So, it took a bit longer than planned (like most IT projects) but I am happy to share with you today a sneak preview (or beta version) of the new upgraded SuSanA website. The launch of the upgraded website is just around the corner; we hope to have it done by the SuSanA meeting on 26 August next week Saturday.

Meanwhile, if you have a spare 5 minutes, please do take a look at the "Beta Version" of the new SuSanA website here: (using the login details provided)

dev-web3x.susana.org
You need to log in to see it:
- Login: test
- Password: susanawebtest

(ahh, I have just spotted a typo! Upcomming events...)

Please put your feedback either in this thread or in this Google document which can be edited by anyone with the link:
docs.google.com/document/d/1hqgBippjrOkM...B5g/edit?usp=sharing

And the rest of the post contains the e-mail from André Eisser, our IT consultant, telling you what to look out for and comment on please:

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Dear all,

finally I could upload and make the major changes to the module positions - so feel free to post the beta version in the forum - BUT:
you should remark that some functions are still "out of order" and you should point the people to the following aspects for feedback:

(1) font set in general - new font family and type, more contrast, more white space, new hyperlink concept
(2) new start page structure - should be faster and more clear to navigate (we may still need to change some of the pictures - any ideas?)
(3) navigation concept - reduced main menu with overlays - do the people understand / like this?
(4) new database structure and engine for projects, library and partners - are the filters clear? Are the new arangement of the page clear?

Regards
André

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Looking forrward to hearing from you! Either in this thread or by using the Google doc which I linked to above.

Regards,
Elisabeth

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This thread is now closed. Further discussion on this topic is available in this new thread:
forum.susana.org/10-announcements-regard...tember-your-feedback

It sounds quite interesting and I checked with Steffen about the Humanitarian ID. He is doubtful that the effort of programming it would be worth it and thinks that only few people would use it. I would say let's keep an eye on it and see if it really takes off. If it does, we could still add it at a later stage. You said "it is rather a non-commercial service offered by the UN." What would happen if at some stage in the future the UN decides to stop that service, e.g. due to lack of funds?

As you also understand German I copy here his response in German which also goes into the technical details which I don't fully follow:

Für das erste würde ich sagen, zuviel Aufwand, da es nur ein ganz geringer Teil der User nutzen würde. Es gibt zwar Plugins für Joomla, das sind aber von Drittanbietern und die Foren sind voll, dass sie nicht reibungslos funktionieren. Ein Sicherheitsrisiko besteht außerdem. Zudem müsste die ganze Usersynchronisierung und Memberverwaltung angepasst werden, eine einfache Plugin Installation reicht da nicht, es muss ja alles irgendwie mit den SuSanA Account verknüpft werden. schon gar nicht in dem speziellen Fall. Es ist sicherlich irgendwie machbar, aber ob die Tage sinnvoll investiert sind?

muench wrote: About the Humanitarian ID. André didn't give me an answer on that one yet. Presumably because he didn't know if this would really add much value. Could you expand on what you have in mind there? It would be the same login name and password for several websites, I guess? Which ones? Are you already using it on several websites? Could be a little tricky to synchronise member databases and also have all security issues covered. Could you tell us more about that one?

Yes, a common login ID, similar to how many websites offer to login with your facebook or twitter account. It also makes it easier to log in as you don't need to remember you login details, it just communicates directly with the HumanitarianID servers.
They recently relaunched their service to use the web-standard "OpenID Connect" to that makes it very easy to implement (there are some Joomla plugins and the "HybridAuth" library has build in support for HumanitarianID it seems).
So far it is mainly used by UN websites like www.humanitarianresponse.info and www.reliefweb.int but it is generally a useful service by UN-OCHA to manage your contact lists for humanitarian missions. I especially like that you can easily update your contact details (for example in mailing lists) and people can stay in contact by accessing your updated info through the HumanitarianID servers.

Last but not least, HumanitarianID is not run by one of those big data-mining companies like google or facebook, but is rather a non-commercial service offered by the UN.

Dear Kris,

Thanks for your feedback!
And yes, the new website version will have a proper mobile version to go with it (so called responsive design). That's really important. Thanks for pointing that out!

About RSS feeds: yes, the new Joomla 3.7 supports that in a better way. André (from Dotwerkstatt, our IT company) told me we can include that in the upgrade.

About the iCal link, I assume you mean that one would go to the events section and if one likes an event one can click on "put into my calendar" and it would get into your Outlook calendar? I would find that a very useful thing to have. André said it will be possible with the new, redesigned events calendar that we will be getting. So that's great.

About the Humanitarian ID. André didn't give me an answer on that one yet. Presumably because he didn't know if this would really add much value. Could you expand on what you have in mind there? It would be the same login name and password for several websites, I guess? Which ones? Are you already using it on several websites? Could be a little tricky to synchronise member databases and also have all security issues covered. Could you tell us more about that one?

Greetings,
Elisabeth

I hope this will fix the mobile menu.

How about RSS feeds for the calendar and the publication section?

A iCal link for the calendar would be nice too so that one can integrate it in one's calendar.

Last but not least, what about allowing people to log in with their HumanitarianID:
humanitarian.id/

Dear all,

Exciting news: An improved version of the SuSanA website will be launched very soon - hopefully by about 3 weeks from now!

We're currently working on it in the background and I can tell you already now, it will be a very nice new look and feel for the re-launched SuSanA website!

Why are we doing this now?

The user experience study (in short: UX study) which I had mentioned in this thread here had highlighted quite a few shortcomings with navigation and understanding of the website. These shortcomings we now hope to adress and rectify with the new version.

What are the main changes?

- A revamp of the SuSanA website front door, making it easier to use. E.g. some users had not realised that you could scrol down and find up-to-date information there; or they didn't know how to get to it from inside of the website.

- A new layout and so-called "mega menu structure" with four overlay pages which have the titles: Events, Knowledge hub, Community, Working Groups. With this we hope to address the problem that people couldn't easily find what they were looking for on the website, and that the existing menu structure had gotten increasingly cumbersome.

- An improved way of showing the filter options and filter search results which will apply equally to the library, project database and partners.

- A full integration with the SuSanA Discussion Forum, by using the same fonts, colours, styles and by making several links from the "mother website" to the forum. (We are also changing the font colour on the mother website, so there will be no more light green text for hyperlinks which was difficult to read.)

- Regional overview pages (collections)

- Personal library and favorites (personal collections)

- Better integration of map view with list view for project database, to see where your project and other projects are on the global map.

As we get closer to launch day, I will try to share with you some screenshots of the new version so that you get an idea what is going to happen.

If you have any comments at this stage, please feel free to post them here. And if you had a pet hate with the existing SuSanA website (www.susana.org), now is your chance to raise it and perhaps we can still consider it and include it in the upgrade!

Regards,
Elisabeth

P.S. If anyone wants to volunteer (unpaid) to help pre-testing the new website by looking at the developers' version together with us, please contact me by e-mail.