Pirate Party Website Megathread!

Bersekr · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 21

Since there has been such eagerness to get a website online we need to get all the webheads in one place.

Here are the relevant posts to date:

Bersekr · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 21

ryan · Joined: 01 Mar 2009 Posts: 22 Location: McGill, Montreal

Here is a proposal for what should perhaps appear on the website. It will give our writers something to get involved, while we continue to get the Technical and Artistic elements coming along. I am reposting from PiratePartyofCanada.com/forum

Nice work getting things set up so far.

I can't help much with the design, but I can start the discussion about website content.

I expect it will still be some time before we're actually registered as a party. At that point we'll want to fill this site with things like our actual platform, ways to formally join the Pirate Party, the Pirate Party of Canada Constitution, ways to contribute, information/blogs about IP/Privacy issues in Canada, etc. However, until we are much more coordinated and formalized I think we shouldn't worry about any of those things. So lets start discussing what the basic components of the webpage should be at this very early stage in the party.

For right now I think the most important thing to get up is a truthful description about where the Party is at the moment, and what people can do to get things moving forward.

Here is a proposal for immediate website content:

1) Homepage with welcome message
2) The Gentle Manifesto Page
3) Essential Info and Links Page
4) The groups and contacts page
5) The PPC Blog
6) The Forum

1) The homepage. I imagine we want a sleek sexy and fairly minimalist image, a nicely integrated logo, perhaps a perfect quotation. I would propose that we include a short and elegantly written message on the homepage explaining who we are, what the short term plans are, and how interested people can get involved.

2) The Gentle Manifesto. I called it a Gentle manifesto because I do not think it should make any sweeping claims or call for revolutionary action. Until we get enough people coordinated to have a real debate about what the party should be aspiring toward, I don't think that anyone will be able to write up a specific manifesto that speaks for the Canadian pirate movement. I propose we lay down a very vague portrait of the problems with current trends in intellectual property, and the actual manifesto will not focus on how to solve those problems so much as how to get people organized in the pirate movement to discuss those problems. I propose that the main call to action of the gentle manifesto be to get people to start up their own PP groups or start building the PP movement in their town. Are we more or less agreed that this is the correct way to approach party-building? We start at the grassroots and only seek top-down organization once the movement has developed into something of substance?

3) The Essential Info and links page would contain lots of basic info and links about IP/Privacy issues in Canada, links to the more established European parties pages, perhaps some info about the Creative Commons, free culture movements, etc.

4) The Blog. A strong blog is really important. This is what will bring people back to the site often and hopefully stimulate some committed involvement. We can focus on IP/Privacy issues in Canada, Similar issues around the world, big news in global pirate movement, small news in the Canadian pirate movement, etc. Finding a small team of committed blogs would be awesome. Any blogging volunteers?

5) The Groups and Contacts Page. As groups start developing and getting organized in various cities around the country we will start posting information about them here. We'll post local contact info for each of the clubs and some information about what the group is up to, when they meet, etc.... Perhaps we'll want to have one of the local groups exist solely in cyberspace for the people who can't get involved in the face-to-face grassroots groups.

Somewhere on the page will be something like "Don't See A group in your Area??? Start one up yourself! Click here for our carefully crafted information document about how to start a Pirate Party club in your area."

6) the Forum. needs no description.

How do you guys feel about this proposal? Anything missing? Anything that doesn't belong?

If we're going to go ahead with it, we'll have as much need for writers as we have for designers and techies!

cpt_chris · Joined: 07 Jun 2009 Posts: 10

PiratePartyofCanada.com is hosted with godaddy. i don't mean to be rude or anything, but godaddy is a pretty ironic choice since they have been known to oppose net neutrality and donate to republicans. most people don't know this and since i've heard about it i've switched my urls to another host.

Zblewski · Joined: 27 Dec 2008 Posts: 31 Location: Greater Sudbury, ON

cpt_chris · Joined: 07 Jun 2009 Posts: 10

they have the best prices and are well known but they have deceptive schemes, their site is impossible to navigate, they try to sell you shit even after buying from them and bob parsons looks and acts like a narcissistic scumbag. they've succeeded because they have a deceptive marketing team.

the pirate party should have people like bob parsons thrown overboard. the consumer is the ruler of this internet.

if that domain is intended to be used, it should best be an independent canadian host.

Bersekr · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 21

may I suggest contacting Rocky from TechSavvy? They have been part of the Canadian net-neutrality movement, etc. He might even be willing to donate the space

rob.s.brit · Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Montréal, QC

I picked GoDaddy because they are cheap, I was not aware of any shady dealings by them. If you can suggest a better provider, please let me know.

It has been requested that I take down the forums on the new site, I'm wondering what people think about this. While it would be good to keep all discussion in one place, I also think it is important to begin work on our own site and a forum is something quick and easy to show.

Zblewski · Joined: 27 Dec 2008 Posts: 31 Location: Greater Sudbury, ON

Bersekr · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 21

Until we get things seriously going we need to concentrate our resources so that we can let it germinate, rather than have some folks end up here or there and let things splinter and get confused.

You can already see how messy things can get with how many domains have been registered thus far, we already have a wiki going, etc.

Let's take things one small step at a time Smile

IceWendigo · Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 16

[quote] is taken and seems to be dormant [/quote]

Isnt this also a lesser part of the problem, and somewhat parasitic, squatting names that arent being used for purely speculative purposes (so that it can be sold instead of using it). Its the equivalent of hoarding a pattent and not using it (the way Chevron is apparently hoarding a NiMH patent).

Not really using a name for several months I could undertand giving yourself a few months to develop your concept is quite long but still reasonalble, but hoarding it for over a year or hoarding dozens if not hundreds of names should not be tolerated

Zblewski · Joined: 27 Dec 2008 Posts: 31 Location: Greater Sudbury, ON

rob.s.brit · Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Montréal, QC