From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: WSFA Website [WAS Re: [WSFA] WSFA:  Alive and Well]
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:33:00 -0400 (EDT)
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

It looks like you (Elspeth) missed the message in which Mike
discovered that the calendar.htm page had been cloned, and updates
made only to the new page.  Anyone who had bookmarked the old page --
which I believe probably included nearly everyone who ever regularly
looked at it -- was given no hint that it was abandoned and that new
events were only being added elsewhere.

So the webmasters haven't been quite as remiss as it appeared.

I think their top priority should be turning calendar.htm into a
pointer to the new calendar page.  Doing so should only take a moment.

I understand that keeping the website up to date is nobody's top
priority.  However, it takes an average of less than one hour a week
to keep up.  (This includes updating everything that needs updating,
including placing new WSFA Journals (edited by someone else) online,
but does not include adding new features or placing additional back
issues of the WSFA Journal online.)

That's how long it took me.  If it's true that GUI-based tools are
faster, more powerful, more intuitive, and more efficient than the
"luddite" tools I use, then it should take the current webmasters
even less time.

If nobody who is still in WSFA is willing to do that much, I'm
disappointed but not surprised.

There are several indexes (indices?) of WSFA Journals online.  The
indexes by date and by meeting minutes are three months behind.  All
the others (By author, By title, Reviews by author of work reviewed,
Reviews by title of work reviewed, etc.) are all several years out of
date.  The page intended for meeting minutes that aren't yet in a WSFA
Journal, so that members can send prompt corrections, contains minutes
from more than a year ago.

It's true that the "joining WSFA" page hasn't been updated since 2004,
but if nothing on it is incorrect, it doesn't need updating.  There's
no need to change pages just because they haven't been changed for a
while.  The majority of material on the website is back issues of WSFA
Journals, and those should never need updating.  (Except that I wish
someone would remove "graphics coming soon" since that's obviously
wrong.  When I put that there, I was under the mistaken impression
that someone would soon volunteer to help add the missing graphics.)

I'm not sure why things like Ramadan are on the new calendar of
upcoming events.  Does WSFA have any Muslim members?  Of course it
would be nice if people sent the webmasters events.  When I was
webmaster I asked for events, but seldom did anyone inform me of
any.  I got them mostly from:

* The City Paper
* Locus's online list of author events
* The Washington Post Book World
* The Philosophical Society's website
* The Smithsonian's website
* The Carnegie Institute's website
* Flyers at cons
* The same calendar as of a year ago (I'd check to see if last year's
  events were happening again this year)

This list is *not* just for current WSFA members.  It's also for past
members, and always has been.

Both webmasters are on this list, and should see this message.

This all came from a parenthetical question in a message I wrote about
the 2010 Worldcon and its guests of honor.  It's not my intention to
criticize or nag WSFA or its webmasters.

Getting back to the original topic, Robin Johnson, one of 2010's GOHs,
replied to my rasff query to say that he was indeed the WSFA Journal's
Australian agent 34 years ago.