GNU Webmaster Guidelines
![[image of the typing GNU]](/graphics/gnu-type-sm.jpg)
Please see README.webmastering.html instead of this file. Merge in progress. -karl, nov09.
- Update the What's New page!
- Update GNUs Flashes on the home page http://www.gnu.org/
- Adding an Event
Update the What's New page!
When you add something significant to www.gnu.org, please add an entry to the news database in the CVS file:
/server/whatsnew.txt
This file is used to generate the whatsnew.html page, the home page and GNU's RSS news feed.
The organization of the whatsnew database is simple:
- an optional asterisk, if present this means the item should be a GNUs Flash
- the date of the news item
- a carriage return
- the HTML text of the news item, possibly spanning many lines
- a blank line to end the entry
For example:
* 21 July 2004 FSF is offering <a href="http://patron.fsf.org/sf2004seminar.html">two days of seminars at Stanford University</a> on the <abbr>GPL</abbr> and Free Software Licensing on August 24 and 25 of 2004. 6 July 2004 <a href="http://www.gnu.org/people/speakers.html#Stallman">Richard M. Stallman</a> put a short note on the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html">license page</a> explaining why the <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/rpl.php">Reciprocal Public License</a> is a non-free license.
Once you have edited the news database the files that depend on it
will be regenerated within an hour. But you can do this manually
by running the Makefile in the rss directory of the
CVS:
cd rss make whatsnew.rss ../server/whatsnew.html ../home.shtml
Altenately, see the Makefile for convieniant targets.
Entries that can, should contain a <A href=" to the page (or section of a page (<A ... id="...")) that has the newly added text. (Multiple <A href=" are OK, if appropriate.)
Entries should be newest first, so repeat visitors to the page, see the new items first.
Update GNUs Flashes on the home page http://www.gnu.org/
GNUs Flashes on the home page are controlled by the
server/whatsnew.txt file. You should look at the entry
for managing news in the the webmastering guidelines:
/server/standards/README.webmastering.html.
Adding an event
For now, edit the
/events.tmp.html file.
When replication works again, follow the instructions below.
Webmasters should not usually add and remove events to our
events page, they should only update
the events.input-html file for formatting changes,
etc. The actual addition and removal of events is handled by
fp:/gd/gnuorg/EventAndTravelInfo/announce-events.plx
and gnudist:~www/bin/auto-event-handle.
However, from time to time, the webmasters might get an email to add an event in error. There are two types of events webmasters might get:
-
Events of a type that
fp:/gd/gnuorg/EventAndTravelInfo/announce-events.plxcan already handle. Check the POD of the script itself for information on whom to forward messages to. The short version: you should normally forward a message to the person who is speaking, except in the case of RMS---those go to <rms-assist@gnu.org>. - Events of a type that are not supported yet. In that case, you should always ask webmaster-escalate.
In a pinch, someone from the FSF staff might ask the
webmasters to add an event in a hurry. In these cases, you
can, if you want, figure out how to edit the relevant file in
fp:/gd/gnuorg/EventAndTravelInfo/. If you can't figure
that out, you can add the event to events.input-html
above the AUTO section. However, if you do the latter, please take
responsibility for the event and remove it when it has passed.