Web Upgrade 2009

The MCG needs to get user support information back on the web. This has multiple overlapping phases:

1. Create a new MCG home page with links to relevant content, standards-compliant styles, and a nice-looking logo.

2. Identify content that is presentable and informative as-is.

3. Populate the home page with links to the above content.

4. Edit the carried-over content to be up to date in 2009, and apply a consistent style. At the same time, badly organized pages should be regrouped and proper indices should be made.

5. Areas that we don't cover, and need to, should be discussed in newly created pages.

A key step that needs to happen early is to decide on the style we want for the MCG web pages. MCG members, please look over the following sample pages, not for content but as possibilities for a global look for the MCG pages, and tell Jimc your preferences.

• Global department style. This gives our pages coherence with the rest of the department, but do we want to have a separate visual identity? We've always assumed the answer was yes.

• MCG Bug. This is a very simple, all-new page style in warm tones. Jimc likes the bug. Adjustments in the colors, sizes, etc. are possible.

• Fancy new logo (2007). This necessarily involves a picture of text, but except for that, it is actually possible to make this logo style HTML compliant. But it takes special editing by the page author to get all the components in their proper places, and you can see that this page's text alignment is not perfect.

• Old new logo (2006). This style actually looks pretty good, in an understated way.

A number of pages contain time-sensitive information but have not been updated; the oldest is from 2000. We need to automate the procedure of reviewing time-sensitive pages.

Here is the status of all the toplevel items in the computing directory. As you fix items, please change the icon filename from undone to done or trash. Best to just copy an existing img element so as to carry over the alt text as well.

• MCG Home Page. This is finished in the sense that it presents MCG's presently presentable resources, but as we revise pages and organization we will also have to revise this page correspondingly.
• Failed attempts at a new computing home page.
  • Mathnet Computing: An overview (newer). This is embarrassing, a hodgepodge of links to other pages. Possibly a failed attempt at a new home page. Toss.
  • New (?) computing home page, never installed. Toss.
• Announcements -- Ancient, from 2006. Toss.
• News -- Olds from 2000. Toss.
• MSDNAA: Free Microsoft software for department students and faculty. This page has not been written!
• Mathnet Computing: An overview, decent from 2007. Reformatted, de-microsofted, content reviewed for up-to-dateness, links cleaned up.
• Compute Clusters:
  • Sun Grid Engine (SGE): The job scheduling software used on our compute clusters. OK but could use some love in the editing area.
  • Bamboo: Our principal cluster of 48 nodes, Intel Pentium 4 at 3GHz (i686). Atrocious style, duplicates content on SGE page.
  • Nemo: A gift from Pixar, 9 nodes, dual Intel Xeon at 3.4GHz (x86_64). Bamboo =~ /s/Bamboo/Nemo/g.
  • Holly: No longer operational. Toss.
  • Sixpac: No longer operational. Toss.
• E-mail: How to use it at Mathnet. This is an index page to (non-analysed) pages about remote access, local access, webmail, and spam.
• Web Topics: (chaotically organized)
  • Home Page Demo: An example of a filled-out homepage template. Needs a link to the original template. Needs a nice image.
  • HTML Summary: An oversimplified howto telling the grammar of web documents.
  • Publishing Web Documents: Decent. Needs a link to SSH.
  • Charlie has this one : How to password protect a web directory. Errors in both #includes.
  • UNIX Tutorial on how to publish a web page.
  • Windows Tutorial on how to publish a web page.
• Mathematics Computing Group: Empty directory, toss.
• Mathematics Computing Consulting Office: Empty directory, toss.
• OpenVPN: The virtual private network for access to restricted Mathnet services from home.
• Charlie has this one : Adobe's Portable Document Format, and how to create and view this kind of document. Adequate, needs some editing.
• Policies at Mathnet. No index file, contains 2 documents about passwords.
• Charlie has this one : Prices for students to buy paper. Must be expanded.
• Remote Access: How to connect to and use Mathnet computers from outside the department. This is a page of links to unanalysed documents.
• Charlie has this one : How to get pictures (including pictures of text) into the computer. Do we even have a public scanner any more?
• Charlie has this one; available at Mathnet. Useless, duplicates remote except it has a link about anti-virus software in addition.
• SPAM: What it is and how Mathnet helps you to repel it. Page needs editing.
• MCG Staff: No index page, contains 2 obsolete versions of the bugs schedule, and two files beginning with mcg that are mode 600.
• User Support
  • User Support: Policy document on support priorities.
  • User Support: Yasi's index page for user support. (Links not checked.)
• Wiring: Timeline for the 2005-03-xx wiring campaign. Toss.