Ready for Launch

Article from Apr. 2008 issue of Our Isle and Times

Despite all that beautiful weather, by the time you are reading this, the new website will be up and running. In the past months I wrote about some of the new features the site has to allow you to use it as a real communications hub for the community. I hope you’ll take a few moments to go to lasqueti.ca to check it out and tell me what you think. Here are a few pointers and tips to get you started:

1. Create an account. Anyone can browse the site, but to get full benefits, you need to log in. It’s easy – look to the top of the right sidebar and click on “Login” – now select “Create New Account”. Fill in the form and you’ll automatically be logged in and receive an e-mail with your account details. (Islanders with a lasqueti.ca e-mail, already have an account – check your e-mail).
   See “Why do I need an account” on the site for more details.

2. Expand and Collapse. Many items on the website are “collapsed”, so they don’t clutter things up. Any time you see a little left-arrow -
   

   <  - it means the item can be “expanded” to view its contents – just click on it. Similarly, items with a down-arrow - \/   - can be “collapsed” to get them out of the way.
   
   

3. Get More. “Blocks” in the right sidebar show a short summary of the most recent or relevant, dynamic information. Click on any title link to see the full article. Click on the more arrow
   

    at the bottom to see the full list of related articles.
   
   

4. Contextual Menus. The left-sidebar is for menus – the most relevant menu will always appear on top. Always check the left-sidebar to see what options are available for the section of the site you are viewing.
   
   
5. Tabbed Browsing. The main website content is divided onto a number of tabs (along the top of each page). Tabs provide a visual “map” that keeps you oriented to where you are within the site. This is not a “normal” way to layout a website – I was experimenting – but try it, I’d be interested in your feedback.

I have been concentrating on getting the structure and functionality of the site right, so it doesn’t always look as sharp as I’d like, and not all of the content has been loaded yet, so there are lots of missing pages, and there are probably some annoying bugs - but I won’t find them unless you tell me, so please let me know what works and what sucks. This is your website, it should work for you.

In the coming months I’ll write more about the site’s features and how to use them. In the meantime, please take a moment to try out one thing on your own. Post a classified ad, write down a thought in your blog, add some news or events to the calendar, or upload a couple of photos. Then take a moment to let me know how it went by posting a comment on my “First Impressions” blog. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me, as always webmaster (at) lasqueti.ca (8849) Joseph