Oh No Not Him Again (Dan Boyle)

dbtd

Hi,

Another breach of netiquette. Today I have had a major relaunch of my web site www.danboyle.ie. Taking on board many of the criticisms that had been made of the previous web site, the new web site is a lot less cluttered and will be, I hope, easier to navigate. All with the usual features of speeches made, questions made, and meetings attended, new features include a much improved search facility. It is I like to think, the most detailed in content web site of any Irish political representative. I would encourage people to visit the site and come back regularly, telling others if you feel the site is useful.

dahamsta

I'm not seeing a link to your proposed alternative(s) to the incinerators on this page Dan, could you add that please? Not to a policy document that isn't clear on the issue now, a plain-english description of your suggested alternative for waste disposal in Cork when the dump is decommissioned.

EDIT: If you want a peer-review of your website on a standards/useability front, you should post it on the Webmaster board.

Thanks,
adam

dbtd

Thanks for the come back. Incineration link didn't transfer from prototype web site. It is now back. The page is limited and I intend to build more content. Sound files from the EPA hearing will soon be placed here. The search facility on the web site leads to over 70 references on incineration which include submissions made to Bord Pleanala, Press Releases and Speeches. Specific questions can be put to me.

damien

Dan,
Have you heard of Blogs and Podcasts? You really ought to leverage your site as a blog as well. See the likes of Liz Mcmanus and Damien Blake who both blog. Notice that people can leave comments and interact with them after each blog post?

You hold clinics right? It would be good to see the main points of each of the clinics posted online. A form of Zeitgeist of what is happening in your constituency I suppose. Shows you have your finger on the pulse of who wants a bus stop and so forth.

If you don't know how to do blogs or podcasts there are loads around who can help you. Let me know if you do.

dahamsta

dbtd wrote:

Thanks for the come back. Incineration link didn't transfer from prototype web site. It is now back.

The page looks the same to me Dan. All I'm looking for is a plain-english description of your suggested alternative for waste disposal in Cork when the dump is decommissioned, do you have one?

adam

dbtd

That link seems to be working now. It remains basic on will be built up. An alternative to the existing dump, as agreed under the Cork Waste Management Plan already exists at Bottlehill and will have a 25 year time span. My prefered technology to incineration is anerobic digestion.
On blogging I'm looking into putting a blog page into the diary section of my web site. Give me a few days and see how it looks

dahamsta

dbtd wrote:

That link seems to be working now. It remains basic on will be built up.

It's the same as it was when I first viewed it, but maybe that's the way it was supposed to be originally. (Note the javascript errors, which appear in both Firefox and Internet Explorer, you may want to talk to your webmaster about this.) If you could, please include links to relevant resources when you're building it up, it will make it a lot more useful.

An alternative to the existing dump, as agreed under the Cork Waste Management Plan already exists at Bottlehill and will have a 25 year time span.

Ok, this could have gone in your first response, but at least now we're getting somewhere, thank you.

First of all, could you ask Cork County Council to fix their website please, as the Waste Management Plan page, as linked from their index, doesn't work. Cork City Council's page does, so well done to them.

Secondly, if it really is 25 years, you might want to mention this to them too, because they think it's 20 (PDF). (I realise you're more closely related to the City Council, but they might be more inclined to update based on a request from you. If you don't think so, let me know and I'll email them.)

Thirdly, if we have a new dump, why do we need an incinerator? Presumably it's for waste that can't be dumped, so if this is the case, what's the alternative for this waste? Can that be handled by anaerobic digestion? If not, what do we do with it?

On blogging I'm looking into putting a blog page into the diary section of my web site. Give me a few days and see how it looks

Excellent, well done. When blogging, it would be useful if you linked things you mention in your posts, such as the Management Plan mentioned above. It saves people the hassle of having to go looking themselves, and doubtless you'll find it easier to find this stuff than them.

