The new website
Friday, November 11, 2011
After having set up the website library pages yesterday, I asked our library volunteer to sit down with me to go over the way I set it up and review the changes I made. We did a little revision and moved a little text here and there. She was happy with the way it turned out and I'm glad. I had to call iPage and get a few questions answered. I have reached a stopping point with my work on the website. I think organizing the pages, transferring the data, making the pages pretty and so on is something Maureen and Polly can do just fine. I don't need to participate in that. I will need to get the splash page installed and talk with Maureen about the images we will use. I have suggested they use background images that portray classic New England themes -- winter snow and steeples, springtime might be a covered bridge, summer images might be the ocean and sailboats, and fall would, of course, be the beautiful foliage. An image of the Lowell smokestacks might also be a possibility.
Now I am turning back to work on the President's exhibition coming up. Kate was in today and we were talking about putting images on the website for the collection. She wanted to know how large the images should be, etc. I am taking stock of the quilts we have scheduled for the show, what paperwork is out, etc. Pam and I are going to meet tomorrow to go over everything so I have a handle on anything she has done on the exhibition in the past two weeks while I have been working on the website.
After having set up the website library pages yesterday, I asked our library volunteer to sit down with me to go over the way I set it up and review the changes I made. We did a little revision and moved a little text here and there. She was happy with the way it turned out and I'm glad. I had to call iPage and get a few questions answered. I have reached a stopping point with my work on the website. I think organizing the pages, transferring the data, making the pages pretty and so on is something Maureen and Polly can do just fine. I don't need to participate in that. I will need to get the splash page installed and talk with Maureen about the images we will use. I have suggested they use background images that portray classic New England themes -- winter snow and steeples, springtime might be a covered bridge, summer images might be the ocean and sailboats, and fall would, of course, be the beautiful foliage. An image of the Lowell smokestacks might also be a possibility.
Now I am turning back to work on the President's exhibition coming up. Kate was in today and we were talking about putting images on the website for the collection. She wanted to know how large the images should be, etc. I am taking stock of the quilts we have scheduled for the show, what paperwork is out, etc. Pam and I are going to meet tomorrow to go over everything so I have a handle on anything she has done on the exhibition in the past two weeks while I have been working on the website.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Today was dedicated to figuring out how to put the NEQM logo on new website header. Luckily I quickly found exactly how to modify the CSS (style sheet) and index pages. Sample snippets were posted on line and I was easily able to adapt it to our needs. I plugged in the NEQM logo that I had used in the first version of Weebly that supported uploading a logo. Draught! It looks terrible now. It's all the wrong size. Believe it or not, it was quite a process to make the logo fit. I had to keep modifying the image, then the style sheet to accommodate the image size, then, do it again because it wasn't to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, there was a lot of trial and error. But the end result was a good one.
One of the things I did in styling the template was to enlarge the font for the navigation. The average age of the NEQM members is 65. As we all know, as we get older, the print somehow gets smaller. When I enlarged the navigation font, the space left to place a logo was reduced. This turned into a big balancing act. I also changed the color of the font to the NEQM gold. It looks nice!
I spent the rest of the afternoon transferring the data from the old website to the new one -- just a couple of pages for the library. I don't intend to do any more transfers than this one. I needed to do this as a test to make sure that everything was going to work -- etc. Also the librarian has asked me to add a form to the site that web visitors can fill out and submit, requesting books or asking for book suggestions. So, I grabbed an image of the library off of the old site, cropped it and threw it into the header along with some fancy lettering. It was fun and I am happy with the way it turned out.
Today was dedicated to figuring out how to put the NEQM logo on new website header. Luckily I quickly found exactly how to modify the CSS (style sheet) and index pages. Sample snippets were posted on line and I was easily able to adapt it to our needs. I plugged in the NEQM logo that I had used in the first version of Weebly that supported uploading a logo. Draught! It looks terrible now. It's all the wrong size. Believe it or not, it was quite a process to make the logo fit. I had to keep modifying the image, then the style sheet to accommodate the image size, then, do it again because it wasn't to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, there was a lot of trial and error. But the end result was a good one.
