REPORT | Review &
Recommendations for OFMP Website
Lynnold M Wini
10th February 4, 2008
REPORT | Review &
Recommendations for OFMP Website
OVERVIEW OF WEBSITE | www.ffa.int/gef
Background
This report is compiled as a requirement for the consultancy as specified under "Scope
of Consultancy (Responsibilities)", under Schedule A Terms of Reference, contained in
the Memorandum of Agreement signed between Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries
Agency and the author of this report.
This report will present a brief overview on the review of the Pacific Islands Oceanic
Fisheries Management (OFM) Project website. This review was carried out during the
initial stages of the consultancy. This report will present a brief overview on its findings
and provide recommendations which will be implemented during the later course of
this consultancy.
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REPORT | Review & Recommendations for OFMP Website
Website Overview
The website was created using Drupal 5.1, an open source Content Management
System (CMS). A customized theme is used consistently throughout the website. The
uses of additional Drupal modules were not investigated.
Domain
The URL www.ffa.int/gef is a sub domain of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
website www.ffa.int. Whilst the project is executed by FFA, it is an entity on its own and
this report strongly recommends that if it must remain a sub domain, an intuitive URL
should be used instead of the current URL. Suggestions may include gef.ffa.int. A
further recommendation is that the project acquires its own domain which reflects its
place on the World Wide Web. However, this issue has little bearing on the execution of
this project.
NOTE: On further deliberation with the client it was resolved that the current domain will
be retained based on two reasons:
1. This is a four year project which is already midway through its term and any such
changes will not achieve any tangible benefit.
2. From a technical standpoint, this website was setup as a subset of the FFA
website and this current setup works best for maintenance of FFA's collection of
Drupal websites.
Theme
Whilst some care has been taken to ensure that the site is not too cluttered with text
and images, its lack of attention to detailed style is a drawback. The website has a
very bland look which is uninviting and can only cater for users with very specific interest
in the project and its initiatives.
Content
There is a wealth of information on the website. However, its organization and
presentation leaves a lot to be desired. A proper audit should be made on all content
enabling it to be categorized into logical groupings with a clear correlation to
navigation and site menus. The following sections need urgent attention.
Front Page
News
About Us
Profile Page
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All other content should be grouped under clearly defined categories.
Navigation
The use of Nice Menus on the website implies the desire to get the users as quickly as
possible to content. This can also be achieved by a re-organization of the front page
using specific Drupal modules.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
This report was compiled after some scrutiny on the current website. The execution of
the recommendations contained in this report will be subject to a final agreement with
the Project Coordination Unit. It is anticipated that implementation will consider all
recommendations but may not strictly adhere and or limited, to those outlined within
this report.
DRUPAL SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
The following steps are strongly recommended:
1. Update/Install the latest stable version of Drupal. At the time of writing, the
latest stable release is Drupal 5.7 and 4.7. Drupal 6 is in beta 3 and will be
released during the course of 2008.
NOTE: This is regularly carried out by the IT Department of FFA.
2. Upgrade all existing modules used on the website to the latest stable releases
THEME
First impressions make the lasting impressions and so are always important. The color
theme and present graphics can be maintained but some modifications and careful
work needs to be undertaken to improve visual appeal.
1. Frontpage A clever re-organization of the front page can assist users acquire
information as quickly as desired. To achieve this, Drupal has a dedicated
Frontpage module. In combination with PHPTemplate engine (available as core
from Drupal 5.x onwards), this task is made easier.
2. Color Scheme The current color scheme can be maintained. However, clever
use of shades and color combinations can enhance its current appearance.
3. NAVIGATION
In keeping with the simplicity of the current site, a well structured navigation is critical to
the success of the venture. A modification on the current navigation menu must fulfil
the following criteria:
1. Ease of use - The navigation system should be intuitive and easy to use, providing
direct access to content on the website.
2. Visibility The navigation menu must be constantly visible at all times enabling
the user to easily navigate throughout the site.
3. Site map A sitemap will be provided as an alternative method of navigating
the site to the user.
