Feb. 19, 2004
Please feel free to invite some of your colleagues from your or another city/county if you think it would benefit them to be a part of our group!
Location: City of Overland Park
Attendance
City of Gardner , KS : .............. Susan Schultz
City of Gladstone ,
MO : .......... Kelli Behr
City of Kansas City , Mo : ........ Rich Lovett
City of Olathe , KS : ................
Chris Holdman
City of Overland Park , KS : ..... Chris Audano, Randy Ellis,
and Susan Waters
City of Shawnee , KS : ............ Roman Madrigal and Sonya
Fendorf
Clay County , MO: ................. Leslie Ensign
Jackson County , MO: ............
Daniel Davis
Johnson County , KS : ............ Blanka Bellinger, Tom Erickson,
David Fuel, Debra Howell, Kevin Kelley, Erica Reynolds, Karen Lynne Sorensen
and Kevin Whelan
MARC, KC Metro: ................. Barbara Hensley
Wyandotte County , KS :
......... Angela Her
Chris Audano, Chair, welcomed all attendees to the City of Overland Park’s facility. The January minutes were approved.
Free Stuff on the Web
MagWeb members submitted their recommendations. Chris
Audano collected, categorized and compiled the links. A nine-page document
was handed out to each attendee. Individuals who submitted the links were noted.
After further additions and editing, a final version of “Free Stuff” will
be shared and posted to the MagWeb Web site.
Barbara Hensley served as facilitator, using a laptop projection system. She highlighted a few most apt for demonstration purposes, as follows:
ADOBE PDF
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_simple_form.html
Converts an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file to HTML, online. No need for PDFWriter. Simply type in a URL in the space provided, press the submit button and wait shortly. Not recommended on long documents. Results? “Not perfect but useful,” an html document that will more than likely work with some minor modification. (Madrigal)
CSS
http://www.westciv.com/courses/free/index.html
Free and/or cheap CSS online training, a current topic of interest to many. Signing up is required. Thereafter, one free module per week for 12 weeks is available. Each session takes about twenty minutes to complete. All are attainable at once for approximately $24.99. (Waters)
TRAINING
http://www.hplearningcenter.com/
Free online classes entailing a wide variety of computer-related topics! The instructor led courses are available 24/7. Checking back often is recommended to view their latest selection of classes. (Audano)
DEVELOPMENT
http://webstyleguide.com
This site was met with mixed reviews during discussion although it was originally developed in association with Yale University’s Center for Advanced Instructional Media and Dartmouth College. The site is mostly text with minimal visual appeal but would probably score high as being fully compliant with Section 508. The site is also quite large, a book version is available. “Ten Tips” for a quality site is recommended reading in either format. (Madrigal)
PHOTOS AND CLIPART
http://www.photolibrary.fema.gov/photolibrary/index.jsp
Photos for your geographical area! For example, the tornado that occurred in the Kansas City area last year. Quality, hi-res images are downloadable. Please respect their “photo use agreement” and contact them if you have any questions.
(Waters and Behr)
JAVASCRIPT
http://www.dynamicdrive.com
Create a fund raiser selling balloons just to use some JavaScript code from this site. Behold, transparent gifs of balloons that will float over the text on your screen, no kidding. Many other interactive options are possible accessing this site. Worried about using JavaScript? This site provides detailed, step-by-step, instructions. “I love this site!” says Randy Ellis.
SOUND EFFECTS
http://www.soundamerica.com/codec.htm
A sample from the Bullwinkle show was played. “Not bad quality!” Most samples are from early television programs although a police siren was affectionately played in Roman’s honor (an officer from Shawnee). (Madrigal)
MORE RECOMMENDATIONS (not necessarily free, but suggested during discussion.)