One of the things I did in styling the template was to enlarge the font for the navigation. The average age of the NEQM members is 65. As we all know, as we get older, the print somehow gets smaller. When I enlarged the navigation font, the space left to place a logo was reduced. This turned into a big balancing act. I also changed the color of the font to the NEQM gold. It looks nice!
I spent the rest of the afternoon transferring the data from the old website to the new one -- just a couple of pages for the library. I don't intend to do any more transfers than this one. I needed to do this as a test to make sure that everything was going to work -- etc. Also the librarian has asked me to add a form to the site that web visitors can fill out and submit, requesting books or asking for book suggestions. So, I grabbed an image of the library off of the old site, cropped it and threw it into the header along with some fancy lettering. It was fun and I am happy with the way it turned out.
Some Weebly themes to pick from
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
This morning began with a staff meeting. Connie sadly announced the resignation of two staff members. There was discussion of how the positions will be filled. The curator, collections manager, public relations director, etc. each gave reports. I was last and was happy to report about our plans for the website. Everyone is happy and excited about the changes.
Today we subscribed to iPage and I started rebuilding the new site. Although I didn't necessarily expect it, Maureen said she liked the template I had been using and she wants me to use it for the new site. When I chose the template, it was just because it was sort of the right color -- the NEQM colors represent New England themes -- the Red represents barn red; the deep blue represents the ocean; and the gold represents the fall foliage. They are easy colors to work with so that's good for me!
Unfortunately I can't import the site I have been working on to iPage. That would have been nice and saved me some time. But, I did it once, the second time should be easier, right? Fortunately, iPage had the same template I was using before, so that was good! So I got started today. I spent some time using Adobe Photoshop to make a header using the NEQM barn red. I started with their color, officially #990000, which is pretty bright. I added some "noise" to give it some texture, then I added a filter with lighting effects. It looks great! I am pleased. The template is pretty well done, but there is one MAJOR problem: there is nothing in this version of Weeby to upload a logo. This is a very new feature, and I have been using it. It's pretty important that we put our logo at the top of the website. The NEQM uses an unusual font that is not available in Weebly. To post the name of the museum, I have to be able to use an image. So, here we go -- back into HTML world I go!
This morning began with a staff meeting. Connie sadly announced the resignation of two staff members. There was discussion of how the positions will be filled. The curator, collections manager, public relations director, etc. each gave reports. I was last and was happy to report about our plans for the website. Everyone is happy and excited about the changes.
Today we subscribed to iPage and I started rebuilding the new site. Although I didn't necessarily expect it, Maureen said she liked the template I had been using and she wants me to use it for the new site. When I chose the template, it was just because it was sort of the right color -- the NEQM colors represent New England themes -- the Red represents barn red; the deep blue represents the ocean; and the gold represents the fall foliage. They are easy colors to work with so that's good for me!
Unfortunately I can't import the site I have been working on to iPage. That would have been nice and saved me some time. But, I did it once, the second time should be easier, right? Fortunately, iPage had the same template I was using before, so that was good! So I got started today. I spent some time using Adobe Photoshop to make a header using the NEQM barn red. I started with their color, officially #990000, which is pretty bright. I added some "noise" to give it some texture, then I added a filter with lighting effects. It looks great! I am pleased. The template is pretty well done, but there is one MAJOR problem: there is nothing in this version of Weeby to upload a logo. This is a very new feature, and I have been using it. It's pretty important that we put our logo at the top of the website. The NEQM uses an unusual font that is not available in Weebly. To post the name of the museum, I have to be able to use an image. So, here we go -- back into HTML world I go!
