Meetup Notes

Meetup To-Do list and other on-going volunteer work

Monday Meetup 9/26/11

At The Mezz (Whole Foods NW Couch/12th). Present: Kotra, Dave, Sophia, Mark, Sylvia.

We discussed meeting today with Canvas Dreams about possible website hosting.

Canvas Dreams Notes

PortlandWiki Meeting with Canvas Dreams

9/26/11

Present: David Anderson; Kotra, Dave, Mark, Sylvia

PortlandWiki (PW) is interested in possibility of Canvas Dreams (CD) hosting the site on CD servers.

About Canvas Dreams: David describes Canvas Dreams as a sustainable business with noble purposes. They offer human support vs, tech support, emphasis on helping customers across many areas of their online support needs. CD is an Oregon-based company, headquarter is in Portland, OR. About 1/2 of their U.S. customers are in the Northwest. Support approx. 6000 domains. Don't do much advertising, most business through referrals.

Their business philosophy rests on 3 c's: conservation, community, commerce. They always want to reach back into the community with their work.

PortlandWiki is currently hosted by Dream Host out of Los Angeles. PortlandWiki has existed for about 3 years, has had slow growth and is an entirely volunteer project with no budget; active editors have ranged from 2-15 people. PW has the potential to really take off. Traffic has increased over past several months and we track Alexa rankings on the wiki.

We are looking for local, sustainable hosting. We are also following up on CD's hosting offer that was left on the PW website.

What may be available through Canvas Dreams: Have VPS and shared servers.

Shared environment: no over sell, allows space for future growth of sites. Servers are very expensive capital but CD has been in the resources to be prepared for future needs.

Shared plan gives better performance and environment; is a problem in an oversell situation but isn't a problem that CD has.

There is no root access but PW can get jailed cell access; VPS root/C-Panel memory intensive.

VPS: is a slice of cheese of a big block so only get a slice of possible performance.

CD hosts some wikis -- C-Panel, lap stack.

Shared plan costs $7.50/mo, includes, 3g storage, 60g/mo bandwidth. They may be able to host free or offer non-profit discount.

PortlandWiki needs: Recently bumped up to 600mb (?) allotment thru Dream Host but looking for a partner to host. Need access to bibli-shelf and configure-modifications to make site more available or less resource intensive. We don't have a budget so hoping for a trade, in-kind support, i.e. advertisement on PW site for CD hosting.

We'd need access to PHP-INI, it's important and where most PW problems ahave occurred. VPS works for us. Found that we quickly outgrew shared option in past, it was less and less available. Wikis aren't notoriously efficient. Wikimedia continually tunes up back end because of this.

Canvas Dreams can offer today a subdomain to try it out.

CD is a community-oriented experience, supports community programs. Staff have been trying to determine best way to approach this and to support customers.

With blogs like Wordpress, they've found that there is bad code in the repository but they don't get vetted and so they hammer away at site till bring it down; accounts get suspended, VPS would prevent this.

CD needs to know from PW: VPS -- dedicated resources and RAM needs. They ahve a great open source platform. VPS is clustered: 1 processing, 1 stored.. All VPS work is in this space.. Can add nodes.

Downsides: VPS backup space not auto-included. Would cost $11/mo. C-Panel requires 512mg RAM, not offered on VPS1; VPS3 is $71/mo. With this nonone will access our space and there is rarely an issue with this.

PW would need to pay license, and install PHP, mySQL.

We could set up a dev account -- CD asks that we do a Denial On Service (DDOS) on it. Maybe C-Panel does things faster, not sure.

Perfect degregation (has seen) on VPS -- fraction of the performance. Can query mySQL processes.

Try to adhere to server use plans CD already has. Having privacy, security and root -- seems PW is more of a candidate for VPS route. Each CD plan has resource limits. With shared plan we'll get notifications that we can review.

Shared: performance and economy best option. Within shared: C-Panel (easy patching, makes available all patches available -- some not permitted.) Is PARE in shared environment? Not sure if is switched on at CD.

PW: Is a Civic wiki; most wikis hosted out of someone's home and libraries. This may be first community wiki-business alliance.

Even with highest plan, likely CD could work out something with us. Would like to see what we could do with this.

PW is still determining where it's going: new interface, slick it up; easier use, read, edit. In time, expect it to be an indispensable resource in PDX -- topics, direct actions, nitty gritty in local communities; great info we don't always expect. PW is a stitching together of resources in the community, especially for local searches and information.

