- We have our own domain now: alderford.org, so our web URL is now
http://alderford.org/
Your first question will be, "What about links to the old site?" Not to worry -- any URL on the old site will automatically redirect to the same page on the new site. The event
[1] flyer for the Masque is now online. Its canonical URL is
http://alderford.org/events/masque2005
but the previously-announced URL, http://sca.4th.com/alderford/events/masque2005 [2], is redirected to the new one. So there is no problem with the ad in The Pale being printed with the old URL. (I've published the canonical URL on the Midrealm web calendar [3], also.)- We have spiffy new masthead and heraldic graphics, courtesy THL Ailith! If you visit our Heraldry page, http://alderford.org/info/heraldry [4], you will find that there are downloadable versions of Ailith's 3D rendering, plus several others by Ailith and myself. Thanks very much to Ailith for sharing her version, which is much better than the ones I did. (I am a decent programmer, but I'm no artist!)
- Personal profiles now work. There were some problems with that feature before, but it works fine now. Alderfolk
[5] should create their own personal accounts — if you haven't already — and send me an email with the user name. (I don't need your password!) That lets me add you into the "Alderfolk" security group. You can upload a picture of yourself or a drawing of your device, if you wish.
- Why do you want to be in the Alderfolk security group? Well, that will add you into the Alderfolk page:
http://alderford.org/members
Your private information (real name, address, phone number, etc.) will not be published here, but your public profile (SCA [6] name and title, persona biography, etc.). If you chose to upload a picture or heraldry, that will display in the members' page (as mine does now). The choice is yours what you put into your profile, but one of the things we can do now is to have the web site automatically generate the Alderford Farspeaker list (phone directory).
- Photo albums are back! The new version of Drupal, the software that runs the web site, has photo album capabilities. I've inaugurated the new site with a little treat: an upload of over 1100 photos by Milica and myself. Most of the photos that were on the old site (two versions ago) are back online, and I'll be uploading the rest very soon. Want to check them out? Select "Galleries" from the main menu on the home page, or go here: http://alderford.org/scrapbook/photos/events [7].
- Alderfolk will be able to upload photos into their own personal albums. As webmaster, I have an "accelerated" way to upload an entire album at once, which is something others can't do. We need to get signed copyright permission forms before we can do that, though — I'll bring the forms in February's business meeting. But you can start publishing your own personal photos as soon as you wish. (If you plan to do this, please *CONTACT ME FIRST* to get instructions.)
- We have spiffy new masthead and heraldic graphics, courtesy THL Ailith! If you visit our Heraldry page, http://alderford.org/info/heraldry [4], you will find that there are downloadable versions of Ailith's 3D rendering, plus several others by Ailith and myself. Thanks very much to Ailith for sharing her version, which is much better than the ones I did. (I am a decent programmer, but I'm no artist!)
What's not done yet? There are a few things yet to be added, which I'll be doing in the next few weeks:
- Email isn't fully functional in the new domain yet. When it is, we can move our Alderford@4th.com [8] email list directly into Alderford's own domain. (Anyone have an idea what to call it? alderford@alderford.org [9] sounds, well, redundant.)
- I still have more photos to upload. Judith's event photos will finally get uploaded, among others. And Milica and I have our scrapbooks of 35mm photos from the early days of the shire. Lots of these are scanned, but not really organized for upload yet.
- We will very soon have an electronic version of the Alder Leaf on the web site, for download only by Alderfolk. I just haven't had time to get these uploaded yet.
- I'll also be adding a directory of web links to other sites of interest.
I would like very much to thank Milica for contributing her extensive collection of photos, and Ailith for her *wonderful* heraldry and masthead graphics.
I hope you'll all enjoy the new site! If you find any dead links or other problems, please let me know.
—Justin