Report #4: System Design
Knights of Columbus Council 5510 Content Management System
System Design
Chris Ozoniak
Dr. Benjamin Bishop
10/9/10
Submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements of
MIT 490 –Information Technology Projects
Introduction
The goal of the Knights of Columbus Content Management System is to create aWebsite that is easily manageable for the Knights of Columbus 5510 Council. It needs to be a Website that is easily modified by members of the council in addition to the webmaster. It also needs to have a more modern look and feel that will encourage users to be interested in the site. It will require integration with social media to increase traffic flow to the site. It is designed to help others learn more about the Knights of Columbus, and the Knights of Columbus Council 5510. The Web site will feature various forms of content from the Knights of Columbus, including pictures and possibly videos. The site will be built using WordPress, a Content Management System. This Content Management System will allow members of the council to update and create new events, and to update other parts of the Web site. The management of the site will not involve any further coding beyond what is used to create the CMS. The ultimate creation of the site will be through HTML, PHP, CSS styling and photo editing software such as Gimp or PhotoShop for creating banners and images for the site.
Levels
Levels and User Interface: Index
When a user goes to the homepage, either from koc5510.org, or from another part of the site, they will be shown the Knights of Columbus’ latest news through a news feed, and 14 links that will navigate the user through the site. The user has the option to go through the 14 pages, About, Members, By-Laws, Photos, Newsletters, Officers, Council History, Contact Information, Events, Links, Insurance Info, Grand Knight History, Charter Members, and the Form 100 page.
Subpage: About
When the user chooses to go to the About section, they are brought to a page with a brief description of what the Knights of Columbus are. The user will obtain knowledge about what the Knights of Columbus do for their community as well as a brief history of how the Knights of Columbus was started.
Subpage:Members
The Members page is designed to be only accessible by members of the Knights of Columbus 5510 Council. A correct username and password will be required in order to obtain any access to the site.
This page will be immune from hacker attempts to infiltrate it through SQL injection or other techniques. The Members page includes sensitive data about members of the council, such as their telephone numbers and home addresses so it is vital that this information be as secure as possible.
Subpage: By-Laws
The By-Laws page, similarly to the Members page also contains sensitive information to the council. A username and password that are different than the Members’ page will be required to obtain any access to the page. The By-Laws page contains all the rules the council sets for itself or the Knights of Columbus Supreme have set.
Subpage: Photos
The Photos page will be one of the more involved pages of the site. It will include several plugins, the first is a photostream plugin. The plugin will allow for a Flickr gallery to be streamed through the site. It will include a quick gallery of recent photos, photosets, and most popular photos. A LightBox plugin will be installed on top of Flickr gallery that will allow for overlay of images on the current page. The user will be able to navigate through photos in the gallery using LightBox.
Subpage: Newsletters
The Newsletters page will include all of the past newsletters that have been mailed out to members, rather than the pamphlet form they are mailed out in, these newsletters will be in a web-based form, such as Issuu or something that is embeddable into the site. The user will be able to navigate through an archive of older newsletters if the particular newsletter they are looking for is no longer listed on the Newsletters page.
Subpage: Officers
The Officers page will include a current list of the Officers of the Council. The current page has the officers listed in a table, but I am considering making it a two-column display rather than a table.
Subpage: Council History
The Council History page includes a history of the Joseph F. Lamb Council, particularly how it was named and how it was formed. It also includes details on how and when it was instituted. It also details the numerous awards the council has received over its 46 year history. One example of this is Council 5510’s distinction of being the designer and creator of a new flag. The flag has red letters, which spell out “ONE NATION UNDER GOD”. The letters are on a white outline of the United States sewn onto a blue background with the Knights of Columbus emblem in the lower right hand corner. The flag is trimmed with gold fringe. This symbol of patriotism, attractively assembled by talented ladies of the Council, has been proudly carried in all parades and is displayed at all proper functions.
Subpage: Contact Information
The Contact Information page is relatively simple in nature. It contains the address for contacting the council, a PO Box number, a phone number to reach the council, and the email address of the Grand Knight.
Subpage: Events
The Events page contains a newsfeed and a calendar of all upcoming events for the council. The calendar is able to be navigated through by month, and a mouseover will allow the user to see more details about that upcoming event. The Events page will also be linked into the main news feed on the homepage.
Subpage: Links
The Links page contains links that allow the user to easily access other Web site related to the council. The first link is to the Knights of Columbus Supreme, KOFC.org. The site contains information about the Knights of Columbus at the highest level. It includes information about the Knights of Columbus, what they do, how to become a Knight, and information about Knights of Columbus insurance. The next link is to the New Jersey Knights of Columbus site, njkofc.org. It contains a page of State Officers and Directors. It also contains a list of Programs, Forms and Manuals, and Councils, Chapters and Assemblies. The next link is an email address for Knights in Action Columbia Magazine. The next link is to the Diocese of Paterson’s official Web page. The next link is to Catholic Charities. The last link is to the Department for Persons with Disabilities (DPD)’s site, dpd.org. The Knights of Columbus 5510 often has fundraisers for DPD.
Subpage: Insurance Information
The next page, Insurance Information has information from the Council’s Worthy Insurance Agent; it includes useful information about the Knights of Columbus’s insurance policies. It includes contact information and a business card from the Insurance Agent himself.
Subpage: Grand Knight History
The Grand Knight History page includes text of the past Grand Knights of Council 5510, and the years of their service. It also includes a small image of the individual Grand Knight.
Subpage: Charter Members
The Charter Members page includes animage of all the charter members of Council 5510.
Subpage: Form 100
The Form 100 page is used for downloading an image of the Form 100 document which is used when applying for membership to the Knights of Columbus.
Backend
As mentioned previously, WordPress has the ability to install plugins that will be used for viewing pictures, calendars and other features.
LightBox 2 is used to overlay images on the current page. It is useful when paired with an image gallery tool.
Each page of the site is created separately through the menu of WordPress, within each page a new post can also be created. Posts will be displayed in a descending way of order from most recent to oldest. Older entries will be placed in an archive.
User Management
WordPress and other Content Management Systems allow for specified roles and user abilities. In this case there will be two levels of access, an administrator level, and a contributor level. The administrator will be able to configure various settings of the CMS and will be able to add pages and posts. The contributor will only be able to update the site through the creation of posts or the modification of content on the various pages.