RE: Website and Statistics

[cheryl deaton <c95039e11@rewrite.aisboard.org>]

I have been doing some 'research' into the differences between "static" and
"dynamic" websites.  "Static" websites are older and operate with servers.
"Dynamic" websites are newer and more preferred by the people creating things
now (hence the name dynamic?).  I compare their information properties like
"static" is a world map and "dynamic" is a department store advertisement.
The world map holds lots of information, but it changes very slowly, such as
when a new country emerges, or the boundaries change due to war.  The 'links'
could have some shared information, but for the most part, each country is
independent of the others, even though they may have a lot in common. That is
the way the AIS Website is. The department store advertisement changes weekly,
involves lots of information, and evolves due to seasonal merchandise,
overbuys, holidays, new store openings, etc.  All the sub departments in the
department store may have a connection (winter coats, swimwear, etc.), and
they are all under the same roof, even with multiple locations, so if there is
a sale, then ALL swimwear - men's, women's, teen's, children's, goes on sale
at once. This is what the website for the LA Arboretum is like - there are
multiple events occurring every month, and change is constant.  I know my
analogy is simplistic, but it works for me.

The AIS Website has lots of information, but the majority of it changes only
once a year, sometimes twice...Convention information, Photo Contest dates,
Regional and Affiliate locations.  The E Membership operates with its own
server, the archives,  the Storefront has its own server, the WIKI is
independent as well.  They all are under the umbrella, but their information
is not shared (like it is on a dynamic site). We made a huge leap when we
instituted the SEARCH box, because it made some things easier to navigate.
Placing an update to the menu tabs (also known as links - I found that out
too!) could make it easier for computer novices like me to navigate the
website by categorizing some of the information contained on the website into
logical/frequent areas.  The biggest 'complaint/comment' I received from the
RVPs  was that they could not find AISLookup and the RVP Handbook. Those
things are not difficult to find if you know where to look, it's just
navigating the site.

The cost of $750 for the update with an additional $450 for contingencies (in
case the BOD wants to add or change things) is a little on the high side
according to the people I talked to, but the work involved is not a mere 20 or
30 minutes - it would take time and requires that each "page" involved would
need changing, so the cost is in the upper range.  Remember, we are dealing
with volunteers and these "professional" website creators do this daily and
for a living.  I can't see the advantages of changing from a "static" to a
"dynamic" site for our uses, but I still have a "dumb" phone that my 10 year
old grandson taught me how to use the camera on it without reading any
manual!
I would like a few more 'links' on the homepage for easier navigation, rather
than have things like AISLookup under the News link.  If it costs a little
money, it would come out of the Electronics restricted fund and not affect the
AIS budget nor the bottom line.

