IO Report # 1 (2020-07-12)

This report was submitted by IO/AD Turtle Jerrar/CS-4/SSSD Sovereign


Internet Officer Report #1

12 July, 2020

Greetings members of the Fleet. I'm Admiral Turtle Jerrar, the incoming Internet Officer.

I have been involved with the Emperor's Hammer since 1997, where I started out as a pilot assigned to Sadhe Squadron in Wing V, SSSD Sovereign. Since that time, I previously served in the roles of Internet Officer and Communications Officer, as well as assistant positions in the Internet, Communications, and Operations offices. After an extended stint in the Reserves, I was excited to transfer back into an active role in May.

In my role of Internet Officer, I will be focusing on projects to improve our web presence and identity, particularly with regard to our main web sites and database(s). While much of this work will often be out of sight of the membership, it is my goal to be responsive to the ideas and suggestions of our club members. To this end, I welcome your feedback on the various projects that my office will be undertaking over the coming months. Feel free to contact me directly any time.

Project Minos Relevancy

I returned to the fleet for the purpose of working on a special project at the direction of the Fleet Commander. This project has been nicknamed Minos Relevancy.

The project has several main objectives:

  1. Unify the main Emperor's Hammer and TIE Corps web sites and databases, implementing full support for the Dark Brotherhood and any potential future subgroups, as well as cross-subgroup functions such as the Imperial University.
  2. Modernize the codebase and database backend. Refactor and/or recode as necessary to implement modern techniques and standards that supports the continued maintenance of existing features, and eases implementation of new features and changes.
  3. Update the front end web site to present a user experience more consistent with modern sites, while maintaining and improving on core functionality unique to our organization and critical to its operation.

To be clear, the intent is to update our existing system, not throw it out and replace it. The new site will use the existing TIE Corps database, with transfer of certain features and data from the main Emperor's Hammer site. We are working to ensure that existing functionality is not lost, but rather updated and improved.

The core project team currently consists of:

  • TAC/AD Pickled Yoda, focusing on development of the new site and TAC integrations.
  • IO/AD Turtle Jerrar, focusing on development of the new site and overall project coordination.
  • FSE/HA Anahorn Dempsey, focusing on maintenance of the 'live' TC site and testing of the development site.

Additionally, key decision makers including the FC and subgroup commanders are involved in discussions regarding functionality requirements.

We are actively engaged in this project, with a goal of rolling out the initial version in the coming months. Additional features and updates will follow the initial release. To avoid over-promising and under-delivering, I won't go into a great level of detail at this point. However, you can expect periodic updates from me in the form of IO reports.

Internet Office Priorities

Current/Ongoing

  • Project Minos Relevancy
  • Conduct review of Emperor's Hammer web properties to identify broken links, outdated material, and problems with functionality.
  • Assess state of Commendation of Excellence awards and awarding procedure.
  • Assess need for issuance of any Internet Office policies, as necessary.
  • Assess restoration of archived club news, history, profile records, etc.
  • Assess and implement optimizations to improve search engine visibility, and other avenues of web/social media presence, in coordination with applicable Command Staff offices.
  • Improve automation procedures to promote confidentiality, availability, and integrity of club web sites and databases.

Recently Completed

  • Upgraded Encyclopaedia Imperia wiki to current supported MediaWiki version (corrects registration errors, throwing of PHP errors, etc.); additionally implemented streamlined URLs and fixed thumbnail generation errors.
  • Conducted initial security audit of primary EH web sites and remediated identified issues.
  • Implemented TLS (HTTPS) across primary EH web sites.
  • Implemented change and version control on the primary existing web sites.

Internet Office Staff

  • IO/AD Turtle Jerrar, Discord: turtlexiv#5752
  • CA:IO/AD Jedi Eclipse, Discord: aw4kened#7484
  • IOA (TCCOM)/FA Plif, Discord: Plif#2475

Closing

I can be reached as needed by way of e-mail (linked from my TIE Corps profile), or Discord at turtlexiv#5752. I'm looking forward to this exciting time in the history of our club, as we look toward a new Star Wars gaming platform, and see an influx of both returning and next-generation members.

TURTLE JERRAR
Admiral, Emperor's Hammer
Internet Officer
IO/AD Turtle Jerrar/CS-4/SSSD Sovereign
GOE/GS/BSx3/PCx2/ISMx7/IS-1PR-2GR/MoI/LoC-CSx6-Rx2/DFC-Rx1/MoC-6boc/CoLx3/CoE/CoB/LoA/OV-23E
49 66 20 79 6F 75 20 64 65 63 6F 64 65 20 74 68 69 73 2C 20 6B 65 65 70 20 74 68 69 73 20 69 6E 66 6F 72 6D 61 74 69 6F 6E 20 66 6F 72 20 66 75 74 75 72 65 20 75 73 65 3A 0A 0A 52 4F 54 20 31 33 2E

You must be logged in to submit comments.