We are moving! If the site is down intermittently over the next several days this is why.
The server on which we have hosted Te Ara Paerangi Community has reached the end of the paid cycle. So has the domain name registration. We have migrated to a new domain name registrar. It will take some time for the DNS service to get sorted. We will be moving the site itself shortly as well.
The main benefits of moving are that it will be in Aotearoa, we will have control and flexibility on how we run the server, and we can add more features. There is nothing you need to do except have a bit of patience as we do the work behind the scenes.
Ngā mihi!
Last Friday, I did a site upgrade to version 14RC1. It was a little fiddly, but it got sorted in the end. Please kick the tyres and let me know if there are any problems that you see.
I am preparing to add a way to syndicate content from other sites as posts here. I am keenly interested in helping scholarly societies get more exposure. You can help by pointing me to any societies your are aware of. We can syndicate from many types of sites including wordpress, wild apricot, and open journal systems. We understand that many societies do not have regular posts. That is perfectly fine. We just want to help more people find what they are posting.
Our early adopters / test sites are New Zealand Association of Scientists (wild apricot), New Zealand Science Review (open journal), GFANZ (wordpress), and Bevan Holloway (wordpress blog). Every one of these will be assigned to a category. Users can subscribe to categories to personalise their feeds, allowing you to focus on what is of interest to you.
I reckon it will be late this week or sometime next week when we add these.
An upgrade to UNA 14.0.0-B2 and updated modules has been completed. In addition, I have changed the embedding function (the thing that makes the cards to other sites) to system native instead of Iframely. Partly this is a test to see how this version of the system embedding works and partly to save $50/ month. We are still getting a lot of users, but not any financial support.
Feel free to comment on the upgrade, especially if you see something that is now broken.
Ngā mihi
I configured the messenger feature today. This allows direct and group messages. It works as you might expect. You can react with emojis, write as you like, and attach a video or files to any message. Below is a brief tutorial video.
Upgrades and Usage Stats
The cover image is our usage stats for the calendar year. We did the major software upgrade in July. At the same time we shifted focus to research, advocacy, and capability. We added a new logo and did a redesign of the site layout. Regular posting of news and events related to the public research sector started at that time. These things led to an increase in unique visitors. My estimate is that ~400 is the baseline of bots (search engine scrapers and the like). Taking that into account, we had ~500 unique visitors in July and September and ~600 in August. The bandwidth usage also went up substantially after the upgrade reflecting an increase in traffic. Today, we did a minor upgrade from 13.0.0 to 13.1.0-B2 that solves some issues that have been niggling.
Site Improvement, Maintenance, and Financial Support Request
The site has been free for anyone to use since the beginning in 2021 (no advertisements or selling your data either). This has been possible due to a few donations, all volunteer labour, and the kind developers at UNA.io providing pro-tier access to the software for free. We want to ensure that there is the financial certainty in place to keep it going into the future and improve the service. We believe the most stable way to do that is for members / visitors like you to give a relatively small monthly recurring donation.
We have added a Donation Page with recurring and one time donation options. Your donation will help cover expenses such as the iFramely (embedding tool) fee, domain name registration, and server costs. If we can get enough regular donations, we will be able to pay for customising the app (iOS and Android) for this site.
We are well aware that times are tough for those in our public research sector. Your donation of any amount is a huge help. If a one off donation suits your situation better, please do that.
Thank you for using Te Ara Paerangi Community Hub and for your help to keep it growing.
Site News and Support Request
We started this site in November of 2021 to provide a place for the public to collaborate on ways to improve the research, science, and innovation sector and engage with MBIE's Te Ara Paerangi / Future Pathways review process. It has been (and will continue to be) free for people to use. We shared submission snippets, made it easy to get copies of all of the public submissions, and watched to see what MBIE would do with them.
Last month, we did a soft-relaunch with a site upgrade, new site design, and new focus. There have been regular posts with links to relevant news stories and events around the country. This has resulted in a steady increase of visitors to the site and more engagement. It is really gratifying to see so many people finding value here. We are excited to see where we go from here.
We have covered the expenses with contributions from a small group of people and orgs. The site upgrade added support for embedded videos and web site links using a free (but limited) Iframely account. We are looking for some financial support to upgrade the Iframely account to cover the increased usage. That cost is USD $29 (~NZD 50) per month. If you or your organisation can make a donation, please let me know and we can sort out the details.
I was a bit surprised to see how many Iframely hits we have had this month. This is a screen shot from this morning. I expect it to run out soon - either today or tomorrow. When that happens, all the embedded content will stop working until the 6th of September. A few small donations ($25 - $50) would get it going again. A larger donation ($300 -$600) or two would sustain this functionality for quite a while - leaving us with more time to focus on the site itself.
Thank you for being part of Te Ara Paerangi Community and for considering our request for financial assistance. The comments are open and available for your thoughts.
This is the space where we will organise the re-launch. Please join if you would like to participate.
The European Commission has recently released the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment. You can read the news release and / or watch a brief video about it below. This consensus document represents a huge effort by many people. We would do well to incorporate their work into our discussions about Te Ara Paerangi.
MBIE has announced the release of their summaries of the submissions today (30th June 2022). We provide quick links for you to:
Part I - a general report summarising al submissions and engagements
Part II - a report summarising Māori submissions and engagements
On the same page this is under the heading "Next Steps"
We are reviewing the information in submissions and considering this alongside undertaking further policy work. As the policy design process becomes more detailed and options are narrowed down, there will be further opportunities for engagement, and further consultation. We will provide updates as the work continues to evolve.
The Te Ara Paerangi Community has been noticed by MBIE. We look forward to working towards a future research, science, and innovation system that works for all Kiwis. To get there we will need to reach a broader group of people who use or want to use public research. In this way, there will be a truer representation of the needs of society, rather then primarily voices of those who have resources or are very senior in the current system.