Cheryl Deaton

> Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 13:03:04 -0400
> To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
> Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] Website and Statistics
> From: 101p@rewrite.aisboard.org
>
> Thanks John for the data for the AIS website. Despite the problems that you
> hope to fix with the menu change as I pointed out in my posts the AIS
website
> is doing VERY well when compared with other plant societies. I base this on
> the ALEXA data which combines the AIS website and the wiki as a subdomain
and
> compares it to other sites. I think most people view this as one unit and I
> think that is proper. We are not competing with each other but must work
> together. It would appear that the wiki gets the majority of traffic. ALEXA
> showed that 82% of the traffic for the website went to the wiki. The Wiki
> shows that it sends 8% of it's traffic back to the website.
>
> I am glad you provided the definitions of the statistics in your chart
> becauseB some of the words are the same in the AWSTATS statistics but
defined
> slightly differently and so include different numbers. The two most
comparable
> were Pages/Month and Hits/Month. AWSTATS factors out all the unsuccessful
hits
> and does not include them listing them separately. It also distinguishes
> between hits and pages that were actually viewed by visitors and those that
> were viewed by Search Engines like Google that are updating their files. So
to
> compare the monthly data for April, I added back the search engines to give
> the totals which is what I believe you say Lunar Pages provided. For
example
> the website records 69,122 pages for April the wiki records 3,546,747
pages.
> The website records 1,117,182 hits for April and the wiki records 9,189,784
> hits without adding back the unsuccessful hits. The combined totals of the
> website and the wiki give us a very good ALEXA rating.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: "John Jones" <100h@rewrite.aisboard.org>
> To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
> Sent: Monday, June 9, 2014 3:44:12 PM
> Subject: [AISdiscuss] Website and Statistics
>
>
> Perhaps I can allay some concerns about the project.
>
>
> President Morris posted:
>
>
> "Designer A: B "$1200 for only a new menu B is actually insane. B IfB
> they're redoing the entire web site, then B that price is appropriate. B
Not
> menuB
> only, though."
>
> B Designer B: B "Adding a few links should B only take a few minutes ofB
> someone's time. A change to links does not B typically require art assets
to
> beB
> redone."
>
>
> Let's apply a little bit of a reality test to the comments above:
>
>
> Is there anyone on the board that really believes that it were as easy as
> "only a few minutes" as these "professional designers" have said, B that I
> would not have changed the navigation already? In fact, given the
suggestions
> that have come up over the years, I would have done it several times (or
> rather, presented a new version to the Board for approval)
>
>
> The individuals that have made these comments have not taken the time to
> investigate what platform and utilities our website is built on or to
> understand the fact that the underlying background graphic needs to be
changed
> to allow additional menu items to be added so they don't overlay parts of
the
> graphic. Additionally the script that generates the menu cascades has to be
> modified. The modifications have to be made to the home page and the five
> templates we use for all the other pages on the website.B
>
>
> The restriction on the navigation architecture we designed in the beginning
> was explained to the board before we implemented the project.B
>
>
>
>
> President Morris has asked that AWSTATS be installed on our website.
> Unfortunately that is not possible. Our website runs on what is known as
> aB shared server and Lunar Pages will not allow AWSTATS. If we wanted that
> particular program we would have to switch to a dedicated server for aB
cost
> of roughly $30.00 per month above the $20.00 per month we currently pay.
>
> There are other free programs that can be integrated into our website. They
> require that some code be B inserted on our pages but that is not
> aB overwhelming effort and I will integrate that code and generate reports
on
> a scheduled basis.B
>
>
> I don't make changes to the website changes without consulting the board.
> Every change that has been made was made with the approval of the board. I
> also don't waste money on frivolous projects. I finish projects that I
start.
> I have a track record that proves all that.
>
>
> I will commit to the following:
>
>
> If the motion to fund the navigation panel and the affected graphic areas
> upgrade is passed:
>
>
> I will immediately start the process of installing the code that will
provide
> statistics and we can start to collect the numbers. It will take a while to
> collect meaningful data. Chris Hollinshead has some health issues at the
> moment and is not available to assist in this effort.
>
>
> I will start the project to redesign the background graphic and the code
for
> the navigation menus of home and template pages so we know how many
additional
> menu items we will have room for. We can't make reasonable judgements on a
new
> navigation architecture until we know how much space we have. Otherwise it
> would be like trying to build a car engine without knowing how big the
engine
> compartment was. The home page is the only difficult page. The other pages
> follow on a limited number of templates.
>
>
> When we have sufficient statistical data to make thoughtful judgement on
what
> the top level and submenu items should be, we canB submit and get board
> approval on the new navigation architecture, just as I did before
implementing
> the current architecture.B
>
>
> The final version of the home page and navigation panel will be presented
to
> the board for approval before it is implemented.
>
>
> Because we will have new and ongoing statistical information, and because
we
> will have theB great deal more flexibility than we haveB todayB with the
top
> level menu items, we will have the ability to modify all levels of the menu
> structure iteratively as frequently as the situation warrants and the board
> desires.B
>
>
>
> I have provided the statistics we currently have available before, but
> certainly not on a regular basis. The chart below shows the most recent
daily
> averages and monthly totals
>
>
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
> John
> __________________B
> John and Joanne Jones
> Registrar-Recorders, American Iris Society
> aisregistrar@irises.org
>
> John Jones, Chairman, Electronic Services Committee
> aiselectronicsvcs@irises.org
>
> 35572 Linda Drive
> Fremont, CA 94536
>
>
>
>
>
> The definitions of the category are:
>
> Hit - (Also called a Request) This is each time someone asks to see any
part
> of your site. To see your site, they will have to "hit" or "request"
> aB specific page or file. This includes both requests that were successful
and
> those that were not.
>
> File - Any part of your site (an image, html page, pdf document, script,
etc)
>
> KByte - A Kilobyte or KB. This is is equal to 1024 bytes. KBytes are used
when
> referencing the amount of data that was transferred to visitors of yourB
site.
>
> Page - The main file being requested to bring up a page of your site. The
> individual items that make up the page (graphics, media, includes, etc)
> doB not count towards this count. By default, only pages with .htm, .html
or
> .cgi extensions are counted.
>
> Site - A unique IP address or hostname that requested a page / file on your
> site. This should be thought of as a rough count of the visitors to
> yourB site.
>
> Visit - The first time someone views a page on your site, a visit is
started.
> Any other pages viewed by that visitor will not be counted as a
> separateB visit until the visit times out (usually after 30 minutes). The
> visit ends at this timeout point.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
> <aissecretary@irises.org>
> The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
> http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to the AIS Secretary
<aissecretary@irises.org>
The archives for AISDiscuss are at:
http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/