Supporting EvC

I don't know if this is being done already. Assuming not, this site must take someone time and money to keep going (unless it is sponsered but I don't see any evidence of it)A site I was on before sought small donations from members to aid the running of the facility they were using and donations came in. Is there any way to support EvC financially? Would it be desirable? I think so. It's a great site and a bit of money may help in making it a greater one.ian

Hi Iano,This comes up periodically. I appreciate the sentiment, but as hobbies go, this is a relatively inexpensive one. EvC Forum began with a webhosting account that cost $15/month. As we've grown we've had to change webhosting account levels (and our webhosting company), and it now costs $50/month. But anyone whose avocation is golf or woodworking is spending far more than me every year.It might feel familiar to some people if I relate how I feel when someone calls to ask me to volunteer my time. "Oh, please," I respond, "Can't I just give money?" Money I got, time I don't got.What EvC Forum needs is people's time. The EvC Forum moderators already do yeoman's work keeping the forums humming along, but right now we're only treading water, meaning that we're not getting any better or worse. But if more people could donate their time, particularly those with certain high-tech skills, then there is more that we could do. Here's a list of needs that come to mind:

1. Software support for a Linux dedicated server. Must be able to install and maintain tools like Apache, Perl, MySQL, statistics utilities, email daemons, etc. Once set up, time demands would be small.
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2. Software development for dBoard (EvC Forum's board software). Must be familiar with or willing to learn Perl, HTML, CSS, JavaScript. Previous software development experience in a production environment a plus. Long hours, no pay.
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3. EvC Forum website maintenance. Keep all the links up to date, improve the look and feel, update the picture of the month, coordinate with software developers, add new pages and features.
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4. The EvC Store. No technical qualifications required. Set up the EvC Store by developing products using a company like cafePress.

Help with #1 would be nice because it would mean we could move from a shared server to a dedicated server. Help with #2 would be nice because it would allow software development to make faster progress. And #4 would allow people to have EvC Forum coffee cups and T-shirts.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

You know Percy, if you're looking for a webmaster I'll be available soon. Time is tight for the next several weeks but after that I'm all yours. I can even give the store a go.

I think you guys are great.

That would be great! Let me know when you're ready. You need Perl installed on your machine, as well as an ftp tool.One of the other changes I'd like to make is to change the reference library to something much easier for members to add information to. The Links and Information forum is okay, but threads aren't really a good fit for this kind of info.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I should be ready to go by the middle of Sept. I'm selling my house and the packing and moving are taking their toll on what little sanity I can usually muster.I haven't worked in perl before but am willing (and able) to learn. I will get it installed after the move. I have several ftp tools already.How much leeway will I have? .....wonders off scratching her head and mumbling something about #FF33FF and #00FF33....This message has been edited by AdminAsgara, 08-12-2005 06:08 PM

You don't have to learn Perl (unless you want to), but you have to be able to run Perl in order to generate the webpages. There's a central template file, and all the pages are placed into the template by a Perl program. It's simpler than it sounds. The webpages reside in .cnt files (content files) which is simple HTML with variables represented by %%HOME%% and so forth. The .cnt files are read by the Perl program and produce HTML out. I would have used PHP, but I'd never heard of PHP back in 2000, so I wrote my own stuff, but naturally it's static. Switching to PHP would be fine, by the way, if you decide you'd like to do that. You'd pretty much have complete artistic freedom. I suppose there are some things you couldn't touch (name of the site, for example), but everything else can be changed, including site logo, webpage organization, new pages, etc.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

If you want, I can probably help some as well. Asgara and I have worked together on some projects and IMHO the final result has been better than either of us working alone. If you and the Queen agree, I am willing to give it a try.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Together you might also be able to handle software support for a dedicated server. What do you think?

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I can't speak for the Queen but I'd want to place some conditions on such an effort.

1. you triple our pay.
2. no more lite beer in the lounge.
3. I'd want to be familar and comfortable with the current website and software before adding the server and server support.
4. we'd need some method of getting in touch with you in a timely (read NOW!) manner.
5. any other considerations from the Queen.
6. the Queen and I would have to talk about this directly and she'd have to agree to everything.
7. we would need to have a way to track changes and notify each other what was changed, when and why.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Done! There should be plenty of time for this. The dedicated server would be available for as long as necessary to get things working before actually switching the DNS address of EvC Forum over to it. But we have to acknowledge that one of the possible outcomes is that the switch to the dedicated server never happens due to something we learn or some difficulty encountered. This might be a problem if you mean email. However, I always have MicroSoft Messenger going at home and at work. Hopefully it would be possible to avoid working on the same things at the same time, but coordination should gradually work itself out.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I'm not too worried about the lite beer, but the chocolate I was promised when offered the mod job has been coming later and later. That will have to stop.I agree that familiarity with the current setup is necessary before we tackle a new dedicated server. Having the new server available to work on with no real time frame issue is acceptable to me.I have several IM accounts on at any given time and am easy to get ahold of generally.I don't invision us stepping on each other, but with at least three of us playing around in the back rooms its probably best if we set up a log where all work is documented.Oh well, we should probably take this somewhere else so we don't bore everyone with our negotiations. My people will contact your people and ...um...er.. do what ever people do.

Would it be an idea to have a "Supporting EvC" or "IT situations vacant" on the site contents list on the home page. Maybe keep a list of projects requiring input up to date so that folk would be aware of what's needed. Highlighting it in red when need is most etc.Although the basic costs of the site may not be significant, it could be that certain projects could be bundled in a nutshell-like fashion and outsourced. $20 a head is possibly not something many would balk at and could soon add up to. It would be folk making "their own" site their own - a community thing as it were. It could be that this would shift the site into a business arena though - creating more headaches than it's worth.It's just a suggestion - the 'product' informs me that you do know what your doing...

What about a wiki-type interface?

Percy, what happens if you follow Robin's foot steps?