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This site has some great content, it's just wicked painful to wait for it to download. I've been getting complaints from users that would like to participate but the sluggish speed here impedes us.
I wouldn't take this organization to seriously if I only had this web access as a connection. We take in just about 7 thousand dollars a year in membership dues. I don't believe we're spending anything on the hosting of this site, but maybe it's time we do.
I probably won't be able to speak up at the winter meeting but I hope there are others that will.
The other item is I hope we can order enough Essex Bakery donuts ahead of the meeting. This past summer we had 175+ in attendance to our meeting and I believe we exceed that at the winter meetings.
I wouldn't take this organization to seriously if I only had this web access as a connection. We take in just about 7 thousand dollars a year in membership dues. I don't believe we're spending anything on the hosting of this site, but maybe it's time we do.
I probably won't be able to speak up at the winter meeting but I hope there are others that will.
The other item is I hope we can order enough Essex Bakery donuts ahead of the meeting. This past summer we had 175+ in attendance to our meeting and I believe we exceed that at the winter meetings.
David
I agree I know they have been trying to speed the site up.
Yes I hope we have donuts to go around
I agree I know they have been trying to speed the site up.
Yes I hope we have donuts to go around
I agree the web site is often painfully slow. I like the fact that there are a lot of drop down links to all sorts of related information but many of these I have never used. I am sure that the decision to include all of those links was well intended and done in an effort to create a rich information source foe beekeepers but I wonder if the web site may be overly complex for its intended purpose. Maybe some of the content could be eliminated or simplified and that might speed up the site overall. Simplifying the web site would also cut down on the maintenance time that is necessary to keep a site like this running smoothly.
Though there has apparently been some money paid to maintain parts of the web site everyone realizes that VBA is a volunteer organization. Without more volunteer involvement either more money would need to be put into actually paying people to do the maintenance or the site needs to be simplified to make the job easier.
While there are likely technical aspects to getting a web site to run faster, falling behind in basic content maintenance makes it look like the site is being neglected and that doesn't send a very positive message to new beekeepers. For instance, if you go to the What's New on the Site link
on the home page, articles there have a date that is three years old. Are we to understand that there has been that little amount of new content added to the site? I realize it takes time to write articles but if no one is submitting articles for publication maybe that What's New section could be presented in a different way.
Generally I think the site looks pretty good and functions as intended and I think there has been a lot of good work put into it. But a site as complex as this needs regular maintenance and from what I have seen that falls somewhat short. Simplify it and it will work better. Paying someone knowledgeable about such things might work even better.
Though there has apparently been some money paid to maintain parts of the web site everyone realizes that VBA is a volunteer organization. Without more volunteer involvement either more money would need to be put into actually paying people to do the maintenance or the site needs to be simplified to make the job easier.
While there are likely technical aspects to getting a web site to run faster, falling behind in basic content maintenance makes it look like the site is being neglected and that doesn't send a very positive message to new beekeepers. For instance, if you go to the What's New on the Site link
on the home page, articles there have a date that is three years old. Are we to understand that there has been that little amount of new content added to the site? I realize it takes time to write articles but if no one is submitting articles for publication maybe that What's New section could be presented in a different way.
Generally I think the site looks pretty good and functions as intended and I think there has been a lot of good work put into it. But a site as complex as this needs regular maintenance and from what I have seen that falls somewhat short. Simplify it and it will work better. Paying someone knowledgeable about such things might work even better.
Steven Jackson I agree with you .
I was very happy to hear the board recognize the fact the VBA Webb site needs a lot of work.
For the most part people don't use the site for the fact it takes forever to load , also the home
Page and many other pars of the site are way out of date.
I have tried many times to up load photos or stories takes way to long and very complicated
I know a few people in the past that have offered to help but received no reply maybe now
The board will reach out and let them help.
We may still need to spend some money on the site as we need a good host that will do the
maintenance and work out the bugs, with any group commutations is or should be a very
High priority . We can only grow VBA by having the best of the best in commutations .
So we need a great Webb site , Facebook and our E Blast
The issue with this web site has gone on for way to long time to take action .