Youth may also love a new place besides Facebook to get involved with but needs to be easier to use and more engaging.

CD has been unable to get over how to do advances on direct community outreach, connect customers to each other, help support one another during hard times. PW could become the definitive place for this: could help CD achieve its goals on getting in touch with community and connect. Hoping to highlight organizations and clients in monthly newsletter. PW feels like a virtual organization in line with CD values.

In return, PW would offer CD advertising on each PW page and we could write an article about CD. Sounds like we both can benefit.

CD needs to know current resources on PW: space, monthly bandwidth, gigs, traffic, average sessions/visitors per day to help gauge need.

Dave will follow up with these requests.

WikiWednesday Meetup 8/17/11

At The Mezz (Whole Foods NW Couch/12th). In attendance: Kotra, Julie, Mark, Sylvia. Note taker: Sylvia

Informal Discussion Agenda:

• PortlandWiki survey

a) Sylvia posted a link to the survey on the PW homepage, along with additional info on the survey page for visitors.

b) Mark created a http://bit.ly.com/PortlandWiki2011Survey link to help us track survey traffic.

c) Sylvia sent out invite links to the survey on PortlandWiki's Twitter, Facebook page, and blog.

d) Julie says only one survey has been completed since the announcements went out on Monday.

e) We all will send out invites to people we know. Sylvia is hoping for a goal of 50 completed surveys.

f) Kotra is sending individual invites to all PortlandWiki account holders (approx 90).

g) Mark is sending invites to local bloggers.

• Captcha

a) Kotra spoke with Dave about the tough captcha questions which we learned we were done intentionally as Dave tests different security options for PW.

b) Kotra has written some new questions and will follow up again with Dave.

During the work portion of the meeting, we edited various pages on PW and worked on admin system problems.

WikiWednesday Meetup 8/10/11

At The Mezz (Whole Foods NW Couch/12th). In attendance: Kotra, Julie, Mark, Sylvia. Note taker: Sylvia

Informal Agenda:

• PortlandWiki survey draft

a) We reviewed the draft Julie created and we all made editing suggestions. At the end of the meeting, Julie posted a link to the Survey. Please help enhance the page.

b) Kotra and Sylvia will invite all PortlandWiki participants with a login account to complete the survey.

c) Mark will send out an invitation on PortlandWiki Twitter and the PortlandWiki weblog.

d) Julie will send an email invite to the PW email list and invite them to participate in this second survey.

e) We need volunteers to post the survey invite on the PW homepage and on the PortlandWiki Facebook page.

f) All PW social networking account posts should include an ask to forward/share the survey invite to other networks.

g) After the survey is sent out, Kotra will post the results from the pre-test survey (sent to members of the PW email list) on the PW so as to not bias the public survey.

• Generating revenue through PortlandWiki

a) The question of whether or not to raise revenue through PW has been brought up in previous meetings.

b) It seems there are some systems needs (e.g., extensions help, MediaWiki expertise) that can't be met solely through current volunteers. Having funds available for volunteer support of in-depth work or small contracting projects could help us better develop the site.

c) We pondered placing a question on the survey to get suggestions on how PW could raise funds. We opted instead to discuss this at a future Saturday session so that the issue/context can be discussed with others in person.

• PortlandWiki statistics

a) Mark and Kotra reviewed the PW stats. The numbers look pretty good so far in our ranking and page views.

b) They raised concerns that it looks like our pages are being quadruple indexed and, thus, need to be redirected. They agree the pages should redirect to http://PortlandWiki.org (without the www).

• Domain names

a) Mark will buy a couple of domains related to WikiWednesday that recently became available so that we can use/redirect them for our work.

• Captcha questions

a) Kotra tells us that Dave has been testing out questions in place of the standard captcha math (for persons not logged in to the site) since spammers have broken it.

b) At the end of the meeting (when Julie tried to post the survey on the wiki) we humorously discovered that we couldn't answer several of the questions. They were a bit confusing.

c) It was suggested that we each send Dave a few question and answer ideas to help protect the site.

d) Kotra will check with Dave about the questions.

