[LGM] the web infrastructure (Was: lgm/2024)

[ale rimoldi]

hi cédric

yes, i guess that we might need to talk about our web infrastructure.

the current status:

for several years now, we have been hosted by tuxfamily.
it's a simple hosting service that offers static websites and php (with
a good ssh access to the site)

on the one side, this has provided us with a solution that needs very
little maintenance from our part and is compatible with our loose
organization.

on the other side, we have little choice on what we can run on the
server.

for many years we have had a wordpress instance per year that was then
converted to static files. it was ok and allowed some degree of
collaboration but (without commercial plugins) i don't have the feeling
that nowadays wordpress provides a satisfying solution.

the last few years we simply had static websites.
that works well.
but then we miss a tool for managing the submissions and registrations.

i've tried to look for tools for managing conferences that are
compatible with our server.

i've found one that could work:

https://github.com/opencfp/opencfp

there are also a few plugin for wordpress, but they mostly are slimmed
down version of pro (commercial; not really free software) plugins.

generally speaking, my impression is that (even outside of the php
based solution) there are not so many tools that focus on managing the
content. they are mostly tools for selling tickets. and most of the
tools that somehow fit our needs, are tailored for way bigger meetings.

cédric is suggesting that the tool for managing the conference could
run on their server.

this is a very interesting option, because if other server side
languages can be used, there is wider set of tools to choose from. (as
an example https://getindico.io/)

if we can find something fitting that would be perfect (but won't give
a solution for future organizers, who don't have access to their own
server).

there is one thing from my side: i'd prefer if we could have the
schedule of talks and presenters on the lgm site and not on the
external site. (we can always export it at the end, but it would be
really nice if the links were correct from the start)

and in the future, we might think if we should have our own instance on
a server. but, then, somebody has to regularly pay the fee and there
must be administrators who keep it secure.

have a wonderful day
a.l.e