Williamsburg Area Bicyclists

Assistant Webmaster Role Description

Background

The Williamsburg Area Bicyclists (WAB) website is built upon a free Open Source Content Management System called Joomla.  (Joomla is similar to Wordpress).  Layered on top of the base Joomla system are a variety of software components that provide additional features.   The website is hosted on Bluehost, a popular hosting service.  The system is supported by a Webmaster who looks after the day-to-day operation of the site as well as handling other aspects such as software upgrades, feature enhancements, problem troubleshooting, 3rd party service provider management and content publishing.  WAB would like to fill another role to assist with the website management called an “Assistant Webmaster”.  This individual would initially help out with some of the more routine tasks.  Depending upon the skills and desire to learn, over time perhaps more complex tasks could be undertaken.  Or we may find that another role will need to be defined to help with the more complex duties.  Bottom line:  Don’t be discouraged if you feel you could assist with the simpler tasks but not the more complex tasks!

Duties

NOTE: below are listed all of the webmaster duties.  The Assistant Webmaster would initially only potentially help with the simpler tasks.  These are indicated by  **

Content Management

    • Publish articles on the website homepage, such as announcing upcoming meetings and volunteer opportunities **
    • Un-publishing articles that are no longer relevant **
    • Adding and deleting menu links as needed **
    • Updating mail forwarders as needed (mostly done at the beginning of every year) **

System Monitoring

    • Check to ensure daily backups complete successfully **
    • Monitor to ensure emails are flowing properly (such as the Daily Message Board Digest) **
    • Monitor the the completion of nightly batch jobs **
    • Respond to emails sent to webmaster@wabonline.org **
    • Monitor Server Disk Utilization **
    • Monitor alerts sent from the software firewall

Change Management

    • When new Joomla versions are released, determine compatibility with existing 3rd party add-on software components.
    • Install new Joomla version in test environment
    • If any of the 3rd party component need upgraded, download latest version and install on test environment and test.
    • Keep aware of other underlying system software changes that may necessitate upgrades, such as to the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP).  In needed, create a test environment to perform and test the upgrades.

Problem Management

    • When problems surface, research cause. ** (at least initial look)
    • If indicated, submit support tickets to the service provider or software developer
    • Implement fix to resolve the problem.

Feature Enhancements

    • Assess the need/desirability of new features **
    • Where new features are indicated, determine best way to satisfy the feature (new 3rd party component, configuration of existing component or new custom developed component).
    • Implement chosen solution

Documentation

    • Maintain the list of 3rd Party components and subscription status **
    • Update the documentation wiki as needed **
    • Maintain the userid/password lists for the various subsystems 
    • Submit monthly “web tips” newsletter article **
    • Update the website “how-to” page. **

Financial Management

    • Ensure the payments are made for the various service providers for website hosting, domain names, eMail deliverability service, backup archival storage service and 3rd party software components **
    • Submit annual budget to WAB Treasurer **

Skills

It is not expected that we will find someone in the club with all the skills needed to help with all the above tasks.  It is especially unlikely that someone with Joomla knowledge/skills exists in the club.  However Joomla is fairly intuitive and can be easily learned with the desire and general computer aptitude. 

Skills needed for the simpler tasks:

    • Good general computer skills and comfort with programs such as MS Word and MS Excel.
    • Familiarity with basic Internet concepts such as domain names and URLs.
    • Familiarity with eMail concepts
    • Logical thinking skills
    • Willingness and ability to learn computer concepts from watching videos or reading documentation.  This will be necessary to get knowledgeable about how Joomla and the 3rd party software components work

Skills needed for the more complex tasks

    • Database knowledge - concepts of tables, columns, rows.  MySql queries,  Database schema concepts such as foreign keys, data types, auto-increment.
    • PHP programming knowledge.  Object Oriented programming concepts and the Model-View-Controller structure.
    • Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
    • Javascript.
    • Web Server Management tools CPanel and WHM.
    • System Administration knowledge - particularly as it relates to Linux, Apache, PHP and MySql.
    • Cron job configuration.