[AC-Admins] Website requests/thoughts

[Solei]

Thanks for getting some feedback started, Blue, and thanks for 
continuing, Simba. I was hoping to get a few more comments besides 
“great job!” So this helps a lot. :D

I will individually address these now. This is going to be a long 
e-mail, so please refer to the table of contents to find a section 
you're interested in. Summary is at the bottom.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BlueOtter
*Obfuscate E-mail addresses
*Capitalize BlueOtter in the admin list (oops!)
*Photos of us on the site (:D!)
*Make the “Chat now!” link stand out more.

Simba:
*Blue otter needs new Mail client.
*Commissioning an artist to draw us pretty pichers
*Adding links to other IRC clients
*Adding useful information to the CGI:IRC page
-common commands
-note that there are other channels
-5 to 10 most populated channels
*We need a FAQ, instructions, and explanations. Help section!
*a “contact us” section
*Users' mailing list link
*Forms (I want them back too)
*Needs to be done by AC.

Alright! Let's start from the top. :D


OBFUSCATING E-MAIL ADDRESSES
I like this idea, but I have a better one. I'm going to put a script in 
place of all the e-mail addresses that will send mail out to us from a 
web forum instead of having to put a possibly complicated and confusing 
obfuscated link on the page instead. We'll keep things more simple, and 
secure this way.


PHOTOS OF US ON THE SITE
I /really/ like this idea a lot (and so does Simba!). Any photos you 
have of us, please submit for the win. I'll bring my awesometastic 
digicam to AC with me, and we'll have to take a few groupshots (and hey! 
How 'bout go out for a meal together? :D)


MAKE THE “CHAT NOW!” LINK STAND OUT MORE
I can do this simply and effectively by changing the link text to the 
same Orange as the Anthrochat logo. I think that's the most attractive, 
and best solution to this- and it wouldn't really be breaking the style 
of the site. Simba also touched on this, talking about possibly making a 
link on the main page, though I'm not sure what I think of that 
particular idea without at least posting more links to the main page. 
The main page is something we'll have to figure out together here, and 
can be a topic of further discussion a bit later. For now, we'll address 
the issues here. :3


BLUE OTTER NEEDS A NEW MAIL CLIENT
... XD


ADDING LINKS TO OTHER IRC CLIENTS
This is something I hadn't thought of, but is a very good idea. I'll put 
said links in the help section- which is not yet implimented, and I will 
touch on in the “Help Section” topic. What IRC clients do you guys use? 
My list would look something like this:
**Windows:**
HydraIRC
mIRC
(I will not list Xchat here because their windows client is no longer 
free. What the fuck? Also, I'm aware that Gaim and Trillian support IRC, 
but they do not do it very well- and they can be rather complicated to 
set up. If you guys still think I should include them, I most certainly 
will.)
**Mac OS <10**
IRCle
**Mac OS 10**
Colloquy
Conversation (easiest to use by far!)
X-chat Aqua
**Linux:**
Xchat
BitchX
Any others you think I should include? Add 'em to the list!


ADDING USEFUL INFORMATION TO CGI:IRC PAGE
I think this is a wonderful idea. The three basic things Simba brought u 
were: common commands, note that there are other channels, and a list of 
the 5 to 10 most populated channels. I like this idea a whole lot. HEY 
PIPPIN! That nifty Nagios thinggy you have- is there a way to get it to 
post information of this sort to a MySQL server?


HELP SECTION
The FAQ, Instruction “manual”, and explanations all outlined in Simba's 
e-mail are things we had talked about previously. The reason they aren't 
on the site presently is due to a lack of time on my end, but I will get 
that section written up soon. I fully support the principals behind this 
idea, so it /will/ happen soon. :3


CONTACT US SECTION
I think this is a good idea- and I will add this to the bottom of the 
page- where I find contact us links most commonly.


USERS' MAILING LIST LINK
We have a users mailing list? o_O Since when? D00d. Hook me up with that 
link, I need to join it. :D There will definitely be a link to this in 
the “help” section of the site.


FORUMS
These need to return. I agree with Simba- Livejournal is useful for some 
things, but a forum would be a much more professional solution. I'll 
work on that in a bit. Were we still going to attempt to integrate 
forums to services? That sounded like an awesome idea that would also 
require a great deal of work. :/


NEEDS TO BE DONE BY AC
I'll try my best to get the bulk of this done by AC, though time is 
rather limited on my end of things. Bobby and I have entirely too many 
projects going on right now. X3

That should cover everything said in those two e-mails, so with that, I 
now have a laundry list of things to get done. I won't have time to get 
much done yet tonight, but I should have time in the near future. 
Anything else? Comments and replies on this would be helpful. Thanks a 
lot guys- I hope to see this trend continue! :3!

-Solei