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Archiver > USGENWEB-ALL > 2008-09 > 1221664123


From: "Tina S. Vickery" <>
Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:08:43 -0400
References: <B70C9036F75B4CFFA76F041AC0AE18A3@TinaSVickeryPC><48C99D7C.8060409@saintclair.org><45AA21E190DA4CF28D2952FA57958841@CyndieDell><01d001c91695$7c4c8ea0$7301a8c0@scott><15E1473EF414423B8CD2E587A9613F43@CyndieDell><96A004BE87FA4AC89729EA2DE54A26EA@TinaSVickeryPC><2F9B71414E5547DFAA940497A2E393E0@CyndieDell><E9A54FC4F80745DEAD612A7C4AC8910D@CyndieDell><49F2D6E56951461AA5561AF6B2F81C82@TinaSVickeryPC><FA3BFF1530D84CC3AC54801DBA6F76A8@CyndieDell>
In-Reply-To: <FA3BFF1530D84CC3AC54801DBA6F76A8@CyndieDell>


Thank you Cyndie and Phyllis.

Discussion?

Tina
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cyndie" <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 10:54 AM
Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues


> With permission from Phyllis and Tina, I'm forwarding the following
> proposal
> that Phyllis started regarding Duties and Qualifications of a Webmaster
> Task
> Group. This proposal includes a section on qualifications which I think
> are
> the same or very close to what Tina posted in her message.
>
> Cyndie
> SP Rep.
>
>
>
> USGenWeb Project bylaws: Article VI, Sections 3, 4 and 5 give the duties
> of
> the Advisory Board in regard to a Webmaster and Project websites. Also
> stated is one Webmaster duty in conjunction with the AB...i.e. "ensure the
> national website is in compliance with the stated bylaws of The USGenWeb
> Project."
>
> This proposed Standard Rule in no way conflicts with the Bylaws:
> _____________
>
> Standard Rules:
>
> Section XI: Duties and Qualifications of A Webmaster Task Group
>
> The USGenWeb Project Advisory Board shall appoint a Webmaster Task Group
> composed of a Webmaster, Assistant Webmaster and two members to serve as
> liaisons between the Webmaster and Advisory Board. In addition, the
> National Coordinator shall serve as an ex officio member.
>
> Personnel in this Task Group are to be verified at the beginning of each
> Project year and names changed if necessary.
>
> Names and email address of each member of the Task Group will be posted on
> the national entry page.
>
> Section A: Duties of Webmaster
>
> Section 1: The duties of the Webmaster shall be the maintenance and
> upkeep
> of the national pages; informing the Assistant Webmaster and the National
> Coordinator of the codes/passwords to the National Pages website; and work
> to insure the national pages are in compliance with the Bylaws of USGenWeb
> Project.
>
> Section 2: The Assistant Webmaster will aid the Webmaster when asked and
> will assume the duties of Webmaster in the event the Webmaster is unable
> to
> carry out the duties specified herein.
>
> Section 3: Qualifications for Webmaster and Assistant Webmaster shall be
> the same. They shall have strong demonstrated knowledge and understanding
> of HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets); Knowledge of FTP software; Have
> been a member in good standing of the USGenWeb Project for a minimum of
> six
> months; Be able to devote a total of at least 24 hours spread over the
> course of each month on site maintenance and upkeep; Be able to respond in
> a
> timely manner to requested updates from the Advisory Board liasons; Report
> problems and Concerns to the Advisory Board Liaisons.
>
> Section 4: Two Advisory Board members will serve as liaisons between the
> general membership, Advisory Board and Webmaster, in order to insure an
> organized, accurate method of communication among all parties.
>
> Section 5: Qualifications of the Liasons are considered covered by the
> fact
> they were elected to national office; plus a knowledge of Article VI,
> Sections 3, 4 and 5 of The USGenWeb Project Bylaws.
>
> Section 6: With the exception of a personnel issue being under discussion
> by the Advisory Board, Webmaster concerns and problems that arise will
> take precedence over all agenda items.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> [mailto:] On Behalf Of Tina S. Vickery
> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 9:06 AM
> To:
> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>
> Never mind my last note (not enough coffee yet <g>), thanks Cyndie.
> Tina
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Cyndie" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 7:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>
>
>> Just to clarify my last statement, here is the link from last session
>> where
>> Phyllis volunteered to work on this:
>>
> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/USGENWEB-ALL/2008-08/121934391
>> 6
>> The position of assistant webmaster was discussed to be part of a
>> Webmaster
>> Duties and Qualifications formulation.
>>
>> And here is where you asked her to go forth with it:
>>
> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/USGENWEB-ALL/2008-08/121935957
