National Association of Writers and Groups (development site – not for public use – official site: www.nawg.co.uk)

Task 1: Break up long articles into smaller ones

Description

Many of the current articles are long, containing a lot of useful information, but also require a lot of reading and scrolling. This could be improved by devising methods for sub-dividing the content, where appropriate.

[01-Feb-2017] The following candidates have been identified:

The sizes were derived using the following database query:

SELECT ID, LENGTH(post_content) AS len
FROM  wp_posts
WHERE (post_status = 'publish')
ORDER BY len DESC

Resolution

[02-Feb-2017] Split up some articles:

• "Festival 2015: Courses" and "Festival 2015: Timetable" are now two separate articles.
• "NAWGFest 2016: Workshops & Talks" and "NAWGFest 2016: Timetable" are now two separate articles.

[15-Dec-2017] Task suspended.

Task 2: Front page improvements

Description

The front page is usually the first place a visitor lands. For this reason, it should be as user-friendly as possible:

• Easy to understand,
• Easy to use,
• Convey information clearly.

Improvements can be made in this area.

Have a think about this and let me have your ideas. Please note that there's often a temptation to deem all things important and to try to put everything and the kitchen sink onto the front page. Doing that would just cause information overload and not help our visitors.

Most users would rather do one or two clicks to get to their information, than have to read through many paragraphs on the front page.

Resolution

[23-May-2017] Requested input from the committee.

[17-Jul-2017] Added "lack of emphasis" shortcomings to the list, along with suggested improvements.

[18-Jul-2017] Added "uninteresting/poor graphics" shortcomings to the list, along with suggested improvements.

[20-Jun-2017] Produced a proposed new front page, version "alpha-1", as part of site iteration 2.8.0:1, on the test site. Main changes are:

• Reducing the number of columns from two to one.
• Absorbing and condensing all panels into a single multi-tabbed panel.

[04-Aug-2017] Version "alpha-2" made available on the test site, iteration 2.8.0:2. Changes are listed below the main panels.

[08-Aug-2017] Version "alpha-3" presented on the test site, iteration 2.8.0:3.

[30-Aug-2017] Version "alpha-4" presented on the test site, iteration 2.8.0:4.

[22-Sep-2017] Version "beta-5" presented on the test site, iteration 2.8.0:5.

[2.8.0] New version of front page released.

Task 4: Email: accounts and addresses

Description

Review the use of the various email accounts used by the site, particularly the administrative ones. Some early thoughts:

• Consolidation – There are email links all over the place, without any particular consistency. If an email address changes, for any reason, then updating all the links will be a lot of work.

  A method for centrally storing the actual addresses, then using a referencing method when creating links in articles, would improve matters.

• Decoupling – The email addresses in use are often the ones belonging to the individuals concerned. This is not necessarily the best way forward, since:

  1. Roles can change within the organisation.
  2. It can result in messages regarding NAWG business and personal messages being mixed together in a person's mailbox.
  3. There may often be no official NAWG site copy of important messages.

  A better technique would be to set up official, role-based email addresses for the site. Ones that need not change over time, unless the roles themselves are seriously reorganised. Messages can then be copied/relayed to whoever is currently fulfilling the role in question.

• Symbolic addresses – Use short, symbolic names for email addresses, with a master look-up table and references for links, rather than hard-coding in each article. This will make email address changes easier to manage.

Resolution

[17-Aug-2016] Most of this work has been completed, with the exception of the last part – the use of symbolic names for email addresses in articles.

Task 6: Price calculator

Description

Some of our bigger events, such as NAWGFest, have a complex set of options when it comes to selecting and booking things. The current system of having a limited drop-down list of choices is insufficient and does not handle all situations. The result is that customers cannot select exactly what they want, nor can they be presented with the correct prices for their desired options.

The ability to render a price calculator would improve things greatly. This would permit every distinct option for an event (or other product) to be individually selected or omitted by the customer. The resulting price would be calculated and presented.

This new system would include the handling of things such as:

• Amounts of money pre-paid for (say) advance booking,
• Discounts,
• Preset combinations for popular choices, to ease the selection process.

The price calculator software would need to be integrated with PayPal (see related task 37), since this is a popular method of payment.

Many integrations are possible, but a first "quick win" step is to introduce the following widgets that can be applied to any article:

• "Like us on facebook" buttons.
• "Follow us on twitter" buttons.
• Similar one-click tricks for other social media?

Provide a full calendar for Link magazine, showing the following dates:

• The six publication dates.
• The corresponding six deadline dates for submissions from contributors.

At a committee meeting, held on 21^st November 2015, it was decided that:

1. Publication dates will normally be on the 1^st of the following months: Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug, Oct, Dec.
2. The deadline for content submissions will be on the 1^st of the month before each publication, i.e: Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Nov.

We have a collection of handy first lines, for writers who may be stuck for a beginning to their story. There are, at the time of writing, 416 lines. We intend to release these in smaller batches on a regular basis, in order to encourage people to visit the website frequently.

After every 50 lines, we'll add an alternative, such as a piece of writing advice, or a story prompt.

