[Imc-alternatives] DESIGN: more thoughts on sitemap

[lancaster-imc at riseup.net]

Thanks Jay for pasting this over and also re-phrasing and summarizing it
at the top. I also just want to add that in some respects I am dually
reflecting what the lpimc site will provide, which is more of
a-little-for-everyone than the imc-alt site is proposed to be. In
Lancaster over the past year we have strived to make connections in more
than just the liberal left community--our vision for the Lancaster imc is
a community news site that is democratic and inclusive to all, even people
with more conservative view points--a way of enrichening lives with
diverse points of view and likely polaritus-discussions (polaritus is not
a word, I just made it up). Also, we want the IMC in Lancaster to be,
among other things, a multi-media bridge between communities and cultures,
and we believe we should provide information and let people decide/think
for themselves. So, just thought I would clarify somewhat was lpimc web
development will in most regards parallel imc-alt, and probably carry a
topic/etc "Alternatives," which will rss feed to the IMC-Alt Features
newswire, like US-IMC does with other US IMC'S.

I am building a basic wireframe to summarize my basic ideas about frontend
design, which is built on discussions we have had here locally. Hope
everyone is doing well.

Jay, when is the next design meeting?

mV

> Hi Michael and all,
>
> Everyone should check out Michael's thoughts
> about the imc-alternatives sitemap.  You can
> check them out at
> https://we.riseup.net/michaelv/step-one-sitemap+7378,
> or for reference I'll paste them below this e-mail.
>
> I'll put my thoughts here and also on
> https://we.riseup.net/michaelv/step-one-sitemap+7378.
>
> Michael, these are great ideas.  As we move
> toward solidifying a sitemap, I think we should
> start with really basic architecture and build
> up.  A lot of the ideas you have are for features
> we should eventually add to the site.  To get
> closer to mapping the site, what I'm going to do
> is go through the list of features and suggest
> where they might fit within the basic structural
> sitemap I suggested.  Here's a first shot at it:
>
> MAIN PAGE:
>
> -- Some block organizing tools stylized from the
> yahoo front page, such as center left block.
> <https://we.riseup.net/assets/1032/yahoo_front_page.png>https://we.riseup.net/assets/1032/yahoo_front_page.png
>
>
> --A new more visual java approach to the city
> list would be nice, more like a globe that can be
> rotated and zoomed in, with imc’s instead of
> cities. This could be in addition to the old
> method, and within one of the top yahoo-like tabs
>
> -- Customizable front page for registered users, like my yahoo or igoogle.
>
> -- A ticker-tape headline/alert banner above top
> horizontal menu, instead of the block method on
> phillyimc. This would allow for more headlines or
> other important news blurbs and given today’s
> advances could be visually appealing and interactive.
>
> -- Weather from weatherunderground
.we should
> strive to provide things mainstream people look
> for, and also just try and provide more than the
> usual political fair in order to expand the
> audience, but also provide various levels of
> information. [Jay's note: I'm not sure the
> alternatives site needs to try to be all things
> to all people, but we should definitely talk
> about what kind of features we need to add to
> inspire people to spend use the site as one of their main destinations.]
>
> -- Blogs, definitely blogs [Jay's note: in
> addition to the open-publishing "solutions-wire"
> we could have a "solutoins blog-wire" with headlines from alternatives
> blogs]
>
> -- Frontend page that links with the crabgrass
> tool by providing info to users such as inbox messages or recent emails.
>
> -- a simple log in. I don’t think it has to be
> huge, but can simply be a hyperlinked “Log in” with a page for logging in.
>
> ON KNOWLEDGE BASE PAGE:
>
> -- a wikipedia-like feature for
> resources/history, possibly somehow connected
> with the crabgrass public wiki documents/pages,
> and readily searchable by multiple methods.
>
> -- Skill-shares and Labor-exchange (Crabgrass
> will actually have these as features, I believe)
>
> -- Freebay.org-like aspect (could be an integrated part of want-lists)
>
> ON CATEGORY PAGES and throughout site:
> -- Video-sharing: Essential for any IMC, but in
> this context would provide a great documentative aspect to the site.
>
> -- Photo-sharing/galleries and slideshows:
>
> -- Forums
>
> THROUGHOUT SITE:
>
> -- Deep rss feeds
>
> -- Certain parts of the site aligned with
> editorial standards to get picked up by the
> various news aggregating services out there, like
> digg, wordpress, yahoo, google, etc.
>
> -- The ability of users to personalize rss feeds
> for live bookmarks by tags/topics of preference.
>
> This is just a first pass.  We can pin things down better as we go
> forward.
>
> Jay
> ***
> MICHAEL'S SITEMAP THOUGHTS
> When I have thought about “Alternatives” I have
> imagined that the site in and of itself would
> represent an alternative vision, or visions, of
> what an IMC site can look like and function as,
> how it could continue to evolve as the needs of
> the community evolve and change
.as the times and
> technologies change. To me, Alternatives
> represents a wide-opened gateway to introduce the
> public to new, innovative tools and resources.
> So, in other words, I don’t only think we should
> be a space for discussing or announcing
> alternatives, but exploration and leading by example(s).
>     * Skill-shares and Labor-exchange (Crabgrass
> will actually have these as features, I believe)
>     * Video-sharing: Essential for any IMC, but
> in this context would provide a great documentative aspect to the site.
>     * Photo-sharing/galleries and slideshows:
>     * Forums
>     * Freebay.org-like aspect (could be an integrated part of want-lists)
>     * Bartering aspect to want-lists: where
> people can post skills or materials wanted, and
> what skills/materials they might have to barter in exchange.
>     * Some block organizing tools stylized from
> the yahoo front page, such as center left block.
> <https://we.riseup.net/assets/1032/yahoo_front_page.png>https://we.riseup.net/assets/1032/yahoo_front_page.png
>
>     * A new more visual java approach to the city
> list would be nice, more like a globe that can be
> rotated and zoomed in, with imc’s instead of
> cities. This could be in addition to the old
> method, and within one of the top yahoo-like tabs
>     * a wikipedia-like feature for
> resources/history, possibly somehow connected
> with the crabgrass public wiki documents/pages,
> and readily searchable by multiple methods.
>     * Customizable front page for registered users, like my yahoo or
> igoogle.
>     * A ticker-tape headline/alert banner above
> top horizontal menu, instead of the block method
> on phillyimc. This would allow for more headlines
> or other important news blurbs and given today’s
> advances could be visually appealing and interactive.
>     * Weather from weatherunderground
.we should
> strive to provide things mainstream people look
> for, and also just try and provide more than the
> usual political fair in order to expand the
> audience, but also provide various levels of information.
>     * Blogs, definitely blogs
>     * Columns for the editorial collective active
> volunteers, with similar rules like on op-ed news.
>     * Deep rss feeds
>     * Certain parts of the site aligned with
> editorial standards to get picked up by the
> various news aggregating services out there, like
> digg, wordpress, yahoo, google, etc.
>     * The ability of users to personalize rss
> feeds for live bookmarks by tags/topics of preference.
>     * Frontend page that links with the crabgrass
> tool by providing info to users such as inbox messages or recent emails.
>     * a simple log in. I don’t think it has to be
> huge, but can simply be a hyperlinked “Log in” with a page for logging in.
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