[hackerspaces] RFC: what would you like to see on MakerXP.org?

[Russell Fair]

Randall,

A good start so far. As an experienced web developer (8 years or so with
WordPress) take everything that I say with a grain of salt.

- what sort of content do you all think we should create and manage? I'd
focus on the impact that makers are making. Not the "what" . E.g. you can
say I made a robot, but who cares? Why is the robot important? how will it
impact people.

- what sort of Wordpress theme do you recommend? (I'm not too sure
about the current one, although it is very flexible) - don't use anything
from themeforest. The more "customizable" a theme is, the worse it is. Find
a decent developer (I'm happy to help" who can set up your site the right
way. You'll thank me later.

- what would expect on the landing page? LESS is more. Feature one or two
cool stories. Make people love the makers and not the website.

- Buddypress: yes or no? (it's currently installed) - Oh god no. Are you
trying to make a social network for makers? Buddypress is a monster and
unless you know just what you're doing, it will get in your way. What
features are important to you? In almost every situation there will be
better stand alone plugins that will do a better job that BP.

- ads: yes or no? sure - you have to pay your hosting bill, domain and for
your time to manage the site. Keep the ads tasteful and reasonable and
you'll be fine. More than 3 placements is questionable. 5 is way too many,
IMHO.

- sponsor content (assuming we get some): yes or no? yes. copy of above
response but will make your site more of a resource to makers / makerspaces.

- should MakerXP manage a meta calendar for maker/hacker events? no. 1 - it
is fu***ng difficult to manage a calendar when you consider all the API's
(meetup, XML / RSS / facebook / eventbrite / whatever else. Plus you'll
only have < 50% of "all" the events. spend your time managing other stuff.

- are you interested in beta testing the site? absolutely. I can help .

- are you interested in contributing occasional articles? yes and web
development if you're interested.


Good luck!


Russell


On Mon, Dec 22, 2014 at 2:30 PM, Randall Arnold <randall.arnold at texrat.net>
wrote:

>  Greetings all,
>
>
> Although it may not look like it, I'm still at work on the
> http://makerxp.org website, twitter account and the Maker Community
> Experience book I mentioned a while back.  Just been delayed, mostly by
> health issues, but getting back on track.  The twitter account has been
> kept active and growing rapidly!
>
>
> Naturally the book will be a big focus of the website, but we want it to
> have a life beyond just that.  Given that there are already many web
> resources supporting the hacker/maker movements, we need to identify the
> full, specific purpose for the MakerXP site.  So I'm asking for input.
>
>
> In summary, MakerXP will focus on maker community experiences, with great
> emphasis on makerspaces, hackathons (and related events), creative
> approaches to education and similar subjects.  Our goal is mainly to
> educate those outside the movement on what makers/hackers are about, mostly
> at a fairly high level.  We will naturally direct interested parties to
> existing resources like hackerspaces.org for granular detail.
>
>
> Given that information, what are your thoughts on:
>
>
> - what sort of content do you all think we should create and manage?
>
> - what sort of Wordpress theme do you recommend? (I'm not too sure
> about the current one, although it is very flexible)
>
> - what would expect on the landing page?
>
> - Buddypress: yes or no? (it's currently installed)
>
> - ads: yes or no?
>
> - sponsor content (assuming we get some): yes or no?
>
> - should MakerXP manage a meta calendar for maker/hacker events?
>
> - are you interested in beta testing the site?
>
> - are you interested in contributing occasional articles?
>
>
> ...along with any other thoughts you may have.  Thanks for any and all
> input!
>
>
> Randy
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>


-- 
Thanks,

Russell Fair
770.401.9039
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