Wordpress

One of the nice features of a dynamic website—the kind of thing that’s often driven by databases—is the ability to run a search feature. Search is a feature across the various content management systems we use (or once used) at RRCHNM – Omeka, Drupal, and Wordpress. But once a site is flattened and no longer reliant on a database for serving content, the built-in ability of search goes away. For many of our sites, the loss of this feature can be dismaying to users. So, a goal this summer was to figure out a way to implement search on a static site.

As part of RRCHNM’s sustainability efforts, we are flattening websites built with content management systems (CMS). In this context, “flattening” refers to the conversion of dynamic, database-based websites to static, simplistic versions. A flat website is built only with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Flattening websites involves accepting different trade-offs. While the flattened versions save server space and reduce security threats, they lose dynamic features such as queries or user-input. A search function is a key site feature that is lost with flattening. A static site search remedies this.

As part of our sustainability efforts, we created the end of project workflow which we have shared on this site. How does that actually work when put into practice? In some cases, it has allowed us to wind down projects in stages – keeping core functionality and data accessible while removing high maintenance features – rather than leaving them up until a crisis demands triage or conservation efforts.

We used the workflow with two projects which serve as interesting examples of how to undertake this staged approach in practice. With Creating Local Linkages, we had to decide how to manage closing down the login-only area with a community of users. While we have written about Consolation Prize as a test case for end of project workflows for podcasts, the website for the show also presents some challenges, largely from the plugins which power the episode index page.