Webmaster’s Report
This past year was another slow one for development of new features and content for the freedivecanada site. There a few minor changes to the look of the site, such as a logo bar for corporate members. However, the biggest changes are under the hood.
The freedivecanada.com and aidaworlds2004.com sites are now on a different server. These sites are still hosted by the same provider but with a different package that provides more space and back-end features for less money.
Amongst the extra back-end features that I am thinking of utilizing are:
- Our own email list server. This would make administration a bit easier and free everyone from the advertising that gets appended to all emails sent through yahoogroups.
- Easier administration of password-protected portions of the site. We could provide content for CAFA members only.
Site Traffic
The traffic to the site has doubled in the past year. The number of unique computers viewing the site now sits at over 3000 per month.
Most notably, the amount of traffic coming in from search engines, especially Google is much higher than in previous years. In fact, freedivecanada is the TOP RANKED site on Google for ‘freediving’, pushing performancefreediving.com out of that spot.
To me, this is a clear indication that it was well worthwhile to reformat the site last year to not use frames.
A Call for Help
For a medium that is not subject to weathering and decay, it is amazing how quickly websites can start to look old. I think that the site is now due for a pretty serious makeover. Unfortunately for me, graphics and artistry are not my forté. I also don’t have the time to devote to a proper makeover. Nor have I had the time to develop the new database features that I had planned to, which is my forté.
I therefore re-extend my invitation to any member who is interested in taking on some of the responsibilities of webmaster. Here are some areas where I could use help:
- Pic of the Week feature
- Graphic redesign
- JavaScript development on some forms
- Any other ‘pet projects’ in keeping with the mandate of the freedivecanada website.
I can say personally that working on this site has benefitted me a great deal professionally, even though this is a volunteer job. The same could happen for you.
Tom Lightfoot
Webmaster
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