This week saw the first two Eastern Cape schools to go fully online with their new website solution power by Joomla. We have been hard at work compiling what we think to be the perfect combination of components for any South African school.
At each of the two schools, George Randell Primary and Kuswag Primary, a teacher will be working with the content and management of the website, alongside ActionOnline that will be providing support and training for the websites. At present very little information appears on the websites (www.cathcarthigh.co.za and www.portrex.co.za) as teachers will now have to learn how to publish content directly on the website.
The possibilities that the new website holds to students, teachers and parents are endless. Students will be able to build a detailed profile of themselves on the website, linked to all posts and/or activities on the website. In addition to their detailed profiles, students will be able to publish their own 5 page website on the school’s domain.
We hope that the forum, private messenger and other tools provide will aid in the ease of contact between teachers and parents. Below is an extract from the feature discussions for the website.
WEBSITE FEATURE DISCUSSIONS
- 1. Basic Essential Features
1.1 The website will allow new visitors to register on the website and specify their status (student/teacher/parent/visitor). Each user then will be able to login on the website and gain access to information only visible to their particalur status.
1.2. The website will have different ‘User Access Levels’ that will determine the access a particular user has on the website. Normal registered users will be able to post comments on articles, forums etc as well as use tools such as the messenger system on the website. Teachers and students will be able to access information related to the school, and also applications such as the Site-Builder, Support ticket system etc.
The client will select it’s designated ‘Admins’ and the developer will upgrade their user statuses, allowing them access to all areas and applications on the website’s front-end and back-end.
1.3 Comprehensive search utility will allow for detailed and advanced search of all the content on the website. Automatic meta tag insertion into the content users will submit will ensure easy searching for both the websites search engine, as well as other web search engines.
1.4 All information on the website can be added and arranged in such a manner that it is easily readable and navigational to browser of the website. The content management solution (CMS) will allow for the adding of unlimited content while keeping it categorized and indexed for browsers.
1.5 All members of the public browsing the website will be able to download, print and distribute content easily with the click of a button.
2. UNIQUE FEATURES AND/OR APPLICATIONS
Features and applications unique to the website solution and their functionality will be discussed below. The current website has all these functions already implimented on the website, ready for testing and content to be loaded/customized.
2.1 PRIVATE MESSENGER
Each user after registreation will have access to a basic website messenger system. This system works similar to what your normal e-mail inbox folders would work, but it’s already loaded with the contact details for other registered users on the website.
2.2 COMPREHENSIVE USER PROFILES
Registered users on the website will be able to update their profile on the website by adding additional information on their profile and also upload a picture attached to all post they will make on the website.
2.3 SITE BUILDER
The Site Builder will allow students/teachers to build their own 5 page website on the domain, and indexing and module advertising of the link can be integrated on the website. The 5 page website features will include
- Basic content page
- Picture Gallery
- RSS Feeds
- Contact page
This application is not OpenSource, and the price for the application is reflected in the costing section below. It is currently complete without restrictions untill 50 regsistered users on the website. There-after a lisence for the domain needs to be obtained.
2.4 SUPPORT TICKET SYSTEM
The Support Ticket system has been implimented to assist both teachers and students obtaining support for either website, internet or e-mail assistance. Each ticket created/opened can be viewed from the administrator’s area, ensuring that no request/questions will go by un-answered.
This system will also only be made available to teachers, students and parents, and exclude normal visitors from being able to see the content or links.
2.5 PICTURE GALLERY
The picture gallery will support unlimited albums and pictures. Bulk uploading features will ensure easy uploading of multiple images. Comments can be made on pictures online, bulk downloading and e-card features included.
2.6 CALENDAR
An online calendar is the ideal way for advertising events and keeping track of events and meetings. Categories can be created for events, and teachers can create events from the front-end of the website.
2.7 FORUM
As being one of the Internet’s oldest communication and discussion tools, it’s important that the school’s website has a forum where students can start experimenting with topics, replies and notifications from a forum.
Various forum categories can still be created, and user access control can restrict a particular forum to be viewable only to teachers.
2.8 WEB BASED ADMINISTRATION ACCESS
Access to the clients server control panels are all integrated into the website under teacher access only. This includes the
- Mail Server control panel all e-mail accounts will be managed, created/deleted,
- Dansguardian control panel and reports,
- Website administrator area for the management of the website.
2.9 MAILING LIST / NEWSLETTER
The website’s newsletter manager allows for sending of sequduled html newsletters, automatic subscribe and un-subscribe, archiving of previously mailed newsletters. Multiple newsletters can also be created and managed through the website administrator area. For a complete list of features, see http://www.acajoom.com/content/view/17/1/