http://www.vtc.com -- Virtual Training Center (VTC)
For $25.00 a month, receive
unlimited, in depth training on a number of classes. A QuickTime player is
required. Downloading it is easy. It takes only a few minutes if it isn’t
already installed on your station. Sit back and watch a full screen demonstration,
usually 2-15 minutes, then practice on your own. It’s possible to learn
a software application without having purchased it. The speaker’s Australian
accent is fun and easy to listen to. A 30 day trial version is available, as
well as a CD versions. Note: The latest version of an application may not be
available. (Behr)
http://www.clipart.com
It’s debatable whether or not to use clipart
on Web pages. For those who do this could be the site for you. An example was
used on the site’s
search engine for “tipping” and “hat.” More than 25
images emerged including one photo, a good variety to choose from. Many photos,
however, are from overseas and may have a “British look.” (Lovett)
http://www.arttoday.com
http://www.webmonkey.com
A good reference site if you are not sure how to
accomplish a task, according to Barbara Hensley. Kevin Kelley added that regular
visitors may even be greeted with helpful information by their most frequently
visited instructor.
STILL MORE RESOURCES AND SUGGESTIONS
http://liquidlibrary.com
Hi-res images and high quality sound clips. Far
from free but a proven resource to be knowledgeable about.
http://waybackmachine.com
Way cool! A brave look back was taken at several
local sites such as Leslie Ensign’s Clay County. More fun was in store
looking at other sites such as Microsoft’s dating back to 1996. Be forewarned,
however. Some hackers use this site to enter a server system through its “back
door.” Because
of this, “some sites such as Johnson’s County’s,” Kevin
Whelan cautioned,”may not show up.”
http://google.com
Search for “popup windows” to find a handy
way to create separate, smaller windows of information that appear after a
link is clicked. Some Web sites will even generate the script after you’ve
entered pertinent information. Note: Filtering for spam will block automated
popup windows. This practice is common for ads in which a user does not click
on a link to activate.
Extra information worth noting:
A warning was shared by Barbara Hensley, the latest version of InDesign will allow you to open and view a PageMaker document. Once installed, however, InDesign will not allow a PageMaker document to be printed.
Time wasn’t available to delve into other questions brought up, such as: how to code for and display more than one JavaScript event on a page; information about shareware related to producing and editing music; server issues; etc. Quick references were given that ranged from joining specialized listservs to consulting your organization’s IT personnel and technical support for software applications.
Old Business
a) 2004 Government Webmasters Conference UpdateSeptember 23-24, 2004, “Conference 2004”
The fee is $125.00 if it is submitted by August 2; $150.00 by August 2 - September 10. Meals included. There’s no profit to keep costs down. Room rates are $88.00 until “the block is gone.” All info will be posted on the MagWeb site as the planning progresses.
The revised list of possible topics, include:
- Accessibility with screen reading software demonstrated.
– Cascading
Style Sheets.
– Content Management.
– Digital photography and editing.
– Free and
cheap resources.
– Web hosting solutions.
– Web tours including Web
cams.
– Writing for the Web.
Plus:
– Breakout sessions (shorter than last year’s) geared towards small and large governments, technical and non-technical Web production personnel.
o Dreamweaver and FrontPage.
o Dynamic Web pages (ASP, CGI, etc.).
– Open sessions for discussion.
o The issue of Marketing a Web site could be included here.
The discussion led to possible vendors to invite. Various educational vendors were mentioned. Both local and national representation is preferable.
Please continue to send your suggestions to Chris regarding topics, speakers, vendors, etc.
d) MAGWEB Website Redesign
Roman Madrigal shared updated drafts of the MagWeb site, as well as, a draft for the conference including a new logo. The drafts are based on CSS and will set an example for conference attendees. His progress is pleasing.
A discussion of technical issues followed entailing JavaScript remedies, print considerations and dynamic display limitations due to our Web host’s server system. Gathering, changing and updating the content may also become an issue. A “game plan” from this point, will require further discussion.
Upcoming Meeting Topics
The subject is undecided. A couple of members mentioned possible speakers each will check on. Again, please contact Chris regarding topics, speakers, etc.
Last-minute advice:
http://www.bcentral.com/Default.asp is a good starting point for small business solutions.
TurtleTax and TaxCut seem more favorable for filing taxes online than TurboTax. “Uncheck the box” that allows the software to retain information about you for, say, marketing purposes, cautioned Kevin Whelan.
Next Meeting
March 18, 2004. MARC, Kansas City, MO.
Meeting minutes by Karen Lynne Sorensen.