[Sagamore Online] proof of concept website and google drive test

[Dave Allen Barker Jr]

Warning: Folks figuring out technical details ahead.  Non-technical
take-aways will come later.  Input welcomed.


On 02/28/2014 08:58 AM, David E.F. Klein wrote:
> Awesome. That's how I was hoping it would look.  
>
> One thing - the link for the Sagamore Hills quiz leads you to the
> Olympus Mons pdf (a dirty trick for those just starting out?). I went
> in and edited your cryptic link to point to the correct sheet.

Whoops.  Thanks.

> You may need to walk me through the technical jujitsu of how to do
> this the first time.

The trick is step 4.1.1 on the File Management
<http://test-google-sites.sagamorehillspta.org/workspace/files> page. 
Once a folder is made public, its contents get a "HOSTING" address, that
works like a regular old file link instead of opening the file in
Drive.  It's the file's "hosting" address that you want to link to.

But now that you have me thinking about it a bit more, it's all a little
bit more complicated than I initially figured (go figure).  Drive
provides about three different links to the same resource that all act a
bit different, and the one to use depends on what you're trying to do
with the file or folder.  I'm going to document as I think out loud
here, not because I expect you to follow all of it, but because it'll
help me wrap my head around it.

For example, the folder "Forms for webpage (public)" from the Math Fact
Mountains folder on the Google Drive, has the following addresses.

https://drive.google.com/a/sagamorehillspta.org/#folders/0B5-Bq29kKNGGUld4cEhHZjZqRHM
    Links to the regular "I'm in Google Drive" view, with "My Drive" on
    the left, account in upper-right, option to create or upload files,
    etc.  Requires logging in (even though it's publicly viewable)
    because it's the actual Drive service interface (not just sharing). 
    Confusing because if you're already logged in with a personal
    account, you'll see the folder in Drive, but won't be able to add to
    it because only the PTA account can do that (you can then log in
    with the PTA account to have it act like you might expect).
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5-Bq29kKNGGUld4cEhHZjZqRHM&usp=sharing
    This is its "Link to share" address available under the folder's
    "Share settings".  It provides a listing of its contents as either a
    grid or list.  Not logged into a Google Account, you get an option
    to, "Sign in".  If you're already signed in, but the folder is not
    in your "My Drive" somewhere, you're given the option to "Add to
    Drive", after which the option changes to "Open in Drive".  "Open in
    Drive" is shown if you're already logged into an account with the
    folder in that account's "My Drive"—"Open in Drive" will take you
    there (to the folder in the full Google Drive interface).
https://googledrive.com/host/0B5-Bq29kKNGGUld4cEhHZjZqRHM
    This is the "HOSTING" address provided in the folder's Details.  It
    simply lists the folder's contents with no option to work with
    Google Drive.  It is simply serving up the files like a dumb
    webserver.  It will not list Google Docs (like their Documents and
    Spreadsheets) if they're in the folder because they aren't a file
    you can download (unless you save them as an office format).

Something similar happens with a publicly viewable file, like that Math
Fact Mountain Drive folder's "1. Sagamore Hills.pdf".

https://docs.google.com/a/sagamorehillspta.org/file/d/0B5-Bq29kKNGGVUktRmIzZE5kNlU/edit
    This is the address provided by "Link to share" in the file's
    "Sharing settings".  It is also the address you go to when opening a
    file in Drive.  It provides the Drive interface to the file, with a
    preview, options for downloading, printing, viewing revisions, etc. 
    In the upper-left, your account will be listed or you'll have the
    option to sign in.  What you can do depends on your account's
    permissions with the file (of course).
https://googledrive.com/host/0B5-Bq29kKNGGUld4cEhHZjZqRHM/1. Sagamore
Hills.pdf
<https://googledrive.com/host/0B5-Bq29kKNGGUld4cEhHZjZqRHM/1.%20Sagamore%20Hills.pdf>
    This is the "HOSTING" address provided in the file's Details.  This
    will serve the file up like a dumb webserver—nothing Drive looking
    about it.  Because Google Drive native documents (Documents,
    Spreadsheets, etc.) aren't files unless they're saved as a file,
    they do not have a "HOSTING" address.

So, you can see why I thought the links to the Math Fact Mountain PDFs
should be the hosting links, because I thought it'd be better to get a
PDF directly instead of the Drive interface preview of the PDF.

And if that wasn't confusing enough, files can also be uploaded to the
website and managed in: More → Manage site → Attachments.  I'm still
trying to figure out when that option is most appropriate.  I've tested
its use with images that will really only be used on a particular page
(like a graphic banner).  Some files being only on the webserver may be
less fragile than linking to files in Drive where they can easily be
reorganized and break links.  Again, I'm still trying to figure out a
policy.

> I'll also try and decode what you did with the "resource entry in site
> footer" and "link back" when I add a new Math Team page to this
> section. I see what you did but will attempt to figure out how.

You won't have to update the site footer—I think the single "Math" entry
makes more sense than listing all math resources down there.

