IASIL Website First Annual Report
This document discusses the development of the IASIL website during its first year in operation under the following headings:
Overview
The IASIL website launched on 6 July 2003. It is designed, administered and maintained by Patrick Lonergan, NUI Galway.
It built upon the original IASIL website designed by Bruce Stewart, and incorporates the IASIL online newsletter developed by Christina Mahony.
It has had in excess of 35,000 visitors in its first year of operation, and has grown from 1.5 MB in size to almost 10 MB in size.
First Year Objectives
The objectives for the first year of the website were as follows:
The links section has been fully updated. However, this section requires regular maintenance, and has room for expansion, particularly in relation to the provision of links to sites offering Irish language resources.
Site design has been standardised to ensure ease of use. Some users report difficulties in accessing all pages (see below, technical issues).
The news section has been one of the most successful aspects of the website. News is gathered through research of appropriate listservs and websites. Increasingly, people are approaching IASIL online requesting that information be posted. The first year’s newsletter has now been archived.
The IASIL website is now widely accessible via search engines, site links pages, etc.
Future Objectives
The following objectives are recommended:
Issues for consideration:
Members’ views on the development of the IASIL website are requested.
Problems/Significant Issues During Year 1
A number of issues arose in the development of the website during its first year
Correspondence
Administration of the IASIL website during 2003/2004 involves the use of two email addresses – webmaster@iasil.org and conference@iasil.org
Over 520 emails – an average of 10 per week – were sent to the webmaster address. These included requests for information, requests for membership forms, information etc.
Typical queries included – advice on publication of books,
requests for assistance with research, requests for information about membership,
enquires about IASIL conferences from companies and publishers, requests for
letters of invitation to
The conference@iasil.org and registration@iasil.org email addresses will transfer to the administrators of the IASIL 2005 conference in Prague.
Site Overview
The IASIL website comprises the following sections:
i. IASIL News
ii. Irish Studies Conferences
iii. Publishing Opportunities
iv. New books by IASIL members
v. Irish Studies Jobs and Fellowships.
vi. General News and Announcements
Technical Issues
Flash Software
Since November 2003, the site has been designed and maintained using Macromedia Dreamweaver software.
With the current design scheme, a Flash plugin is required to view certain pages on the site. Some users, working on old computers or on networks that prohibit software installations, have been unable to access these pages.
It will be necessary during the next 12-18 months to redesign pages that require plug-in software, due to changes in the MS Internet Explorer programme.
Netscape Users
Users of Netscape initially reported that they were unable to view certain pages. This problem was addressed in October 2003, but it remains the case that some pages display poorly in Netscape.
Site Offline, May-June 2004
The iasil website went offline twice during May and June 2004. On the first occasion, the site went down when the hosting company moved the site to a new server. This migration took longer than anticipated, and the site was offline for a day and a half.
The site then went offline for four days, from Sunday 30 May to Wednesday 2 June. Ownership of the hosting company changed in late May 2004, leading to a change of servers, etc. At the same time, the IASIL website license was due for renewal. The new company did not renew the IASIL website at the time agreed, and instead removed it from their servers. This situation took a number of days to resolve, but IASIL’s hosting company moved quickly to resolve it. A temporary website was established to replace the IASIL website.
This situation arose because of the coincidence of a range of factors unlikely to recur.
Cost Issues
The IASIL website is hosted by webspider.ie. Webspider hosted the IASIL website for its first year, and a decision was made to renew the contract with webspider for a further 2 years.
Cost – May 2003 – May 2004
Cost of hosting website and lease of IASIL.org domain name, together with use of 5 email addresses: €75.00
Renewal – May 2004 – May 2006
Hosting website, lease of IASIL.org name, use of 6 email addresses - €150 +21% VAT - €181.50
Total Cost of IASIL Website to the Association, 2003 – 2006 - €256.50
Usage
Overview
Usage of the IASIL website has grown at a steady rate during the year, peaking in April 2004 due to interest in the IASIL conference.
| Daily Average |
Total Visits |
|
| July 2003 |
15 |
409 |
| August 2003 |
10 |
336 |
| September 2003 |
36 |
1086 |
| October 2003 |
42 |
1502 |
| November 2003 |
60 |
1807 |
| December 2003 |
81 |
2522 |
| January 2004 |
113 |
3509 |
| February 2004 |
116 |
3378 |
| March 2004 |
143 |
4449 |
| April 2004 |
173 |
5209 |
| May 2004 |
130 |
4034 |
| June 2004 (up to 26 June 2004) |
131 |
3406 |
Most popular pages
The most frequently visited pages on the IASIL website are as follows:
Referral
Below is a ranked list of the sites that bring users to the IASIL website frequently
Usage by Country – Top 40 Countries
Most Common Search Terms