>> 5
>>
>> I believe the intent of this Webmasters Duties and Qualifications
>> formulation was to incorporate it into our Standard Procedures and I feel
>> we
>> should continue to work on that this session.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Cyndie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:
>> [mailto:] On Behalf Of Cyndie
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 2:52 AM
>> To:
>> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>>
>> Tina,
>>
>> What happened to the draft that Phyllis started?
>>
>> Cyndie
>> SP Rep.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:
>> [mailto:] On Behalf Of Tina S. Vickery
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:00 AM
>> To:
>> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>>
>> Cyndie, if I understand you correctly, (please correct me if I haven't),
>> you
>> are suggesting a Standard Procedure for the USGenWeb Project to have both
>> a
>> web master and an assistant web master? If so, do you have a draft
>> procedure to share with the Board for discussion?
>>
>> The web master call that I posted here a few days ago has received no
>> comment. Are there comments from either you or other Board members on
>> the
>> content of that call?
>>
>>
> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/USGENWEB-ALL/2008-09/122140607
>> 1
>>
>> Tina
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Cyndie" <>
>> To: <>
>> Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 1:01 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>>
>>
>>> We have had an assistant some years and not had one others, so future
>>> AB's may opt not to have one based on past precedent. I think it is a
>>> good idea to have an assistant and having a Standard Procedure that
>>> specifies it will help encourage future AB's to have one (unless, of
>>> course, they change the procedure or there are no volunteers).
>>>
>>> I think we need to be consistent in putting out calls for volunteers.
>>> We reappointed the secretary and discuss list folks by asking if they
>>> wanted to continue to serve and since they did, we did not put out a
>>> call.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Cyndie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From:
>>> [mailto:] On Behalf Of Scott Burow
>>> Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 2:13 PM
>>> To:
>>> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>>>
>>> Perhaps the wisest thing to do at this juncture would be to place a
>>> call to the membership for interested parties who would like to
>>> volunteer for the webmaster and assistant webmaster positions.
>>>
>>> There is precedent for having an assistant webmaster, so no additional
>>> special rules or standing rules would need to be adjusted or amended
>>> to provide for such a position.
>>>
>>> In that way, we're fair to all members who may wish to volunteer for
>>> the positions, as well as have the greatest pool of interested members
>>> to draw from.
>>>
>>> Then once selecting those to fill the positions, we would benefit from
>>> their input relating to a job description (rather than a procedure)
>>> for the positions.
>>>
>>> Scott
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Cyndie" <>
>>> To: <>
>>> Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 6:43 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>>>
>>>
>>>> I'm mostly in agreement with Mike.
>>>>
>>>> I think developing a Standard Procedure related to the Webmaster's
>>>> responsibilities and evaluating our goals for the long term regarding
>>>> webhosting could be done by a few of the AB members while we move on to
>>>> other items. #1 could possibly be taken care of by monitoring the
>>>> logs,
>>>> tracking any reports of trouble and performing routine maintenance
>>>> (such as link checks) as part of a Standard Procedure.
>>>>
>>>> Cyndie
>>>> SP Rep.
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From:
>>>> [mailto:] On Behalf Of Mike St.
>>>> Clair/ST
>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 6:37 PM
>>>> To:
>>>> Subject: Re: [ABChat] Website maintenance / website host issues
>>>>
>>>> I think there are really four discrete but closely related issues
>>>> that we should talk about, which I have listed below in the order I
>>>> think they would best be discussed. Then we should take action on any
>>>> of these where the majority of the board feel action is called for. I
>>>> acknowledge that this is just one way this subject could be divided;
>>>> a division that makes sense to me. I will certainly listen to any
>>>> other suggested ways to divide this set of issues.
>>>>
>>>> I think that subissue #1 can be quickly decided by the entire board
>>>> and that subissue #2 should be discussed by the entire board. I
>>>> suggest that a small subset of volunteers from within the AB (perhaps
>>>> 3) should discuss and investigate subissues #3 and #4 (in that
>>>> order), presenting the results to the AB for discussion and
