strathspey@strathspey.org:64354

Bruce Herbold

Re: ADMINISTRIVIA: Feature upgrade done (LONG)

July 30, 2013, 4:17 a.m. (Message 64354, in reply to message 64349)

thanks -- I look forward to exploring it.  I have been conflicted over the
FB/Strathspey usage and hope this gets us back onto a more common path of
communication.


On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 10:40 AM, Anselm Lingnau <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>wrote:

> It seems that the new version of the Strathspey server code has gone in
> without major problems. On top of the usual bunch of bug fixes, this
> includes
> the following new features:
>
> Social networking (sort of)
> ---------------------------
>
> The site now supports »user profiles« and the idea of making »friends« with
> other users (for the loose notion of »friendship« that has become the norm
> on
> the Internet these days). It also supports the idea of »status updates«
> that
> people can post to tell their »friends«, or alternatively, as a matter of
> fact
> all site members, or indeed, alternatively, anyone on the Internet who
> cares
> to look, something that may be important to them. Which in the world of SCD
> could include event announcements, which dance you liked from last night's
> class, and similar kinds of profound news. When you go to
> http://my.strathspey.org/ , the site presents you with a customised
> »stream«
> of updates from your »friends« mixed together with stuff that other people
> considered of general interest.
>
> You can post status updates and specify who should be able to see them
> (friends, site members, everyone). You can also edit them later if you find
> something worth fixing or adding. So far there is no direct sharing of
> photos
> or videos, no comments and no »liking« other's updates but that could be
> added
> later (I'm not so hot on the »liking« but the other things look vaguely
> worthwhile to me). Status updates support the full ACE language so you get
> to
> add things like <<ddd:Braes of Breadalbane>>, to link into the Strathspey
> SCD
> database.
>
> The user profiles contain the usual social-networking stuff (birthday,
> place
> of residence, …) together with some SCD items. User profiles are completely
> optional and indeed you can specify for most items whether they should be
> visible to friends, site members, or the world at large. So far there is no
> facility for profile pictures but you can add mug shots through Gravatar
> (http://www.gravatar.com/). There will eventually be native profile
> pictures
> but I haven't got around to implementing them yet.
>
> SCD Group Lists and Maps
> ------------------------
>
> The SCD group database that used to be part of an earlier incarnation of
> the
> site is finally back. Right now it contains listings of RSCDS branches and
> affiliated groups (scraped off the RSCDS web site), but the plan is (a) to
> encourage people affiliated with the groups in question to take charge of
> their entries, and (b) to add as many non-RSCDS SCD groups as we can. So
> far
> there is no convenient interface for adding or editing group entries but
> that
> will come in due course.
>
> Personal Web Sites
> ------------------
>
> This is really the big one: Any registered site user can now start their
> own
> web site to publish SCD-related material such as dances, tunes, stories,
> pictures and so on. (I'm prepared to cut people a lot of slack here; if you
> want to post kitten pictures then suit yourselves as long as there is
> room. I
> draw the line at stuff that is in conflict with applicable law, which here
> in
> Germany essentially means swastikas and kiddie porn, or that in other ways
> endangers the safe operation of the site for everyone or annoys me.) It
> only
> takes a single click to start the site, and afterwards it can for the most
> part be maintained in a web browser using plain text, so you don't need to
> be
> a computer guru or web design king to do your thing.
>
> Stuff that you post can be »syndicated« so it shows up in the »stream« on
> the
> main page; either for your friends, for all site members, or anyone who
> comes
> to visit. This basically gives you a chance to start an »SCD blog« which
> will
> be aggregated with those of other site users. Go wild. Tell people what you
> think or which dances you have recently done, and liked, or not liked.
>
> At this point this is probably something for »early adopters«. However it
> seems to work rather nicely if I say so myself (and considering that it has
> been something like 10 years in the making it had better, anyway). There
> are
> lots of ideas for improvement and if you come up with some more then let me
> know. I'll be happy to provide hand-holding if that is wanted.
>
> Roadmap
> -------
>
> Here are a few things that could arrive in the future. Some of them are
> right
> around the corner and some others are still a way off.
>
>  * Groups. This would work in a similar way to »friendship« only that you
>    don't request to be friends with someone, you request to be a member of
> a
>    group. Groups could be »open«, i.e., accept anybody as a member, or
>    »closed«, i.e., a group owner/administrator/moderator would have to
>    approve the request. Of course, Strathspey not actually being a cult, it
>    would also be possible to leave a group again.
>
>    One obvious application of this would be to facilitate communication
>    between the members of a »real-life« SCD group. Another obvious idea
> would
>    be to allow »group ownership« of dance lists in the database, so a team
>    of teachers could work on a social programme together. But generally any
>    site member would be free to start groups so if someone wants to come up
>    with a group for the Left-Foot Poussette Haters' Society then that's
> fine
>    by me.
>
>    (If someone can come up with a better term than »groups«, which lends
>    itself to confusion with »real-life« SCD groups, that would be great.
>    Clans?)
>
>  * Group sites. There are a few dance groups right now which are hosting
>    their own (non-personal) web site on Strathspey, and there is room for
>    many more. As of now this is not »self-service« like the personal sites
>    are, but if you're interested then get in touch. (Once your site is set
>    up you will be able to do everything by yourself.) I can offer you DNS
>    names within rscds.net (for RSCDS branches only), scd-group.org (for
>    anybody), or schottentanz.de (for German-speaking groups), but you can
>    also make your own arrangements if you like. Drop me a line.
>
>  * Events. The system already contains a very sophisticated
> event-management
>    facility that supports everything from a unified event database to
> online
>    registration (we've been using this for the Frankfurt club's events for
>    years, and some others are starting with it now). Right now you need to
> be
>    a dance group with a Strathspey-based site to take advantage of this,
> but
>    there is no reason why individual users should not be allowed to add
> events
>    to the database.
>
>    This starts to become real fun when database dance lists acquire the
>    ability to be linked to events (or vice-versa).
>
> Why bother?
> -----------
>
> The obvious question to ask is why anyone would want to bother with a
> special
> social networking site for the SCD community when Facebook already exists,
> has
> 1.1 billion users, and everyone else is already over there. Here are a few
> possible answers:
>
>  * It works and is fun.
>
>  * It can do a few things that are useful to Scottish country dancers that
>    Facebook &c. cannot do and will never be able to do.
>
>  * On my.strathspey, there are no advertisers and nobody is interested in
>    collating everything you do and selling it off to Big Business or giving
>    it to the NSA for free. You are in charge of your own stuff and who gets
>    to see it. We don't pester you to share everything that you are or do,
>    but you could if you wanted to, and even if you do you can get rid of
>    it again later.
>
>  * My.strathspey and Facebook are not mutually exclusive. If nobody uses
>    my.strathspey for »social networking« and the only thing it is useful
> for
>    is hosting people's web sites (which Facebook cannot really do),
> publishing
>    events (which Facebook can sort-of do but it sucks), and running the
> dance
>    database (which is of no conceivable interest to Facebook whatsoever)
> then
>    it is still a handy resource.
>
> Again, if you have any comments, ideas, or other thoughts feel free to send
> them in. If you try the site then I'm already chuffed. Have fun. There may
> be
> some teething problems but I'll keep an eye on things.
>
> Anselm
> --
> Anselm Lingnau, Mainz/Mayence, Germany .................
> xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx
> You cannot teach beginners top-down programming, because they don't know
> which
> end is up.                                                   -- C. A. R.
> Hoare
>



-- 
Bruce Herbold
San Francisco

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause
and reflect." - Mark Twain