NB – I pwn the h4xorZ = “I own the hackers” – More later…
So, another eventful week has passed by with ENO, and it hasn’t been without it’s problems.
Templates, Mambots, Components and Modules
I finally understand now how to add…extras, let’s say, to the website. Last week I played around with a few different templates, and extra components and modules.
Features that I have added recently include:
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TinyMCE WYSIWIG Editor – An easier text editor that allows the less technically sound reporters to upload stories much quicker than with the standard Joomla! editor.
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mXcomment – A feature that allows readers to comment on stories on the website.
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A social networking component that includes links to sites like Digg, Facebook, MySpace, etc – so that users can bookmark (and save to RSS) their favourite stories.
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Two new themes (none are active now).
Disaster
Of all the outcomes and possibilities I had (tried to) plan for, I never expected what would happen when I installed one of the themes and tested to see how it looked.
Memory fails me which particular theme/creator I used, and at the risk of exposing myself to serious legal issues, I won’t name the template creator/template in question.
I installed a theme, applied it to every page, and saved it. Then I went to the front end of the site to see how it looked, and realised I needed to tinker a little with the CSS code. Then the problems started.
I kept being ‘locked out’ and ‘denied access’ to the administrator page of the website – may I remind readers that this is a website that I own! I realised very quickly that I had been hacked and I needed to find a way to get back into the back end of the website quickly, and delete the theme, and whoever kept clicking ‘Force Logout’ on my username.
Fortunately, ten minutes later, the hacker(s) decided to give up, and I managed to get back into the back-end of the website and remove the theme and the new usernames they attemped to create.
Needless to say that was an experience for me, and it does raise serious questions about whether Joomla! should do more to verify template designers and creators before featuring them on their website.
Special Guests
Last week myself, and the OJ class had the pleasure of meeting Tim Hood (from Yoosk!) and Joanna Geary (of the Birmingham Post). Both had very interesting things to say about Online Journalism, and methods of sourcing articles and reporting.
I was also impressed with Tim’s CMS for Yoosk!, sourced from Vietnam. It’s amazing – I’d urge you to have a look.
Joanna writes in her blog:
“Can you write environmental stories in a way that builds trust between you and the reader? Is the current suspicion surrounding climate change – for example – caused by media sensationalism or poor scientific reporting? Perhaps it’s neither, maybe it’s just human nature to repsond to environmental stories with suspicion.”
She raises a very important point, that not only has implications for ENO, but for the journalists reporting for the website too. Is it possible to draw interest to stories that aren’t featured as regularly in the mainstream media? Does this mean that only a certain type of person will be interested in the website and its content?
I know that if this was last year, and if I was in the position of this year’s Online Journalists, I would be struggling now.
Joanna also gave myself and Rachael an idea about a story she was pursuing along similar lines to the one above – not a bad idea for a podcast I’d say. Check back in week 6 of the project for more (we’re currently in week 4.)
Extra! Extra! ENO is live!
Yes, while I may have mentioned it before – the site is very much alive now.
And the journalists are posting more frequently now – especially in the wake of the recent earthquake. See what Paul Bradshaw thinks of it here.
Bookmark us
Finally, make sure you bookmark ENO, and make sure to keep checking regularly. The site is constantly being updated, and in the coming weeks will feature podcasts and video too.
TechWire 