www.Neualtenburg.org

The new website for the second phase of our project is up.

I'm still working on the content and graphics but hope to be finished in a day or two. For now the front page is available for a quick preview.

http://www.neualtenburg.org

~Ulrika~

OK. After a delay due to a birthday party, a bridal shower, and family members coming to town, I've managed to get a lot more done on the website. It will go live within a day or two with most of the content completed. After that I'll continue to add content as I go.

~Ulrika~

A draft of the "Information" sections of the website is now online! We have six detailed pages of information to get folks started.

I still have a bit of graphics work to do and I need to put up a picture of the new sim that shows what lots are for sale but it will have to wait a few days, as I have family in town.

Check over the text and let me know if you find any errors, things that are incorrect, or content that you'd like edited. Feel free to link to the page or craft advertisements that point to it. I'll work on getting those ads finished by next weekend.

~Ulrika~

Great job on the website Ulrika. Just one suggestion . Maybe you should add some photos of Neaultenburg.

A quick note. The pages are rather spartan right now and I plan to add some pictures of the city and some fun graphics just as soon as possible. I just wanted to get up what I could as quickly as possible.

Oops! One last thing. I've been told that the graphics are off for folks using Internet Explorer. For now check it out using any browser except for Internet Explorer. I'll try and fix it so that it's backward compatible in a few days.

~Ulrika~

Whew, what an amazing work, Ulrika! That has tons of useful information

I've noticed you're using plain HTML - if someday you wish to get a content manager installed, let me know. I just need access to a database and to PHP on your web site. The software takes just about 1 MByte or so, and would allow more people to collaborate on parts of it. Actually, this was part of a plan to set up the "Neualtenburger Tagesblatt" as a way to spread information about Neualtenburg, political science, and SL things as well I've not given up on that idea... yet But first things first, and Neualtenburg will be around for a long time, I hope...

Also, I'd suggest you to register the site with Creative Commons. That way, you'd be able to track down all sorts of usage of the content, say, giving permissions to people to quote from your site, as long as they don't profit from it (say, using it on academic papers, newspaper/website reviews, etc).

So, as you've noticed, no comments on the content That's just because I think it's awesome and so far I wouldn't change a thing!

Thanks! It was a lot of work. Most of it I couldn't have written without the useful discussions going on in the Political Science forum.

It looks like plain HTML but it's actually running Mason. Just to warn you there are people in my household who are allergic to *whispers* php. I like your advice and as soon as we get going I'll request the equivalent content-management system, so we can all contribute.

Done! The logo will show up during the next update of the website, probably tomorrow night. Great advice!

I also took the advice you sent me by email. Thanks.

~Ulrika~

OK! I've made many changes to the website.

1. The creative commons license has been added to the website.
   
2. There is a new home page which includes a new banner, several images, and short textual summaries.
   
3. I've added a few pictures of the city to about half of the pages to liven things up.
   

I'll take some more pictures of the city and add them this weekend. I'm going to switch gears now and work on the city layout so we can subdivide land and place the lots for sale on the website.

~Ulrika~

More changes to the website:

1. I added paragraphs on privacy, accountability, and transparency. (That was a great idea Gwyn.)
   
2. I've added that we'll be accepting Linden Dollars as payment.*
   
3. I've created GIF versions of all the transparent PNG images so Internet Explorer users won't see the grey boxes around some of the pictures. They are lower quality than the other images but it will have to do until Microsoft upgrades their browser or the world switches to Safari or Firefox. :/
   
4. There's still a problem with alignment of the top banner in Internet Explorer but I'll have to wait to fix that until tomorrow, when I can get my hands on a Windows computer.
   

*I was thinking that it could be beneficial to accept Linden Dollars both from a privacy and convenience standpoint. Because of the extra time it will take to convert the money to US$, I thought we could contract the work out. Thus, we'll add a small surcharge and pass it on to whomever does the conversion. In the beginning I volunteer but after August I'll probably have to hand it off.

~Ulrika~

The website is officially out of beta!

1. The old vendor code was brought over from my website to the new website: http://www.neualtenburg.org/services/vendor
   
2. The vendor page now reports the balance of one of the city treasuries (Uma Bauhaus) in real time. I'll explain how to extend this to other city avatars (while keeping passwords secret), providing more transparency.
   
3. The website now works around Internet Explorer. Visitors using IE should basically see what everyone else sees minus some neat transparency tricks and additional leaves. (If you're an IE user, check out the page again to see the difference.)
   
4. Fixed minor formatting problems with icons in the footer.
   

Next on the list:

1. Add the new city map with locations of plots and street names.
   
2. Add more information on using PayPal.
   
3. Add a new "Services" submenu with the vendor and voting page.
   
4. Bring over the voting system.
   
5. Enable some form of content management so others can contribute.
   

~Ulrika~

I have a suggestion for the website:

In the Join section of Neualtenburg.org, it states that PayPal will be used to insure privacy, why not add the paypal logo on the bottom of the webpage?

I'm actually working on that content right now. We'll drop a PayPal logo on the page about payment.

We've also decided to accept payments in L$ as well for total anonymity.

~Ulrika~

The website has undergone significant changes. These changes should facilitate the upcoming land sales.

1. I've integrated Sudane's excellent work into the web-site content. I've split the post into two sections with the clarification of leasing going into the "Comparison" section and the step-by-step leasing procedure going into a new "Membership" section.
   
2. I renamed the "Information" directory to "Prospectus".
   
3. I renamed the "Join" subdirectory to "Comparison" and created a new subdirectory called "Membership".
   
4. I finally added the "Services" directory with "Land", "Payment", "Vendor", and "Vote" subdirectories.
   
5. I added PayPal links in two locations.
   
6. I added a link to Sudane's Land PDF file.
   
7. I created two new wikis in this forum for the ToS, Deed, and Covenant and linked to all of them from our website.
   

If you have links to the site in your signatures, make sure you update them. In the event of a 404 error (page not found), the server sends visitors directly to the home page without an error message.

I still need to put a link to the finances PDF file but I ran out of time. I'll do that soon.

~Ulrika~

Ulrika, this is great!

For the first time, I feel we really have all the pieces of Neualtenburg in one place, in a form that people can get the information they need, and understand it. Bravo!!

The only thing we'll need to fix fairly quickly is the "Deeding" process instructions. Gwyn has developed the "Neualtenburg Central Repository System", from which can retrieve unalterable copies of deeds which people sign. We're doing final tests now, and I'll post a detailed description of how it works, as soon as I figure it out .

That's really the only short term tweak on the site. Oh, and adding those financial links, as you mentioned. The financial statements are rather "financial techie" I guess. But for those who can understand them ( and I am totally available for anyone who wants to go thru them with me! ), they really do represent the true picture of Neualtenburg finances. Please be sure and link both the Balance Sheet and the Income Expense Statement.

You may want to add the warning/instructions near the Paypal buttons regarding making anonymous Paypal payments, since, if you make a payment with your RL-named account, your RL name will show up in the transmission.

And then. the re-zoning of the lots! You must have been working all night!

Ulrika, thank you! This is a truly extraordinary accomplishment.

Sudane

I haven't quite rezoned the lots yet.

They'll be done by tonight, though.

~Ulrika~