[imc-uk-emergency] how to use the preparation site (in plain text)

[andi]

hi all

now that the twiki where the collated info is is offline (grrr)
it might make sense if detailed info is available in mails, too.
so here the plain text content of 
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/UkMirGrabYourArticles

cheers andi
--------------------------------------------------------------


>Regionalising existing articles and middle columns for a
>regional UK IMC

Regional UK IMC's have their own 'startpages' with autonomous
middle columns and newswires. When we go live with the new MIR
site you might not want to start empty-handed - to have content on
your regional UK IMC you can sift through the existing UK database
and pick and choose what you want for your regional IMC.

>Playground and Preparation: 
>the test site http://uktest.indymedia.de/en/ 
>and the preparation site http://uk.indymedia.de/en/

The test site is set up for experimenting and playing around -
this is the site where anything can be tried on, and it is the
site on which the different designs are being tried out; upload
whatever you like, and play with its functions in the test site
adminon https://uktest.indymedia.de/uktest/servlet/Mir
The login name is "uk" and the password is the current admin
password with 'the vocal replaced by a number'. If this hint is
not clear please mail me your telephone number and I can call you
back.

In contrast, the preparation site on http://uk.indymedia.de/en/
has the entire existing UK database up to 12 May imported. The
idea is that regional collectives classify their regional
newswires and middle columns *before* the launch of the new site,
so that the regional IMC's are not empty. Any classifications made
here will be preserved - this migration site will go live and
that's why the upload function is disabled. Regular new dumps will
be added here to keep it in sync with the actual state of the live
site - so everybody can keep regionalising their recently posted
stories. This update will at the same time bring over any newly
developed design from the test page so gradually we should come
nearer to a finished state to be able to go live. You as well can
go back in time as far as far back as to 23 July 2000 which is
when we used active for the UK for the first time.

>Regionalising your content in the preparation site

To start classifying you need to log into the preparation site
admin http://uk.indymedia.de/uk/servlet/Mir the login and the
password are exactly the same as for the test site admin. Click on
either the link "Newswire" or "Pre-MIR Feature" as in the
illustration on the left. Don't worry about all the other options,
the exact setup has still to be debated on the network and process
lists. If you want to explore please do so in the test site admin
on https://uktest.indymedia.de/uktest/servlet/Mir . The purpose of
the preparation site is to *only regionalise* the existing
database, so please *don't add or hide/unhide* anything. The
publish function on the preparation site is disabled - for the
import/export scripts to work it's important to keep the article
types the same.


>"Newswire" articles (graphic attached)

After clicking on the "Newswire" link you will be presented with a
list of 20 of  19134 items. If you want to jump back in time better
use the url in the address bar than the "next" link in the bottom.
The number at the end of the address bar lets you jump back, ie
changing it from 20 to 200 will send you back about 5 days... It
will make sense to keep a note of the articles you want to have in
your page - look them up in the current UK site and keep a note of
the publishing date... To add the article to your IMC simply click
on the "edit" button of an item and then select the corresponding
checkbox for your IMC. You can do this even if another region is
already selected. Click on save, then click twice on the "Back"
button of your browser and edit the next article you want. BTW:
any article you are editing here *must* stay to be a "Newswire"
articles so please don't change the popup-box highlighted in red
here.


>"Pre-MIR Feature" middle columns (graphic attached)

Clicking on the "Pre-MIR Feature" link in the admin start page
will present  you with a list of all the UK middle columns on the
present UK site. Luckily it's not as many as there are articles,
only 228... To regionalise a middle column click on the "edit"
button of one, and select the corresponding checkbox. Don't change
the popup-box "Pre-MIR Feature" highlighted in red here, it *must*
stay to be the same. Click on save, then click twice on the "Back"
button of your browser and edit the next middle column you want.

>"Producing the pages"

This is the different bit in MIR to the old active codebase: the
server you are logged in now for the admin page is a different
server than the webserver itself. This will help with the upload
problems as the webserving and the uploading are split on two
servers - but it means that you have to go through a few more
steps before your changes go live:

>Enqueue the pages
In the admin page, return to 'Start' and go to the "Advanced page"
on the right. In there enqueue 
- the changed articles, and the new newswirearchive if you have 
  regionalised "Newswire"
- the new topicpages if you have regionalised "Pre-MIR Feature"
- finally the regionalstartpage (to update your regional IMC). 
The enqueueing will take quite a while so don't worry if it's
still saying "pending".