4. Internal links Where possible, static content must be developed to include
internal links for faster access to other sections of the website.
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5. Text as well as graphic links (ALT tags) - Graphics may not convey immediate
meaning to some users so providing additional text links is important. ALT tags on
images accommodate the visually impaired and can boost ranking with some
search engines.
The current website uses Nice Menus module. However, it needs a fair amount of work
to
meet
the
above
criteria.
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4. CONTENT
There is a need to improve the quality and quantity of content on the website and at
the same time ensuring that users are not overwhelmed with a wealth of information
that may otherwise be of little use to the client. It must also be current and easy to
update.
1. Degree of substantiated information To attain some conformity and improve on
quality of information available on the website, the following mechanisms must
be implemented.
· Authorship: Provide ability for content to reflect who is responsible for the
pages, and the content can be verified at the earliest possible time.
· Currency: Provide mechanisms on which contents on the site can be
easily updated and clearly reflect date of creation and the date of the
last successful update.
· Coverage: Provide a clear hierarchy of headings to illustrate an outline
of the content on the website.
· Accuracy: Ensure that sources of information and factual data are
clearly listed.
NOTE: All content should only clearly display date of creation or
successful update, accurate and well-organized. Authorship is not
necessary.
2. Interactivity Content should be tailored by use of text, graphics or animation to
interact with the user. The site should take advantage of the great opportunity
to interact with its users by implementing user friendly graphics, text, help
messages and animation to aid content presentation.
3. Graphics - Graphics should add value to the website rather than reduce
performance without providing any real benefit to the user. Current graphics are
not optimized for optimal performance. A major drawback for the website.
4. Digestible Content - Content should be chunked, that is broken up into easily
digestible amounts. As previously stated, content need re-organization and
careful categorization.
Recommended Modules for Content Management
1. WYSIWYG Editor such as Tinymce or FCKEditor. If currently installed it must be
configured by roles and available by default.
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2. Views/CCK The combination of these two modules can allow for greater
customization of content types and categorization for ease of navigation.
5. BROWSER COMPATIBILITY performing
Surfing websites is a useful and pleasant experience when they conform to current
industry standards. There are many variations of browsers and monitors in use today and
it is important that the website is accessible to as many internet users as possible.
Ensuring that the current website conforms and is compatible for most frequently used
browsers is important, especially Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.
6. OTHER USEFUL MODULES
The additional modules and recommendations for content specified below are
envisioned to enhance the general outlook of the website and provide greater
flexibility or control over content.
1. Additional Drupal Modules
-
Front
Using the Front Module can greatly enhance the front page. It gives flexibility
to provide layouts/content specific to each user role. Regions/Blocks can
also be defined to hold specific content such as the Latest News/Newsletter
downloads on the front page.
-
Menu Per Role
Menu Per Role is a small module which can be used to control menu items
per user role. This module can be used to control menus for specific users.
NOTE: Security restrictions will not be implemented at this stage of the
Consultancy. However, a disclaimer will be provided to tag content not
publically available. The disclaimer will provide instructions on how users can
gain access to that information. All content available on the website will be
deemed public.
-
Taxonomy Access
Taxonomy Access can be used to control user created content types giving
greater control over access to content.
NOTE: Security restrictions will not be implemented at this stage of the
Consultancy.
-
Views/CCK
The combination of Views/CCK will give greater flexibility for the creation of
site specific content types. Used with inbuilt Taxonomy module and content
can be styled and categorized with ease. A perfect example is the Profiles
page which can be enhanced using this combination.
-
Events/Calendar
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The project plays an important role in Fisheries Management and it would be
of interest to its users if a calendar of events were displayed on the website.
NOTE: The current default theme must be modified to display a better
outlook.
-
RSS Feed
This module will enable subscribers or users to have news, press release to be
fed directly from the website in real time
-
SimpleNews
Simplenews is a newsletter module which can be used to generate
newsletters.
2. History of OFM Project
3. Mission statement
NOTE: OFM Project does not have a Mission Statement
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