10volt Help Move Us Forward

December 14, 2008 evolt.org turns ten years old. 10. That's, like, 100 in Internet years. Here's what we've been up to lately, and how you can be part of it.

Server Migration and Software Upgrade

In November we moved our website from a server running Debian Sarge and Drupal 4.5 to new server running Debian Etch, Apache 2, MySQL 5, PHP 5, and Drupal 6.6. This was a long overdue upgrade, and we're looking forward to updating our front end to the version of Drupal.

Browser Archive

William Anderson aka neuro has been caretaking our browser archive for the past few years. As we update the evolt.org site to a current version of Drupal, we need to migrate the browser archive to Drupal as well. Future plans adding more information about the browsers.

How you can help: If you can provide a mirror in a location not already represented, or if you would like to help develop browser-related content, contact us.

Internationalisation (i18n) and Localisation (l10n)

i18n and l10n have been goals of evolt.org since the early days, but has had to take a backseat while we addressed more immediate issues around hosting, finances, and content management. It's time now to move forward on the i18n effort.

How you can help: join our i18n group to become part of this effort.

Evolt.org has always been a "learn by doing" organisation, so you don't need to have prior experience in web i18n, you just need to be motivated to learn and contribute. Everyone is welcome.

Rethink, Re-envision, Redesign

Despite several server migrations and a couple CMS changes, the structure and content of evolt.org has remained relatively constant since its initial 1999 launch. We have some planned enhancements which can be implemented on Drupal 6, but beyond that, it's time for us to take a step back, look at ourselves in the context of the world of today and ask how we can serve our community of web and internet professionals better.

Evolt.org has always been about free exchange of information. Our goal has been to learn and grow as professionals from our interactions and experiences here, whether asking and answering questions on the list, or pitching in to help build or maintain the evolt.org site, infrastructure, and community. Community has always been a cornerstone of evolt.org, and a healthy community is vital to our purposes and goals. Here is the big question: What could evolt.org offer you that similar communities do not? What do we do well, and what can we do better?

How you can help: Your input is key our rethinking process. Please take a few minutes to fill out our one-page survey. Every question is optional, and most are straightforward. The final question asks you to do some "big thinking" for evolt.org. We will collect every response to this survey, look for commonalities, patterns, and good ideas. We'll use the information and ideas you offer to plan the next steps for evolt.org. Alternatively, you can or contact us directly.

Fund Raising

Evolt.org's main expense is our web hosting. Though we have a low-cost dedicated server running at The Planet, we've had to run two servers for a few months as we've been working on site upgrades, so our expenses have run a bit higher. At the same time, browsers.evolt.org traffic has fallen, and with it, the google adsense revenue from that page.

How you can help: You can help with a financial gift to evolt.org. Ultimately, evolt.org is going to need a fund-raising plan that fits into a larger long term vision. You can help us develop, and flesh out that vision by joining theforum and letting us know of your interest.

Be Part of Something Big

Evolt.org started with a group of web developers who felt their needs as professionals, and as a community, were not being met. Evolt.org was a group vision, an solution to a problem, and a dream for something better. Today, ten years later, we can be proud about the work we've done, the ground we've broken, the fact that we've successfully maintained the integrity of our site, database, and community. Let's use that same spirit and creativity to reach our potential over the next ten years!