feedback page.  DONE 9/11/09
5. EJ: Add google analytics to website.  One aim of this is to determine the 'background number of hits' the site receives, i.e. the number of hits from search engines and other bots, before we start publicising.
6. EJ: Review and publish in wiki the number of hits received by the sites, using the stats provided by the web host.  DONE 9/11/09 - see Google document 'Freelender Steering Group' / Website visitor stats.
7. EJ: Add 15 items with high quality descriptions/comments and time how long it takes.
8. EJ: Add 50 items, aiming to take one hour, with high quality descriptions/comments not a requirement. Time how long it takes, and record any views on item categorisation.
9. PC: Add 15 items with high quality descriptions/comments and time how long it takes.
10. PC: Add 50 items, aiming to take one hour, with high quality descriptions/comments not a requirement. Time how long it takes, and record any views on item categorisation.
11. EJ: Update home page, using proposed words from all sources, including Paul's response to Mike to make "quick win" improvements.
12. PC: Create wiki versions of one or two website pages to research this as a mechanism for people to make suggested updates to the website. Ideally one functionally simple page (e.g. home page, help page), and one more complex page (i.e. a page with a form, such as the Register page).
13. EJ: Consider claiming expenses for phone call (number called: 0208 46***06).

 

From Steering Group 7th/15th September 2009:

1. EJ: Send email to admin@freelender.org whenever an item with value >£100 is added or updated.  DONE 17/9/09
2. EJ: Create and deploy nice looking favicon before full release. DONE 16/9/09
3. EJ: Create Ubuntu CD.  DONE 16/9/09
4. EJ: Add optional fields to Registration page: Second part of postcode [not done, to be added in 2.0], How did you hear about freelender (television, newspaper/magazine, Google / search engine, other website, electronic newsletter, freelender event/stall, freelender poster/leaflet, word of mouth.  More details (e.g. which magazine, website, etc).  DONE 17/9/09
5. EJ: Review all wiki pages that have been put under this group's responsibility.  DONE 21/9/09
6. EJ/PC: Ensure all help text on freelender.org is reviewed before full release. [This action should really be moved to the Marketing Group]

 

From 7th September 2009:

1. PC/EJ: Discuss policies for open source and dispersed team working.  DONE 8/9/09
2. EJ: Move FAQ from Help/Info menu to footer.  DONE 13/9/09
3. EJ: Use graphic freelender with text strapline in website banner.  DONE 13/9/09
4. PC: Email required club codes to EJ.  DONE 8/9/09
5. EJ: Add required club codes to production database.  DONE 13/9/09
6. PC: Explain why full post code required on Registration page.  DONE 8/9/09
7. PC: Recheck bug 2 (items visible when on holiday) and update CodeTrack with results.
8. EJ: Consider how to make it easier to find Advanced Search when using the quick search area.
9. PC/EJ: Discuss adding a link to the freeconomy website, and the wording of it, for people who want to lend and borrow skills. [ EJ 21/09/09: This has been added to the Suggested Website Text page. ]
10. EJ: Check out 1&1 as a possible web host.

 

 

Decisions Made

 

9th November 2009

1. Strategy for Lending of Services to be discussed by Proect Steering Group, rather than Website Development Group.
2. Discussion of Categorisation of items / services deferred until December meeting.

15th September 2009 (at Steering Group meeting)

1. The Second part of postcode field on the Registration page is to be an optional field with no explanation on the page as to why it's asked for.  It will not be displayed to other members, but this will not be said on the page either. Decision taken at 5/10/09 meeting: The second part of the postcode will be added to the registration page when Clubs are implemented in a non-postcode way.

7th September 2009

1. Freelender will not use a marquee on 17th October 2009.  Targeting clubs is more important and Paul has a wedding to go to!