Website Improvements


New Media Virtual Sandbox
A proposed web portal to an internet free-for-all where UNCA web designers and programmers can link to their own experimental sites, random pages, gifs, scripts, or portfolios. The idea is to create a unique virtual art experience not constrained by the restrictions of this main site.

To add to this project, send a hyperlink to your site and include name, contact info, and proof of current or former UNCA enrollment. We'll ask the New Media faculty for a general recommendation just to make sure you are not a robot, and then everything should be cleared.




Interactive Project Commissions
There were a lot of ambitious plans for this website that didn't make it into the current version. Below is a list of some advanced web design things we'd like to add to the site once it has been transferred to Wordpress.

• Disqus comments section


• FTP client/server for file sharing and downloads


• Better automatic image viewers


• Randomizer arrays/scripts for type and videos


• jQuery plugins and widgets


• GitHub or SourceTree account for code sharing


• Lightboxes


• Tags


• Sitemap


• Interactive rollovers


• Optimized page loading scripts


• Search bar


• YouTube tutorials


• Original videos and images


• Original articles, webcomics, etc.


Content Contributors
Ideally it would be cool to generate more original content on this site instead of relying so heavily on stock photos and links to external sources. Here are some open web positions we're hoping to fill.

• Editor-in-Chief


• Editors


• Staff Writers


• Art Director


• Branding Director


• Artists


• Video Content Managers


• Animation Content Managers


• Interactive Content Managers


• Computer Science Content Managers


• Music Content Managers


• Facebook and Social Media Admins


Request for Increased Server Access for Students
NC state education legislation prevents more than one student at a time from being entrusted to the password to a public university server, for security purposes. This severely limits our ability to update and edit this site, and puts a lot of pressure on the one student webmaster.

It is possible to purchase a web domain not associated with UNCA, which has been done before with the Multimedia Arts Council blog. However, while this transition would allow the option for anyone to serve as administrators and editors, it has a higher likelihood of falling into disuse or losing the domain name if someone didn't pay the annual registration cost. We also wouldn't have access to nearly as much server space, which could impact the amount of student work we display.

New Media has far more reason than any other department to have a student-run website. Students on the interactive web design track will be able to experiment with advanced web design concepts, and other New Media students can display projects and share resources. However, imposing strict rules preventing anyone from editing the site is basically condemning the project to fail before it has a chance to develop.




NM Student Chatboard
Some students have requested an alternative to Facebook where people can easily post comments and threads. We are looking into Disqus to facilitate a comments section on this site, but are open to other suggestions. We would first need to know how many students would even actually use an alternative forum site to determine if it is worth the trouble of setting up.




Special Topics Pages
One issue with this website's current design is that there isn't a way to add more resources and articles centered around specific topics without drastically increasing the number of pages. The more pages, the harder it becomes to update the website with a new CSS layout.

One possible way to work around this problem would be to create portal pages for the main subjects of Video, Animation, and Interactive. These portals could host a bunch of links to the subcategories in those fields. This would allow students to create unique stylized pages that go into more depth in specific interest areas like modding, concept art, horror genre movies, Super8 filmmaking, or 90's websites, without affecting the CSS.



Randomization Scripts
Maintaining a large website is generally a team effort. Realistically, most students don't have time to manage a website in addition to part-time jobs and 18 hour class schedules. This creates a slight problem with keeping the site relevant over time, since sites that aren't updated regularly quickly fall into disuse. We hope that won't happen with this site, but would like to prepare for the worst case scenario.

Creating randomization script code could help keep this website from becoming quickly outdated by generating different content every time a page is refreshed. This works ideally for featuring archived student work, as well as for inspiration and quick tips. If anyone with programming skills knows how to set up a randomization array that works with videos and text, that would be really useful for this site. The code currently in use doesn't allow much control over the dimensions to display a variety of student work.




Sister Sites, Web Portals, and Expansions
Although this site is still brand new and we're prioritizing efforts on getting all the features working correctly, the eventual hope is that the main site can be used as a platform for expansion, creating a linked network of individual sites created by student web designers.

One possible branch off this site that seems like a natural crossover would be a computer science student-run website covering more technical aspects of hardware, programming, science, engineering, Virtual Reality, and video games. Setting up this site would provide an opportunity to collaborate with the students in those departments, as was frequently done in the past when the MMAS program was still around.




Increased Bandwidth and Server Space
Although the NM server isn't going to run out of memory space anytime soon, small incremental expansions over time might make it possible to host a reference library of digital tools and assets. Additional memory could also be used to develop a more extensive student work archive.

The staff in Ramsey Library and ITS already maintain a film archive, in addition to the massive database set up for scholarly texts, e-books, and the card catalog. They would probably know more about the technical issues of creating a stable file transfer system and how many TB of storage capacity would actually be needed to store a collection of digital files.