Tech Group Report 2010-10-31

Tech Working Group Report October 2010

http://freegle.it/Tech

The task list for Tech can be found at http://freegle.it/TechTasks ; regular tech jobs and responsibilities are recorded on the wiki - http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Tech_Jobs and http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Tech_Responsibilities . The group currently has 73 members.

This report is for September to October 2010, messages 1735 to 2517.

Mass Mailing

• This has continued to be worked upon throughout this period with Paul setting up freegle.it with SPF. This reliability is still not resolved
• Edward has approached Yahoo to see if they can help with multi mailings to -owner addresses but there has been no response to date.
• Structure took up the topic of looking into an alternative approach to ensuring contact with all Volunteers.

Tasks 19.4-19.6 Priority 1

Yahoo and Alternative Sites

The changes to Yahoo Groups prompted a discussion to look at alternative hosting provision for Freegle groups. The discussion was put on the wiki - http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/What_a_New_System_Should_Have so that a proper evaluation could be made on various options. A suggestion to produce a technical pros and cons list about Yahoo Groups was not taken up.
(Not on task list)

Photo Permissions Release

A proposal to devise a form that people can sign to give permission to use photos on the website was discussed.
(Not on task list)

Yahoo Group for Panel

In response to a request for help Tom offered to assist the Ombudsman in setting up a Yahoo group for the Arbitration Panel.
(Not on task list)

Mobile App/Bespoke Site

An offer by Elliot to the mailbox to design a mobile app for Freegle was taken up by inviting him to join the Tech Group. Elliiot posted his ideas which resulted in an ongoing discussion about devising a bespoke site facility for Freegle groups.
(Not on task list)

Republishing for RSS/ Facebook/Twitter

• Edward has provided this new facility for Freegle groups to take up if they wish. The group discussed various and many issues surrounding the implementation and formed a large majority of activity on the group over the past two months.
• The website ‘find a group’ pages now includes information about which groups offer RSS, Twitter and/or Facebook.
• A playground for moderators to try out this new facility was set up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeglePlayground/
• Support for group moderators wishing to implement the facility is available on:
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreegleModsHomePageHelp/
• The Wiki has been updated throughout the development - all pages are categorised under: http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Category:Republishing

(Not on task list)

Other Linking Sites

A suggestion to evaluate the advantages of formally linking to other groups such as Ecobees was suggested and is still being discussed.
(Not on task list)

Website

• Member FAQ: The suggested member FAQ section for the website has been proofread and now awaits importing onto the website.
• A suggestion to put more information on the home page of the website was briefly discussed.

(Not on task list)

Wiki

A question about uploading screenshots on the Wiki resulted in several suggestions on methods to use.

Regular Tasks

• The Wikipedia entry for Freegle is regularly updated with membership numbers by Jon.
• Chris provides a summary report from Google Analytics for perusal by the group.
• A monthly reminder to check the Task List to ensure high priority items are being actioned hasn’t been taken up.

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posted as a Special Notice on Central 5th November 2010 posted on the wiki - http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Tech_Group_Report_2010-10-31

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