Thanks,
adam

legalimmigrant

dbtd wrote:

Hi,

Another breach of netiquette. Today I have had a major relaunch of my web site www.danboyle.ie. Taking on board many of the criticisms that had been made of the previous web site, the new web site is a lot less cluttered and will be, I hope, easier to navigate.

Hi Dan

First of all let me say I'm impressed that someone in your position would be a member of Boards at all, let alone actually come in here and post. And that you're looking for feedback.

Now the bad news

"Easy to navigate" is relative. The fact that you've just got a brand new site which uses tables to lay out the design is extremely hostile to people who want to read it other than in a web browser like yours. If I'm physically disabled, it's so difficult that I probably won't bother trying to pick through it.

(Speaking as a web developer now) It's also unconscionably unprofessional in this day and age. The means to build sites using stylesheets for layout, which both enables users of any device (web browser, phone, PDA, screen reader) to read the site and delivers your pages much more quickly, have been available and widely-supported for at least six years. (Plus, don't we have laws against needlessly discriminating against disabled people?)

The short glib version of that: I've got the 1990s on the phone for your web developer. They want their site back.

On the plus side, I do think it looks much better than before, though your resumé is unreadable and should be in a bullet point list.

jh


PS: Your developer has also left your admin login box in plain sight on every page (if I disable stylesheets). Probably not a great idea, that, from a security point of view. Still, the same problem exists on their own homepage - I can tell it's them because the login box has their logo in it. And of course it'll be the very first thing that Google sees on your site when the indexers come for a visit.

dbtd

Don't know if I can convince on incineration or GM. As a Green I'm naturally sceptical of technological solution. This isn't a luddite approach because technology can and does fail. I believe it's better to operate on first principles - deal with the source of a problem rather than how you clean up its effect.
Other than that I thought people might be interested that I've taken up their advice on blogging. The blog can be found on my web site under the diary section. I'd be interested in reactions.
Thanks for the feedback on the site I've tried to incorporate much of what has been suggested.

dahamsta

dbtd wrote:

Don't know if I can convince on incineration or GM. As a Green I'm naturally sceptical of technological solution. This isn't a luddite approach because technology can and does fail. I believe it's better to operate on first principles - deal with the source of a problem rather than how you clean up its effect.

Unfortunately that doesn't answer the question, and it's not a credible approach for a mainstream politician. How can I be expected to vote for someone with a platform but no solution?

adam

dbtd

The Greens are the only political party with a credible waste management policy. We have a strategic approach produce reusuable materials, recycle wherever possible and then safely dispose. Landfill is used in every waste technology including incineration. Our preferred technology are anerobic digestion and biomass, which ahve usable by products. Incineration is expensive, wasteful and does nothing to encourage waste reduction.

dahamsta

Answer the question I asked please Dan.

if we have a new dump, why do we need an incinerator? Presumably it's for waste that can't be dumped, so if this is the case, what's the alternative for this waste? Can that be handled by anaerobic digestion? If not, what do we do with it?

dbtd

I suspect one of the reasons why a domestic waste incinerator is that it would lengthen the life span of the new dump at Bottlehill. Anaerobic digestion can deal with any type of waste, but as with incineration it would require seperate facilities to deal with hazardous and non-hazardous waste.

damien

Dan,
A few things about your "blog". Well, it isn't a blog. It's a calendar entry as far as I can see.
Blog entries generally have
1) comments so the public can interact with you

2) A webpage per blog entry so that people can link directly to that entry if they quote it on another site

3) the ability to subscribe using technology called RSS. This means I have a software application that subscribes to your blog and it downloads any new content that you add to your blog. It brings the content to me. I don't need to go to your blog. This is not the same as Email newsletters.

4) A location on your site, generally on the front page. It's buried away under too many subsections at the moment. You should have fresh content on the front page or people will just see your site as an online brochure.

What you should ideally have is a front page with static content and also with blog content which gets updated. This will drive you higher in search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website.

Your webdeveloper should install blogging software called Wordpress on your website.