This is the story of KeyContent.org. Please feel free to let me know what you think!

About ))KeyContent.org((

))KeyContent.orghttp://www.keycontent.org — is free, open-content, collaborative effort and describe what it means to be a content developer. The site is " class="wiki wikinew text-danger tips"> (KC.o) — http://www.keycontent.org — is free, open-content, collaborative effort and describe what it means to be a content developer. The site is a whiteboard to express your ideas, share your experiences, and ask your questions. TheKeyContent.org(( site was launched in February 2005 and has undergone 2 major UI revisions.

You can read more about Tiki's role in creating a wiki-based portal for ))KeyContent.org(( here. This is part of a presentation made at the 2006 TriXML conference in Raleigh, NC, USA.

As of July 2006, KC.o is currently running:

• Tiki 1.9.2 (pending upgrade to 1.9.4)
• MySQL 4.1.19
• PHP 4.4.2
• Host: http://www.bluehost.com/, running Apache 1.3.36

Template Changes

The current KC.o template reflects a vastly customized set of template files and stylesheets. Our theme has undergone three major revisions:

1. Initially, we started with the geo-light theme. This theme was used for testing and the pre-launch version of the site. I used this theme to "get my feet wet" in Tiki customization.
2. The KC.o version 1 template was based on the geo-light template, but included several major changes.
3. In early 2006 we created an entirely new template and color scheme.

Initial	Version 1.0	Version 2
{img src="img/wiki_up/kco.initial.gif" desc="Click for full-size image." width=150 link=img/wiki_up/kco.initial.gif"}	Plugin Image No image specified. One of the following parameters must be set: fileId, randomGalleryId, fgalId, attId or src.	Click for full-size image.

CSS Styles

The CSS stylesheet was drastically reduced by removing the styles for functionality (such as the forums) that we did not use.

Validation

The KC.o template validates correctly for XHTL and CSS. Most of the changes I made have already been reflected in the last round of Tiki updates (1.9.4).

Accessibilty

The KC.o template meets WAI-A and Section 508 requirements for accessiblity. The major accessibility enhancments include:

• Changing TABLEs to DIVs. We still use quite a few HTML tables for layout. My ultimate goal is to move all of these to DIVs
• Table enhancements:
  • Added captions and headers to tables
  • Added summaries to tables
• Added title and alt attributes to all elements
• Skip header link
• Access keys

Modules

Currently we use the following modules:

• Login module
• Last Modified Pages module
• Last Directory
• Upcoming Events

  
  

Customizations

UI changes

The overwhelming number of changes to KC.o have been for UI and usability. Most require only tweaks and additions to the template files.

Click to sort

I added a small sort image ( ) to all of the list tables. This allows users to see how the current view is being sorted. This is a commong UI element on most operating systems and users are accusomed to seeing them in lists.

For example, here is the sort image in the tiki-listpages:

Click for full-size image.

I simply created two small images (sort_asc.gif and sort_des.gif) and modified the template file:

<img src="{if $sort_mode eq 'description_desc'}sort_desc.gif{elseif $sort_mode eq 'description_asc'}sort_asc.gif{else}spacer.gif{/if}" alt="{tr}Click to sort{/tr}" width="10" height="6" border="0" />

Capthca for anti-spam

All form submissions are protected by Capthca images. We use the web-based http://www.protectwebform.com service. The service is very easy to implement and requires only simple cut-and-paste additions to the TPL template file and its associated PHP file.

An example of our implementation can bee seen here. This is a customization of the tiki-directory_add_site file.

Click for full-size image.

What's next

My future plans for KC.o include:

• Upgrading to the current Tiki version.
• Add structured blogging and microcontent