Web Services
The ENACTIVE NoE is present on the Web at the address www.enactivenetwork.org, with an advanced portal that has been created with a double functionality: presenting to the public the activities of the Enactive Network of excellence and organise and collect the products of the internal work activity. These goals are reflected in the website double nature, that is at the same time the core working tool of the Enactive community and an important public media channel to disseminate the research results; in the former case it provides different services for the collaboration and communication between the Network users and it also acts as a repository for the Network documents, in the latter it introduce anyone to the thematic and discussion of the network.
This double nature is leading every part of the website development, as we constantly strive to design tools were different aspects and goals coexist seamlessly. As the Enactive community is ever-evolving and organizing itself with new procedures, so it's the website; it's development has never stopped since the beginning of the network, new functions are been added continuously and new tools and functions are already in development to create a real virtual community and cover the needs of the future years.
The Enactive Network user community
EnactiveNetwork.org has a growing community of users recognised as “Full members”. The following table provide an idea of what is really behind the scene.
- 174 Accounts for the Enactive Community
- 28 Members with “WP-Leader” permissions
- 116 Non-member accounts
- 98 Public documents
- Document repository: 2472 files in 437 directories (3Gb)
- 93 Publications in Publications Voting System
- Total amount of data on server: 8.2 Gb
The website user community is structured in multiple layers, each with a different level of access rights: some are public, and are available for all non members, providing access to a subset of the website sections. Member access provides a complete view on the website functionalities. Still, even the member access is layered depending on the role inside the network. Activities leaders are provided with more options, and can influence in real-time how the website is organised.
Each member of the Enactive Network receive a personal login and password to access the non-public section of the website. Every user has an associated profile that he/she can edit at any time.
Profiles are public and accessible by every member, so that communicating trough the network is
easy and quick. It's also a good way to get to know each other.
Multiple services
The Enactive website provides to the registered users a web-based video-communication service. The goal is to improve the communication between partners, allowing virtual meetings for people working at different physical locations. EnactiveNetwork.org even provides to registered users It's a complete web-based conferencing system based on a mix of Flash and Java technology: in this way the system runs inside a normal webpage, it’s cross platform and requires no special software to install.
Dissemination
Not only the EnactiveNetwork.org is a tool for collaboration inside the network. It is a tool to show outside the outcomes of Research on Enaction. As the Network evolve towards its full maturity, the website gets populated by dissemination content. Dedicated sections of EnactiveNetwork.org provides public access to high-quality scientific material: articles, presentations, videos and even interactive examples are an important asset that the website offers to the public. Enactivenetwork.org offers two levels of access rights to non-members of the NoE: general public sections of the website expose to everyone the public dissemination material generated inside the network, while members of the international scientific community can apply for a higher level of access, getting involved in forums discussion, and entering in the mailing lists communication circles.
Open architecture and Open Source
Since the very beginning of its creation, the Enactive Web Site has been developed using open source (and possibly multi – platform) technologies. Everything started with the MAMBO Open Source Content Management System (MOS), that provided a good framework for the integration of all the services. MAMBO (http://www.mamboserver.org) is a modular Web Content Management system, that simplifies the construction of a complex Web Site by providing a set of powerful tools, like user management, layout management, and online editing of the site content. Mambo was chosen amongst different available solutions of similar Open Source products (Plone, Tikiwiki etc).
Enactive The website technology has then evolved during the years, exploring new solutions and moving away, at times, from the initial technologies. Nevertheless, the fundamental principle of using Open Source tools where possible has always been respected, and even the special, dedicated CMS that was lately developed to cover new needs and increased complexity of the needs will be released as Open Source at the end of the NoE.
Accessibility
The Enactive NoE strongly supports the Accessibility initiative of the W3C consortium.
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director
EnactiveNetwork.org layout and organisation has been designed in order to adhere to the W3C Web Accessibility guidelines.