I think you've got the other bit—linking to the "Math" (resources) page
from the "Math Team" page, and then linking to the "Math Team" page from
the "Math" (resources) page.

> Can we add a link to the email address "math at sagamorehillspta.org" at
> the contact part at the bottom near "PTA Academic Enrichment VP or
> Math Fact Mountains Chair" and forward that new email address to my
> personal email address? Or is that one step too far into the future
> right now? In this particular case I am both people but ideally we
> would have it forward to two different people.

That's definitely where I'd like to go, but with the anxious response
I've gotten over the years from some in the PTA I've mentioned it to,
and having only informally touched on the idea at the last PTA Board
meeting, I'd like to continue to shape the proposal and receive a more
formal go-ahead.

But that doesn't mean we can't experiment! I'll use your suggestion as
my next guinea pig.  I've already explored Google powered Sagamore
discussion groups
<http://www.9.0ne.org/w/Sagamore_PTA_discussion_groups>, and your
suggestion will be my first try at a "collaborative inbox
<https://support.google.com/a/answer/167430>".  I don't imagine we'll
leverage of the the "collaborative inbox" power (I'll be looking to
customize it), I'm mostly interesting in having it work as a permanent
email address that can forward to multiple people over time and provide
an archive of a committee's communications.

Let's start a new thread to discuss email addresses further.

>
> Thanks.
>
> David
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 22:49:45 -0500
> From: dave at 1.0ne.org
> To: d_e_f_k at hotmail.com
> CC: sagamore.online at list.9.0ne.org
> Subject: Re: proof of concept website and google drive test
>
> Some cleanup that I did (that might inform future process).
>
>   * On the Math Fact Mountains webpage
>     <https://sites.google.com/a/sagamorehillspta.org/test-google-sites/math-fact-mountains>
>       o Remove text styling (bold, font size).  I'm guessing the text
>         was pasted from somewhere, bringing in its own styling and
>         overriding the site's default styling (the default styling
>         makes the site look cohesive and allows for future site-wide
>         style changes).
>       o Remove the embedded Google Drive folder with the worksheets
>         and manually link each worksheet instead.  It's more work
>         upfront, but they shouldn't change much, and a more
>         streamlined presentation is achieved.
>       o Use actual formatting (so it gets styled): paragraphs, lists
>   * In the Workspace for Math Fact Mountains
>     <https://sites.google.com/a/sagamorehillspta.org/test-google-sites/math-fact-mountains/workspace>
>       o Change the title from "Workspace" to "Workspace for Math Fact
>         Mountains".  Page titles often show up in places without
>         context.  The page address remains just
>         "math-fact-mountains/workspace".
>       o Link to the Math Fact Mountain Google Drive folder at the top
>         of the webpage instead of embeding it in the webpage.  Avoids
>         a blank space where the embed should be when not logged into
>         the PTA account (with the link prompted a login if need be).
>       o Clean up formatting: use headers and actual numbered lists
>         (instead of manually numbered lines)
>   * Site Change
>       o Replace "First in Math" Resource entry in site footer with
>         "Math" page that points to both First in Math and Math Fact
>         Mountains, and link back the the math resource listing from
>         those two pages
>
>
> On 02/27/2014 05:23 PM, David E.F. Klein wrote:
>
>     Dave (and anyone else interested),
>
>     I just spent an hour testing the future of the PTA using Math Fact
>     Mountains as an example. A brief summary is below:
>
>     I created a new page on the PTA test website with a general
>     description of what the mountains are, what the process for
>     completing them is, the mountain names, contact information, etc.
>     I made all of this information up because I couldn't find it
>     anywhere on the current school or PTA sites. It would be great to
>     also have a link to the forms themselves so people could print
>     them out at home and maybe a pretty picture of a happy kid
>     pointing at his/her name on the wall. This is the basic stuff that
>     all parents should know but don't until they painfully piece it
>     together over the years.
>
>     https://sites.google.com/a/sagamorehillspta.org/test-google-sites/math-fact-mountains
>
>     I also created a link at the bottom of this web page to a second
>     web page called "workspace".  This page has the background
>     information for the PTA Chair and other volunteers about what the
>     heck they are supposed to do and how. This page also has a direct
>     link to the PTA Google drive (discussed next) so that all the
>     relevant information can be found in one place. If you are logged
>     into the website as a PTA member you can see it. If you are just a
>     random Joe Blow you can't.
>
>     I then created a new folder on the PTA Google drive. This folder
>     contains the word template for printing the names to post on the
>     wall. It also contains a subfolder of all of the word lists sent
>     to me each week by Judy of the names of the students that passed
>     the tests. It could also have budget info or any other random stuff.
>
>     The thought behind all of this is that with a little bit of up
>     front effort, this particular task is good to go in the future if
>     I get hit by a bus. Anyone in the PTA can get to the info and now
>     knows what to do with it. We should be able to the same for any
>     other PTA events or activities.
>
>     Thoughts?
>
>     David
>
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