[29-Oct-2016] At a committee meeting, it was decided to display ten of the first lines per month.

[08-Nov-2016] The first ten are now on the website.

[08-Dec-2016] The second ten are now on the website.

[08-Jan-2017] The third ten are now on the website.

[08-Feb-2017] The fourth ten are now on the website.

[14-Mar-2017] The fifth ten are now on the website.

[10-Apr-2017] Added resource article: "Link to Think".

[14-May-2017] Added resource article: "Bare Bones Writing".

[17-May-2017] The procedure is now well under way. Task marked as completed.

Produce a feature which enables users to enter things directly using the website, rather than having to download entry forms as separate documents which must then be emailed or printed and posted.

The following are examples that could make use of this feature:

• Application forms for membership.
• Competition entry forms.
• Booking forms for events.
• Payment forms.

This would be an additional feature; the downloadable documents would still be available for those who prefer them.

Here are a number of WordPress plug-ins that might provide some of the necessary functionality:

• Caldera Forms
• Contact Form 7 – Currently in use.
• Formidable Forms
• Gravity Forms – Rejected as there's no free version.
• Ninja Forms

[11-Nov-2016] There is an interesting WordPress TV presentation about the "MAPEE pyramid" way of thinking about forms.

[17-Mar-2017] Another WordPress TV presentation about creating good forms.

Add information and a logo about Gift Aid to the "thinking of joining?" page.

Many of our customers will be unaware of how NAWG is operated. In particular:

• We have a relatively small number of staff.
• We work part time and voluntarily, for no fee.
• We have many other commitments in our lives.
• Particular staff may be unavailable for long periods.

This can lead to frustration, particularly when email enquiries do not get a timely response.

A simple way to mitigate this issue, is to set up our email systems so that an initial automatic reply is given. This automated message (e.g. similar to an "out of office" reply) would need to politely:

• Provide some or all of the information given in the list above.
• Set a realistic expectation for when their enquiry will be addressed.
• Suggest alternative means of interacting with us.

Provide a "good email" guide, to include things like:

• Tips for efficient use, e.g:
  • Organising messages and folders.
  • Who to include in which fields: "to", "cc", "bcc".
  • Writing good headlines and why.
  • Keeping messages simple and organised: one thread, one subject, one headline.
• Etiquette:
  • Professional and polite.
  • Do's and don't's.

The initial thinking is that this guide would be for internal use, but it could be given a wider audience if deemed appropriate.

[27-Sep-2016] Started a mind-map to collect ideas.

[15-Dec-2017] Task suspended.

The contact form is allowing too much spam and other unwanted communications (see issue 0009). Measures need to be taken to reduce this.

[09-Apr-2018] Implemented Akismet handling to the contact form.

[14-Jun-2018] Spam significantly reduced. Task marked as completed.

We have successfully used Internet Relay Chat (IRC) rooms for committee meetings. The same technology may be useful as a means for our members to communicate. This needs to be investigated.

Discussion forums, sometimes referred to as "bulletin boards", are a useful way to communicate online. This may be a useful facility for our members. The possibilities need to be investigated.

Most of the website's commercial parts offer PayPal as a means of payment. This is convenient to the end user but, at present, is cumbersome for administrators to work with. Some of the reasons for this are given below.

• The workflow to provide a new PayPal interface (e.g. an "add to cart" button) is complex and requires several people to administer. For example:

  1. The committee agree on options and prices for the new product.
  2. The treasurer logs into PayPal (as the "merchant") and uses this information to add the product and generate the markup code for the button.
  3. The markup code is copied or attached to an email message, then send to the web administrator.
  4. The administrator applies the markup to a testing area, after adjusting for site-specific concerns such as visual appearance and layout.
  5. During testing, issues are discovered which require changes to be made. Go back to step 2…
  6. No errors – the markup is deployed to the live site.

  It should be apparent that this is a very inefficient and error-prone way to work.

• Every instance of a PayPal button on the site has its own set of complex and cumbersome markup. This is difficult to edit without making mistakes, particularly if the editor is relatively unskilled with HTML.

  The lack of consistency across the many PayPal buttons means that if something "global" should change, such as our account number or other credentials, then every single instance would have to be separately edited. Another time consuming and error-prone process.

A better system is needed and this needs to be designed. In particular:

• The workflow needs to be improved.
• Our software needs to support simpler and reusable markup.
• Editing articles containing PayPal buttons should have a reduced risk of messing them up.

[17-Aug-2016] A possible way forward might be to use a PayPal API in order to provide a closer integration between their systems and ours.

The website in general, and in particular the "NAWG Classic" display theme, has been designed for desktop computers. When used on devices with smaller screens and/or resolutions, both the appearance and the usability are reduced.

Mobile devices gain popularity every day and are considered the "norm" by may users. Our website should look and feel good on all devices, e.g:

• Desktop computers & laptops,
• Netbooks & tablets,
• Mobile "smart" phones.

The first step on the way to making improvements will be to research possible technologies and techniques to use.

Provide a facility so that people can make donations online.

[27-Feb-2017] This may or may not involve Just Giving. We may simply handle this ourselves.