Notes and things to remember on Drupal:
After updating a number of modules this weekend and updating the site a few thing changed. The Developer module seemed to disable any internal menus as well as Lightbox2 functionality on the site (I found this out after trouble shooting for about 6 hours, re-uploading several modules and running other checks. I disabled Theme Developer and all of a sudden things were restored.
Turned off site caching as I couldn't see my css changes in real time. Will need to remember to turn back on in the future.
When Imagecache and Imagefield modules were updated and re-run the way in which thumbnails are stored had changed. Site/defaults/files used to hold both jpgs and thumbs, and now it just stores only new full size jpegs (with GD image still resizing images un upload) - an additional folder was created.. there is now an imagefield thumbs folder and there are imagecache large and imagecache thumb folders. I think that's why the most recent picture story that was added (tonight by darkharbor) took a while to show up. Additionally 'promote to front page' was unchecked.
Tonight I got in touch with a few people to potentially use the site when it is a little more ready.. I reached out to the head of an informal group in chicago and to a few people on a national message board as well as a couple of acquaintances. Tomorrow I am interested in working on the image formatting in the stories themselves and editing the authenticated user menus.
posted by Amanda @ 11:56 PM,
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Personal
My father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease the year after I was born though it’s thought that he actually developed the illness earlier than that. My experiences as a caregiver, as well as with navigating limited available resources, were the inspirations for this project. It is my hope that the next time a young person finds themselves in a position where they must become actively involved in the care of a family member, they will hit something on Google that will actually help them.
Focus, Direction, Problem
To use recently developed tools to combat the potential alienation and isolation that young caregivers can feel, both from the general community as well as from older caregivers. There are resources aplenty available for caregivers, but the bulk of them are geared toward the Baby Boomers or the Sandwich Generation, and not toward younger people. Younger caregivers face unique challenges like balancing caring for a loved one with school, extra-curricular activities, dating, traveling, socializing, etc... Additionally, the lack of savings, established careers, stable relationships and stable homes can, in many cases, make things more difficult. There are countless differences between the ways in which middle-aged and younger caregivers are able to navigate the medical-industrial complex and related spaces in which they find themselves. (E.g., hiring paid aides, consulting with physicians, meeting with attorneys and completing medicare and medicaid paperwork can be greatly complicated for young people, especially people who may not be at or above the age of 18). This project will be useful to caregivers as well as for the agencies who serve them to better understand their needs.
Methodology
I will be building a web-based resource that will encourage communication between young carers through media production and the use of recently available tools (Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, etc...). The resource will provide links to relevant news and helpful sites, but will primarily consist of user generated content and will be driven by users. It is my aim to make it as participatory as possible. The initial week or so will be spent reaching out to young caregivers whom I know personally as well as those present on the web to see investigate what they would find truly helpful. Then I will begin to build the site and incorporate features that foster communication and collaboration. The hope is that together the users will be able to paint a portrait of their shared experience in a meaningful way.
posted by Amanda @ 12:14 AM,
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testing
posted by Amanda @ 12:09 AM,
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