website

[Trio91]

in my humble opinion, our website needs some luv'n....(not sure how much this would cost or who would be capable of doing it) but it seems to be a little "blah".....a little dated, very boring. If you really dig into it, there seems to be some forums that most of us (if not all) do not use...like the "gallery" or the calendar etc.

*i am also a little jealous on how @Mark_C seems to win POTM.......every month <--sorry @Mark_C just pointing out the obvious. (j.k. btw)

i am also curious to know how much this site costs us to maintain on an annual basis.

sorry if it all just seems like rambling. but if we do not have a club member that can actively maintain this site, should we outsource this and have club members contribute? or maybe migrate our club to a site like R2R (which some of us, including myself already utilize) and just have them deal with the headaches. we would just need to have some kind of private chat(s) about certain club issues but that can be done at club meetings (just saying)

not trying to rock the boat here guys....just want to say what i have been thinking about for the longest

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

I wouldn't mind helping out with a re-design of the website

 

[Trio91]

James....the only issue i see with that (just my opinion) would an issue of you leaving or if you just get bored one day (or something) ....then we would back to square one on this....maybe something of like a site administrator role or something for you would work if the BOD gave the thumbs up.

i think outsourcing or migrating would seem to be the easiest (JMHO)

 

[kschweer]

I would love to see the site updated. The issue has been that the BOD myself included are not really tech savvy people. It takes me a long time to update the meeting on the homepage which is HTML which I'm told is supposed to be easy. It is not for me and I mess it up every time. Hell I can't get the map to work for them. We have looked into having the site maintained but it was fairly expensive and really only included doing software updates and a few other things, nothing really with the "look" of the site. I also have had a few people talk about helping with the site and I appreciate it and want it to happen. Here's another issue, I don't know how to give others access to the "back-end" of the site. I have access to it and do a lot of things like update banners, meetings, membership etc but other than that I'm extremely nervous to dig around back there to update the look and other things as I don't want to mess the whole site up.

As for the POTM I'm totally down to get that going again. We need someone to run it. It's simple. The person would need to start an announcement thread at the beginning of the month, receive submissions and at the end of the month post up a poll with the photos and announce a winner.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Marcus - totally understand and agree. My concerns with out sourcing is most times you get a 'package' deal where they just use templates and fix everything into those templates (which isn't always a bad thing).

Concerns with in-house is the person(s) leaving, taking long time to develop, run into issues above their skill/time, etc...

I am just putting it out there that I am willing to help out in any matters seem fit.

 

[kschweer]

I wouldn't be opposed to having a website committee of sorts to brainstorm and come up with ideas and get them done. When I say I'm no good with technology I mean it, like really bad lol. I wouldn't know if something was possible, a good idea, or a necessity.

 

[Trio91]

I would love to see the site updated. The issue has been that the BOD myself included are not really tech savvy people. It takes me a long time to update the meeting on the homepage which is HTML which I'm told is supposed to be easy. It is not for me and I mess it up every time. Hell I can't get the map to work for them. We have looked into having the site maintained but it was fairly expensive and really only included doing software updates and a few other things, nothing really with the "look" of the site. I also have had a few people talk about helping with the site and I appreciate it and want it to happen. Here's another issue, I don't know how to give others access to the "back-end" of the site. I have access to it and do a lot of things like update banners, meetings, membership etc but other than that I'm extremely nervous to dig around back there to update the look and other things as I don't want to mess the whole site up.

As for the potom I'm totally down to get that going again. We need someone to run it. It's simple. The person would need to start an announcement thread at the beginning of the month, receive submissions and at the end of the month post up a poll with the photos and announce a winner.

Marcus - totally understand and agree. My concerns with out sourcing is most times you get a 'package' deal where they just use templates and fix everything into those templates (which isn't always a bad thing).

Concerns with in-house is the person(s) leaving, taking long time to develop, run into issues above their skill/time, etc...

I am just putting it out there that I am willing to help out in any matters seem fit.

now don't get me wrong, i am in no way a tech savvy person so at James and Kevin, i hear your guys 100%....i am sure there is alot of tech'y stuff that goes on here behind the scenes....but honestly a template or something more user friendly may not be a bad idea. If it will make things easier for the BOD to make changes n what not

 

[Trio91]

I wouldn't be opposed to having a website committee of sorts to brainstorm and come up with ideas and get them done. When I say I'm no good with technology I mean it, like really bad lol. I wouldn't know if something was possible, a good idea, or a necessity.

the wife handles all of the IT stuff at the house...i just pay for it.....so that is the extent of what i know

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

I wouldn't be opposed to having a website committee of sorts to brainstorm and come up with ideas and get them done. When I say I'm no good with technology I mean it, like really bad lol. I wouldn't know if something was possible, a good idea, or a necessity.

Kevin,
I know when I signed up for membership I signed up to be a member of the website committee. I wouldn't mind getting rolling with a website committee if there are people willing to help (doesn't matter their tech level).

now don't get me wrong, i am in no way a tech savvy person so at James and Kevin, i hear your guys 100%....i am sure there is alot of tech'y stuff that goes on here behind the scenes....but honestly a template or something more user friendly may not be a bad idea. If it will make things easier for the BOD to make changes n what not

Marcus
Yes templates would be nice. Hell if we really get this rolling maybe we can get it so that there are templates for the day-to-day operation and then there a back-end for more advance changes.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

the wife handles all of the IT stuff at the house...i just pay for it.....so that is the extent of what i know

Well its no secret that I know tech lol

 

[Trio91]

thoughts from anybody else?

i do think at least a brainstorming session should be in order....i think this agenda at a club meeting should be set. this way decisions can be hashed out and voted on and minutes can be taken.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

thoughts from anybody else?

i do think at least a brainstorming session should be in order....i think this agenda at a club meeting should be set. this way decisions can be hashed out and voted on and minutes can be taken.

Good idea.

It be nice to hear what other members think. Is anyone else willing to help out on a committee? Any other tech people? Anyone think the website is fine just as is?

 

[Aeb1419]

definitely needs a tune up, but no I am not tech savvy =(

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Not trying to 'steal' anything from @trio91 but if it ok with Marcus, Kevin, and the BOD I think we should create a poll to see if we should create a web committee. A member does not need to be tech savvy to be a member if they are willing to help.

 

[kschweer]

I know we have a forum for it. Why don't one of us start a thread for volunteers and I can (should be able to) add members to be able to see it.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

I know we have a forum for it. Why don't one of us start a thread for volunteers and I can (should be able to) add members to be able to see it.

Mike I can start a thread, if one hasn't already been started, but do you want it a public thread or a thread under the Website Committee forum?

 

[kschweer]

Mike I can start a thread, if one hasn't already been started, but do you want it a public thread or a thread under the Website Committee forum?

I would do a public thread to see who would be interested in being on the committee

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

sorry have no clue where "Mike" came from lol

 

[kschweer]

sorry have no clue where "Mike" came from lol

Lol. Figured that was a typo

 

[dastrader]

This is not directly related to the website (or maybe it is), but when I first joined almost 8 years ago, it seemed like there was a lot more activity on the site. Both in posts and people participation. I have been more of an on the sidelines (hot and cold) kind of member myself. Maybe revamping the website could help a little. Although I think the main goal should be to drive up overall club activity / interaction.