Weebly Themes to pick from
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Today I spent the day, once again, researching options for our new web site. We will have to move from our current web host. They also host our email, not the typical situation where the domain host also hosts the email. Because we will be changing our web host, we also have to change our email host. Weebly will be a great solution for building our new website, but they are geared toward web building. They have some basic web services in addition to building sites, but what they offer is pretty minimal. Athough they host web sites, they do not support corresponding email. So, we have to find another home for our email. Weebly suggests their users go to Google Apps and open email accounts there. NEQM could do that, but if more than 10 accounts are needed, it gets prohibitively expensive. Our existing domain host can host our email also, but they will charge a fee. Searching out the best solution gobbled up my day today.
By the end of the day, Maureen and I were talking about using a company called iPage. They support the Weebly Web Building software, email, web hosting and domain hosting. They offer the entire package. They are rated number 1 over and over again for service by their customers. This evening when I got home, I spent time on the phone talking to the people at iPage. I had to be assured that they would support us in the way we needed them to. I talked to them about the transition, etc. iPage assured me they updated their Weebly software just last week and they were in good shape. I asked a few questions to make sure they were on the same version that I have been working on. Weeby has added quite a bit of new function just in the past 30 days.
Today I spent the day, once again, researching options for our new web site. We will have to move from our current web host. They also host our email, not the typical situation where the domain host also hosts the email. Because we will be changing our web host, we also have to change our email host. Weebly will be a great solution for building our new website, but they are geared toward web building. They have some basic web services in addition to building sites, but what they offer is pretty minimal. Athough they host web sites, they do not support corresponding email. So, we have to find another home for our email. Weebly suggests their users go to Google Apps and open email accounts there. NEQM could do that, but if more than 10 accounts are needed, it gets prohibitively expensive. Our existing domain host can host our email also, but they will charge a fee. Searching out the best solution gobbled up my day today.
By the end of the day, Maureen and I were talking about using a company called iPage. They support the Weebly Web Building software, email, web hosting and domain hosting. They offer the entire package. They are rated number 1 over and over again for service by their customers. This evening when I got home, I spent time on the phone talking to the people at iPage. I had to be assured that they would support us in the way we needed them to. I talked to them about the transition, etc. iPage assured me they updated their Weebly software just last week and they were in good shape. I asked a few questions to make sure they were on the same version that I have been working on. Weeby has added quite a bit of new function just in the past 30 days.
Monday, November 7, 2011
This morning I drove to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I purposefully left after the rush hour. But I got caught in it anyway! I finally arrived about 11:00. Since it was a weekday in the fall, I thought it would be a good day to go and not contend with summer vacationers. So, there were no vacationers, but there were 1,700 elementary kids and their teachers! Ha! Ha! At least they were short people. A short introductory film was the first stop on the tour. Then the Indian village, a 17th Century English town, and lastly the Craft Center where artisans were sewing, making furniture, and making ceramic pots. This was an interesting place! I had an absolutely LOVELY warm day today to enjoy this walking tour.
After leaving the Plantation, I drove to the town of Plymouth and went to see Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. The whole setting was beautiful. The ocean was blue, dotted with boats at the nearby marina. The Mayflower II was built in 1952 and is a replica of the original Mayflower Ship that landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Arriving in December, nearly half of the 100 passengers died over their first winter. Then, as the story goes, Squanto showed up and saved the day. The following fall, according to what I heard this day, the first Thanksgiving occurred on the heals of a successful harvest. Although there is some controversy about whether this really happened, here in Plymouth that's the story they're sticking to!
The Mayflower II was pretty neat. It was not a large ship. There were actors there role playing passengers and crew. The quarters were tight and people were much smaller. You can see that from the small births that they slept in. According to one of the female passengers, they had quarters below deck and some families also brought the makings of a cabin so they actually had a way to build a bit of privacy into the small area on the ship they were assigned to. I asked if any passengers died during the voyage. I was amazed when I was told only two. Both were crew members.
Next stop was the Pilgram Hall Museum which was only a short walk from the Mayflower II. This was certainly the highlight of my day! Built in 1824, this museum is the oldest continuously open public museum in the United States. It is not very big, but what has to offer is fantastic. There are beautiful paintings of pilgram scenes. Downstairs they have artifacts including a cradle that came over on the Mayflower, a Bible that belonged to William Bradford, the earliest known sampler made in America made by the daughter of Myles Standish. and other has been opened continuously since 1648. They also had a very informative film that traced the history of the pilgrams from when they left England to settle in Holland, and then eleven years later to the New World. Love this museum!