Many other state associations have great Webb sites with a lot of great content and the sites
Are lighting fast it's time we become lighting fast.
Thanks
Ron
I was very happy to hear the board recognize the fact the VBA Webb site needs a lot of work.
For the most part people don't use the site for the fact it takes forever to load , also the home
Page and many other pars of the site are way out of date.
I have tried many times to up load photos or stories takes way to long and very complicated
I know a few people in the past that have offered to help but received no reply maybe now
The board will reach out and let them help.
We may still need to spend some money on the site as we need a good host that will do the
maintenance and work out the bugs, with any group commutations is or should be a very
High priority . We can only grow VBA by having the best of the best in commutations .
So we need a great Webb site , Facebook and our E Blast
The issue with this web site has gone on for way to long time to take action .
Many other state associations have great Webb sites with a lot of great content and the sites
Are lighting fast it's time we become lighting fast.
Thanks
Ron
This is a relatively small site and the content or layout really doesn't (or shouldn't) affect the speed of the site in this case. Since the site runs on a content management system that relies on a database to hold the site's information it is likely an issue with the database. (You can tell the site hosting service itself doesn't have a speed issue by looking under "Members Only" then "Publications" and choosing one of the PDF files listed. They open very quickly.
gsmela@ssvt.net
So Greg... how do we get the database reconfigured or changed?
Do we need some of this to be stored on a file system?
Is our database system too small?
Do we need some of this to be stored on a file system?
Is our database system too small?
David -
It likely just means optimizing or repairing the tables but without seeing it I couldn't say. I am basing my observation on my experience.
That said, I understand that a proposal for updating the site is being considered.
It likely just means optimizing or repairing the tables but without seeing it I couldn't say. I am basing my observation on my experience.
That said, I understand that a proposal for updating the site is being considered.
gsmela@ssvt.net
It seems that we are talking about two different problems. One is the slowness of the site. The other is the infrequent updating of information on the site. To me the second problem is the most serious because without timely updates of information it appears as if the site is being neglected. Of course both problems are important since if the content doesn't display properly
nothing works. Luckily the site functions pretty well but I see the need for improvement on both fronts.
Regarding the first problem, generally sites like this have gatekeeper administrators who are skilled in web site management. They know how and have access to uploading content. The knowledge of how to do this can be complicated and difficult to learn but once learned its basically a technical routine that involves knowledge of whatever software application is being used. In this case I believe the application is Joomla.
The second problem is one that involves deciding what actually gets uploaded. I view this as an organizational problem. Since VBA is an organization that is run by a board of directors, I assume the directors have given permission to certain people to make editing decisions. The people who maintain the site are not necessarily the best people to make editing decisions. Since it isn't usually a good idea to allow just any content to be uploaded there needs to be some kind of process for making those decisions. Usually there are key people who make these decisions using their judgement combined with some kind of democratic approach that ensures the content is relevant to the club members.
I see on the minutes from the Summer meeting there was an item "help with web site input".
There isn't any mention of any discussion that occurred regarding this.
I also see that there was a web site expense of $200 recorded.
nothing works. Luckily the site functions pretty well but I see the need for improvement on both fronts.
Regarding the first problem, generally sites like this have gatekeeper administrators who are skilled in web site management. They know how and have access to uploading content. The knowledge of how to do this can be complicated and difficult to learn but once learned its basically a technical routine that involves knowledge of whatever software application is being used. In this case I believe the application is Joomla.
The second problem is one that involves deciding what actually gets uploaded. I view this as an organizational problem. Since VBA is an organization that is run by a board of directors, I assume the directors have given permission to certain people to make editing decisions. The people who maintain the site are not necessarily the best people to make editing decisions. Since it isn't usually a good idea to allow just any content to be uploaded there needs to be some kind of process for making those decisions. Usually there are key people who make these decisions using their judgement combined with some kind of democratic approach that ensures the content is relevant to the club members.
I see on the minutes from the Summer meeting there was an item "help with web site input".
There isn't any mention of any discussion that occurred regarding this.
I also see that there was a web site expense of $200 recorded.
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