Hey All: Sorry about the confusing captcha questions. In all honesty, questions like "Who will grab your junk if you want to fly the friendly skies from your bleak airport to beautiful Portland, Oregon? (Answer: "Cop Au Feele") were not meant to be taken seriously. These are just joke questions that (hopefully) nobody with a PortlandWiki account is being confronted with. Unfortunately we are apparently no closer to figuring out a solution for allowing anonymous editing without running the risk of getting overloaded by vandalism, despite serious effort directed at this issue. --WikiMaster (talk) 20:38, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

• Next meeting suggestions

a) Review survey participation numbers and get volunteers to help with follow-up communication to encourage response.

b) Suggest use of PortlandWiki calendar to schedule/sign-up for areas of needed volunteer work.

c) Other ideas?

WikiWednesday Meetup 8/3/11

At The Mezz (Whole Foods NW Couch/12th). In attendance: Matthew, Julie, Mark, Sylvia. Note taker: Sylvia

Informal Agenda:

• PortlandWiki features

a) Matthew and Mark discussed creating templates for people on venue pages.

b) Mark and Matthew looked at different extensions to possibly pull in javascript.

c) Mark and Matthew talked about Matthew's vision for content curation on at least the main page.

• Survey update

a) Julie and Sylvia reviewed the responses from the PW survey sent out to persons on the PW email list.

b) Julie and Sylvia began work on a follow up survey by focusing on themes and overlapping concerns to gain additional and specific feedback from other contributors and readers.

c) Julie will send out a draft of the new survey in the next couple of days.

d) Sylvia will begin prepping for the distribution of the follow-up survey to all persons who created a login account on PW, plus invitations through PW's social media accounts.

• PortlandWiki outreach

a) Dave reported via email that he attended a meet up for the Portland Young Workers, part of a campaign called Young Emerging Labor Leaders (YELL), organized by Working America. They seemed pretty receptive to the idea of improving their use of social media and other web-based technology. It may be possible that we can introduce wiki in general, PortlandWiki in particular, and the idea of how beneficial tools like wiki can be for organizing.

b) Dave will focus on outreach work for the next few weeks.

• For the next PW meet-up

a) Review status of the follow up survey

b) Suggestions?

WikiWednesday Meetup 7/27/11

At The Mezz (Whole Foods NW Couch/12th). In attendance: Matthew, Julie, Mark, Sylvia. Note taker: Sylvia

Informal Agenda:

• Review preliminary results from PortlandWiki (PW) survey.

a) As of last night we received 6 responses, plus 2 more today.

b) We discussed some of the overlapping concerns and themes.

c) Thanks to Julie for pulling this together!

d) Julie and Sylvia will follow up with Kotra to plan sending it out to more people to increase participation and gain additional feedback about PortlandWiki.

• PortlandWiki front page

a) Matthew is still trying to figure out how a skin could be done to create a friendlier and more modern look. Mark reviewed a couple of skins on other mediawiki sites.

b) Matthew and Kotra are working to create a bolder search bar.

c) In addition, Matthew will try to determine how to move the css from the bottom to the top of the page to recognize who worked on a page.

• Community Leadership Summit and PW

a) Matthew and Mark discussed their experiences at the CLS the past weekend.

b) Matthew held two sessions on PortlandWiki and received good questions and feedback. He'll put his summit feedback on the wiki soon.

• Creating structure for future meet ups

a) A few folks have suggested we create more structure for these meetings that will allow for open discussion, focused planning and decision-making, and collaborative online work.

b) Among the suggestions: keep Wed meet ups to 1 hr for discussion then begin to determine collaborative work: red link pages; pages needing more content (put out calls?)

c) Each week a volunteer will take notes, send them to the email list and post them on PW.

d) Sylvia suggested we also consider drafting simple meeting agendas.

e) Julie suggested that we write 3 topics on wiki that we want to talk about at the next mtg.

• Other suggestions

a) Mark suggested we have a PW flyer to put out at events; maybe print more stickers, smaller ones.

b) Matthew and Mark discussed getting two-sided PW business cards (Vistaprint?), perhaps one side with the PW website then space to write in the name of a page when we discuss the site with someone.

c) Julie reminded us that we still need to create badges for PW to acknowledge the work of contributors.

d) Matthew suggested we consider getting durable, acrylic press badges.

• For the next meet-up

a) Review the additional survey results and determine next steps, i.e., content analysis, ranking of most frequent results, follow up survey to narrow down PW priorities.

b) Mark and Matthew will report back on their attendance at OSCON as reps of PW.