I have an ancestor, Francis Sprague, that came from England to the New World on The Good Ship Anne, in 1623. He landed in Plymouth and so I thought it might be possible that there would be some historical information about early settlers. This museum seemed as good a place as any to ask, so I did. The woman I spoke to went immediately to a book in the gift shop called Plymouth Colony: It's History and People 1620 - 1690 by Eugene Strantton. In that book was biographical information about various colonists. I was surprised and delighted to see Francis Sprague listed! It included his arrival date, information about land and cattle divisions he participated in, his daughters that came with him, as well as children that were born in Plymouth Colony. The better part of a page was spent describing his family and business -- apparently he had one of the first taverns in the colonies tee he! :) Guess who was listed directly after Francis Sprague in this book -- why Myles Standish of course!
This morning I drove to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I purposefully left after the rush hour. But I got caught in it anyway! I finally arrived about 11:00. Since it was a weekday in the fall, I thought it would be a good day to go and not contend with summer vacationers. So, there were no vacationers, but there were 1,700 elementary kids and their teachers! Ha! Ha! At least they were short people. A short introductory film was the first stop on the tour. Then the Indian village, a 17th Century English town, and lastly the Craft Center where artisans were sewing, making furniture, and making ceramic pots. This was an interesting place! I had an absolutely LOVELY warm day today to enjoy this walking tour.
After leaving the Plantation, I drove to the town of Plymouth and went to see Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower II. The whole setting was beautiful. The ocean was blue, dotted with boats at the nearby marina. The Mayflower II was built in 1952 and is a replica of the original Mayflower Ship that landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Arriving in December, nearly half of the 100 passengers died over their first winter. Then, as the story goes, Squanto showed up and saved the day. The following fall, according to what I heard this day, the first Thanksgiving occurred on the heals of a successful harvest. Although there is some controversy about whether this really happened, here in Plymouth that's the story they're sticking to!
The Mayflower II was pretty neat. It was not a large ship. There were actors there role playing passengers and crew. The quarters were tight and people were much smaller. You can see that from the small births that they slept in. According to one of the female passengers, they had quarters below deck and some families also brought the makings of a cabin so they actually had a way to build a bit of privacy into the small area on the ship they were assigned to. I asked if any passengers died during the voyage. I was amazed when I was told only two. Both were crew members.
Next stop was the Pilgram Hall Museum which was only a short walk from the Mayflower II. This was certainly the highlight of my day! Built in 1824, this museum is the oldest continuously open public museum in the United States. It is not very big, but what has to offer is fantastic. There are beautiful paintings of pilgram scenes. Downstairs they have artifacts including a cradle that came over on the Mayflower, a Bible that belonged to William Bradford, the earliest known sampler made in America made by the daughter of Myles Standish. and other has been opened continuously since 1648. They also had a very informative film that traced the history of the pilgrams from when they left England to settle in Holland, and then eleven years later to the New World. Love this museum!
I have an ancestor, Francis Sprague, that came from England to the New World on The Good Ship Anne, in 1623. He landed in Plymouth and so I thought it might be possible that there would be some historical information about early settlers. This museum seemed as good a place as any to ask, so I did. The woman I spoke to went immediately to a book in the gift shop called Plymouth Colony: It's History and People 1620 - 1690 by Eugene Strantton. In that book was biographical information about various colonists. I was surprised and delighted to see Francis Sprague listed! It included his arrival date, information about land and cattle divisions he participated in, his daughters that came with him, as well as children that were born in Plymouth Colony. The better part of a page was spent describing his family and business -- apparently he had one of the first taverns in the colonies tee he! :) Guess who was listed directly after Francis Sprague in this book -- why Myles Standish of course!
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