Tribe of Judah needs a new main web site. Seriously.

Tek7

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Staff member
Cross-posting so more ToJ members see this:
After spending the last two hours identifying, resolving, and apologizing for an issue that caused the main ToJ web site to stop responding (and I'm hoping didn't land our domain on every major e-mail blacklist in the world), I decided to again call for the aid of members with web development experience to help build a new web site for ToJ.

To clarify: I'm talking about the main ToJ web site, which includes our membership application, the roster which our guilds use to verify ToJ membership, and other essential functions. Chapter sites and guild sites would not be affected by building a new main site except to (ideally) offer the opportunity to integrate more information like ToJ roster profile info into chapter and guild sites.

Our current plan is to use a popular content management system (yet to be selected) like WordPress, Joomla, or ModX (though not necessarily any of those 3) as a foundation for the next site, then modify the CMS and develop modules to meet our needs. Since the roster and membership application are at the heart of the site, there isn't any CMS that would do what we're looking for a web site to do without modification.

To clarify: I'm not asking for anyone to build a site using 100% custom code. It worked in the past, but it's clear that strategy is no longer feasible.

I also wanted to point out, as I have many times before, that the fact that we're still able to use the ToJ web site years after SirThom first developed the site is a testament to his programming prowess. SirThom resigned from the Lead Web Developer position a few years ago and the post has been vacant since.

I know there are several very talented web developers in our community, some of whom have contributed bug fixes and new features to our current site. I am seeking additional web developers to contribute their time, skills, and effort toward building a new site.

But my foremost goal is to appoint someone to lead and manage the effort to build the next ToJ web site. I lack the time, experience, and knowledge to properly lead a team of web developers on a project such as this. Even if I could fumble through building a new web site with assistance from other members, I need to start delegating more tasks instead of taking on additional duties.

Put succinctly: Someone else has to do this or it isn't going to get done.

Don't misunderstand me; I think our web site is great. It does what we need it to do and it works. But it looks dated (which is to be expected, seeing as it was developed years ago and hasn't received a visual update since), it lacks new features commonly found in modern web sites, and it's 100% custom code by a programmer who's no longer on staff.

Tribe of Judah needs a new main web site. Seriously. If you're interested in helping or managing the effort to build a new site using an existing CMS as a foundation, please send Elihu, Tribe of Judah's Staff Manager, a private message on the forums and copy me on the PM.
 
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