>>>> confirmation. As part of the work on both, I suggest that small
>>>> surveys be done to gather information on what other similar
>>>> organizations are doing. In the case of #4, I suggest that we survey
>>>> the states and USGENWEB members about the web hosting providers they
>>>> are using and their satisfaction with those providers. This would
>>>> provide a starting point for the subset of the many such available
>>>> providers that would be examined in deciding whether we would be best
>>>> served by moving, or staying with our current provider.
>>>>
>>>> My breakdown of these issues into four separate subissues follows:
>>>>
>>>> 1 -- Performance and Capabilities of the current web hosting
>>>> provider, IX
>>>>
>>>> I and some others, including our webmaster, encountered serious
>>>> performance problems at times with our current provider from the time
>>>> our website moved until sometime in August. As Cyndie mentioned,
>>>> there has recently been a noticeable improvement. Since I noticed the
>>>> same sorts of problems during the same period with the server used by
>>>> ILGenWeb (also from IX) I was concerned this was much broader than
>>>> our server. I took the time to do a little research and found many
>>>> other complaints from IX account holders, most of them appearing
>>>> during the past year. It may be coincident, but IX made a major data
>>>> center move in 2007, and I noticed many of the complaints were
>>>> concurrent with that move and the following months.
>>>>
>>>> Based on the significant improvements that started in late August,
>>>> however, I think we could probably take this part of the combined
>>>> webhosting issues and drop it's priority, unless the former problems
>>>> return. As long as that doesn't happen, I suggest we just let item #4
>>>> address comparing IX with other potential web host providers, and
>>>> helping us decide whether we should stay or whether we would be
>>>> better served by moving to another alternative in the long run.
>>>>
>>>> 2 -- What portion of the web maintenance responsibility belongs to
>>>> the NC and what portion belongs to the Advisory Board.
>>>>
>>>> The only mentions of website maintenance and webmaster appointment
>>>> appearing in the bylaws refer to the AB, not the NC. But it appears
>>>> that this has traditionally left to the NC, perhaps under their
>>>> operational duties role.
>>>> I'd like us to discuss, decide and document, how this is really to
>>>> operate while remaining in line with what the bylaws call for.
>>>> Perhaps deciding this would help in deciding subissue #3. On the
>>>> other hand, discussing and deciding subissue #3 might help with this
>>>> one. I tend to think #2 should come before #3, but I will listen to
>>>> what the rest of you have to say about it.
>>>>
>>>> 3 -- Webmaster responsibilities: What should they be? Who should
>>>> assist (e.g. should there be an assistant webmaster)? Who should
>>>> provide oversight, support, and assistance from within the AB?
>>>>
>>>> I understand that Phyllis Rippee started drafting something, but I
>>>> haven't seen that. Has anyone? If that exists, it might be a starting
>>>> point for discussion. In any event, I think discussion and
>>>> documentation of a formal list of responsibilities in the form of a
>>>> position description would help us resolve the obvious differences
>>>> that appeared during earlier discussion; differences between various
>>>> conceptions held by board and project members of what a webmaster
>>>> should be doing. Our target should be a documented list that the
>>>> majority of the board can sign off on. Then we should give the
>>>> webmaster the capability and responsibility to so perform and ask for
>>>> regular reports back on problems, accomplishments, suggested
>>>> improvements, etc. I'm suggesting that the same subset of the AB to
>>>> address subissue
>>>> #4
>>>> be tasked to address this one also, with the final decision to be
>>>> made by the full board, of course.
>>>>
>>>> 4 -- Long Term, what should our arrangments be for: web hosting,
>>>> domain registration, and DNS.
>>>>
>>>> After many years at Rootsweb, we made a quick move to another option
>>>> for webhosting. I think a more organized evaluation of the options
>>>> available would be useful before we decide to confirm that quick
>>>> decision for the longer term. The other two items I mention are
>>>> perhaps less crucial, but they are related and I think could be readily
>> examined at the same time.
>>>> This examination should include comparisons of the best options,
>>>> ideas of how to pay the bills, etc.
>>>>
>>>> Mike St. Clair
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Tina S. Vickery wrote:
>>>>> This agenda item is carried over as Old business. As Chair, I
>>>>> re-open the
>>>> discussion of this item.
>>>>>
>>>>> Tina Vickery
>>>>> National Coordinator
>>>>> USGenWeb Project
>>>>
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