A great place deserves a great web presence.
So I'm re-exercising atrophied web programming skills by experimenting with a website which may someday evolve into a reflection of the wonderful place it celebrates.
Initially, the focus of AllThingsTrinity will be tourism. What we need is a site which is exactly what its name implies: a single point of internet reference for everything about this home I love, Trinity County. Features:
- Attractively designed.
- Lots of gorgeous pictures.
- Sensible navigation: laid out in such a way that the user instantly understands what's there, and how to move around within it to get the info she wants.
- Full of up-to-date 'content' (the information the user seeks).
The above might apply to any site. More specifically, AllThingsTrinity's "Visit!" division will also provide:
- Easy navigation to specific information and photos of (eventually) every place of likely tourist interest in the County: Outdoor activities, historic sites, art, wineries, accommodations, essential services.
- A calendar of coming events
- A Google map, allowing a sort of 'virtual tour'. The user will be able to select what interests them (e.g. 'historic sites', 'wineries', 'B&Bs', ...), be able to instantly see (regionally or county-wide) where such places are. Mouse-over a marker, and a box pops up telling about it.
Someday?
There are likely millions of virtual 'communities' on The Web, but wouldn't it be great if there were a single site online where the few of us that live here could share one vital common interest, the place where we live? The Trinity Journal, in its paper form, and now
online, has done that since 1856. But I'm imagining more:
- Online discussion groups.
- Blogs
- Photo galleries.
- 'Sub-sites' for Community organization, artists, small businesses (instead of each having to go to the trouble of making up (and paying for) their own web presence).
- All things, Trinity.
Building a Website
It's harder than one might think. Once the idea's conceived, here's what ya need:
- Organization. How does one navigate thru it without becoming bewildered?
- A Database, so that content is easy to add/update, and to present pages tailored to exactly what the user wants.
- Code. Besides HTML, CSS, & JavaScript, there's PHP or ASP to make the pages dynamic, i.e., again, tailored to what the particular user needs, instead of one-size-fits-all.
- Design. A nice professional look.
- Content. A site with Organization, Database, Code, and Design is still just an empty vessel with potential. Fill it with photos, text descriptions of things to see and do, events, posts, user ratings, etc.
- And the often overlooked essential, what geeks call 'Maintenance'. Any useful website must be constantly updated. An obvious example: a calendar of events: new events must be added, existing events changed if dates/times/places change, etc.
AllThingsTrinity is nowhere near 'live', i.e. it's not ready for actual public use. I'm now in the 'Coding' stage. 'Design', as you can see, needs much work. The 'Content' is the bare minimum needed to test the database, code, and layout.
You Can Help
Send me ideas, photos, descriptions of places I should include, events to put in the calendar, opinions/suggestions, encouragement/criticism.
Thanks for visiting.
Mike McMillan
HC1 Box 576, Trinity Center CA 96091
(530) 206.6098
m@AllThingsTrinity.us
monitor progress as the site develops...
