Austin Improv

We're trying to get a unified web presence up in the next week. We need your help.

The website is cool because it allows all registered users to edit and add to the content and structure of the website. So GO REGISTER now.

Sweet, I just singed up and immediately added gambling and porn ads, plus a link to a monkey masterbating in a zoo!

This is going to be the best website ever!

hey i just signed up too! dood, mokey porn ROCKS!

OMG!
We could like totally make an Amazon wishlist and maybe people who see our shows will go buy us stuff!
w00t!

I gotta say, I hate that Victorian kiddie porn graphic of the boy and the girl putting their heads together. What next, exposed ankles?

I'd love to do any sort of writing for the improv site.

Send me a task and it will be completed promptly and done so well you won't believe your ass.

maybe we can post the reviews of the shows there on austin improv!

I want to know what everyone wants to have on the website. It's still in the works and needs a lot more work, but it's shaping up somewhat nicely.

I would personally love a complete schedule, where you know what teams are playing in the 3fers, who the cage match challengers are, who the winners are, etc.

I think it would be neat if we put reviews on past days, so you click on a show you missed and might feel inspired to see the next 3fer, or the next you , me & greg show, etc.

I would love a new category on the website with troupes on it, so anyone can see all the different troupes in town, and click on the websites or have their contact information.

what are ya'lls thoughts?

In meetings with Andy and others over the past 3-6 months, we came up with a few ideas, specifically that we need to figure out who our audience is, and what information or functionality we need to provide them. From the front page of the wiki:

What should the Austin Improv web site do for:

• Our audience (the general public)
• Improvisers
• Troupes
• Teachers
• Improv Businesses
• Venues
• The press

?

Some of the answers are pretty obvious, but I'd rather have a rough estimate for each of these before anyone starts burning time creating and organizing content. Once we have an idea what functionality is needed (calendar, content management, RSS feeds, image gallery, etc.) we can evaluate a couple pieces of software and pick the best one because changing it later is an extreme pain in the ass.

Once we've done that we can work on changing the color scheme, layout, images, and other chrome, and continually add and update content.

In a nutshell, that's the website deployment process that's I've seen used in over a decade of web development and operations.

At present, we seem to be proceeding ass-backwards, picking a random piece of software, and adding content without any real thought to our audience and the purpose of the website. I've done this before and it doesn't work; the purpose and audience of the website need to drive the content and functionality, which in turn drive the selection of the software.

Before spending any time adding content or messing with software, I strongly suggest people brainstorm what the purpose of the website is, who its intended audience is, and what content and functionality we need to make it do what we want it to do. Once we have that, we can pick out what's most important to us, divide the work, and make it happen.

For the time being, I've been trying to get people to write reviews, etc. for the existing website so we get in the habit of producing fresh content on a regular basis so whatever software we use, the site doesn't get stale. See http://forum.austinimprov.com/viewtopic.php?t=231

FWIW, Sara and I were charged with working on the website and I don't recall being relieved of that responsibility. You either want us working on this or not.

we should imagine what each group would be trying to do by going to the website, and make that very easy for them to do. I want to see improv! I want to learn improv! I'm an experienced improviser from out of town or a long time ago and want to get involved! I work for the city of Austin and need something entertaining for a employee appreciation event! I'm a troupe and want to know when I perform/when the next meeting is!

I think we should have a calendar, maybe even on the front page, with everything on it. It might be a good idea just to have shows and jams on the basic calendar, and then registered logged-in users can also see meetings and parties and stuff. Not to try to keep anyone out, but to simplify things for people who just want to see some improv.

I think primarily our audience is people who want to see improv, people who want to do improv, and people who already do improv. I'd like to see a navigation sidebar (forgive me if this is too obviously standard to even state) and a lot of cross referencing of information. It's better to be a little redundant than to make things hard to find. When we get the basic site up, we should do some navigability tests with a list of possible questions people might have when coming to the website. We should also have some easy to find treats, that people will enjoy, even if they didn't come to the site looking for them, such as the "which troupe should you see?" quiz, reviews of past shows, and online improv games they can play.