Reworking old websites

brittney fosbrook posted on November 2, 2006 - 5:53pm 1 comment

I am currently reworking an old website for HPP, Helping-SF. This website is meant for low-income families and case managers. In it's current form, the website is very disorganized both in terms of content and also in terms of pages and locations. There are numerous broken links, orphaned pages and older versions housed within numerous local locations. Although I have some experience with dreamweaver, I have never moved an existing site to a new location. I am not sure if it would be better to work with the existing local files and reorganize that way or whether I should migrate the site to a local folder and start fresh. Any suggestions?

ALSO, I cannot log into the CTC Vista Project site from my computer in the office, but I can from other computers in the office. I was able to when I first started, but I have not been able to since. Any suggestions on how I can change that? This is the reason for my posting lack in the last couple of weeks.

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Aliya Abbasi commented on November 3, 2006 - 6:03pm

i would suggest, you start with an analysis of the current site and make lists of it's plus points and minus points. then talk with others in the organization and make lists of must-haves, like-to-haves.

site migration should be easy enough - it is usually just copying the files to the new location. i would strongly recommend that you divide the project into parts so it is easier to handle and don't forget to save a copy of all the old files (just in case to a cd). i've waded thru a couple of site migrations and i'd be happy to help; let me know via email or phone.

Good-Luck!

brittney fosbrook's Recent Field Reports

1.5 months out

brittney fosbrook posted on July 11, 2007 - 5:25pm no comments

hello there ctc vista project. things here at homeless prenatal are going right along-- i'm unofficially the interim technology manager. this means that i have been doing insane amounts of troubleshooting and teaching for both clients and staff. …read more

cool documentary that i think digital media folks working with youth might like to see...

brittney fosbrook posted on January 10, 2007 - 2:53pm 2 comments

as a vista in the city i am alway looking out for free and interesting events. the public library in san francisco is pretty amazing at showing free films a couple of times per month and last night i had the pleasure of checking out the awesome documentary by Byron Hurt entitled " Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes." The documentary take as in-depth look at masculinity, misogyny, violence and homophobia within mainstream hip hop music and culture. although i thought the analysis could have run a bit deeper, the film makes a point to trace the interconnections of white supremacy, racism, homophobia, sexism and capitalism. and not only that, there are appearances by 50cent, mos def, fat joe and a bunch of other famous artists. …read more

master troubleshooter should be my VISTA title

brittney fosbrook posted on December 4, 2006 - 7:20pm 3 comments

i'm not sure if i have talked with anyone about this, but two weeks ago (i cannot believe how much time has gone by already) i went to an drupal extreme makeover. basically, i was feed for two days and taught the ins and outs of drupal. well, i was taught as much as you can learn in a crash course. i was also able to work one-on-one with a drupal expert to start the revision of our extremely outdated helping-sf. it was an amazing experience (& free for our organization too!) in the past two weeks, however, i have had about zero time to work on the website. this drives me crazy. currently, i am teaching class, helping in the technology center, doing general tech support for the office (meaning about 20 phone calls a day) and being a lead interviewer for my new boss (what?!?). i feel as though there is no time to actually work on the projects that i feel i was hired for. my job title would be more accurately stated as "master troubleshooter". …read more

when transitional periods become the norm...

brittney fosbrook posted on November 15, 2006 - 2:31pm 2 comments

hello from san francisco. it has been almost 3 weeks since my boss left and there is still no permanent new hire in sight. currently, my ex-boss's niece is filling her position but i think it is only until the end of the year. it is strange to automatically fill such a huge role in the organization. i am now teaching a technology class to the community health workers on staff and going full speed ahead on website reworking. everything is finally settling back down and the only huge obstacle is my lack of proficiency in spanish. when i am the only person in the lab (which does happen often now) and a spanish speaker comes in i feel so useless. my spanish skills, however, are rapidly improving. …read more