Re: Looking for folks to have a community technology conversation with
From: Timothy Hunter (durham.cohogmail.com)
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:40:02 -0800 (PST)
Neil,

This is a very timely question for us as we are just now starting to think 
about our members only web site. I am using RapidWeaver for our external web 
site (http://durhamcoho.com) and it was quite sufficient, however for our 
internal web site I'm investigating WordPress, which I have not previously used.

I'm trying to define exactly the functions we want our internal web site to 
provide. So far I've come up with 

1. Scheduling common resources such as the guest rooms, the media room, the 
project room, etc.
2. Calendar of events (both update and read)
3. Laundry machine status (we have a common laundry and it would be nice to 
know if a machine is free)
4. A "trouble ticket" system for tracking infrastructure problems that need to 
be addressed. For example, a window is broken.
5. Statement of each member's account.

I'd be interested in learning what other communities are getting from their 
internal web sites.

The other thing I've had on my mind is how to get buy-in from everybody. Some 
of our older members are very reluctant to look for files in our Yahoo! Groups 
files area. Partly this is because of usability issues, partly because they're 
just not used to using a computer. (We still have one member who has not joined 
our mailing list even with considerable hand-holding.) However, it will be a 
problem if some members refuse to use an online reservation system to reserve a 
guest room. I'd be interested in hearing how other communities handle this 
problem.

Tim Hunter
Durham Central Park Cohousing Community


On Dec 19, 2012, at 1:25 AM, Neil Planchon <neil [at] swansway.com> wrote:

> 
> Seasons Greetings...
> 
> I am interested in getting to know Cohousing resident techies who are 
> responsible for tech/web related projects in their community. I am one of 
> those and I would like to have a conversation about topics like
> 
>       • Building and using a members only Web site
>       • Internet sharing
>       • Mailing lists
>       • Other collaborative tools
> 
> I would like to start work on a members only section of our community Web 
> site. I build with Rapidweaver and Wordpress and would be interested in 
> learning what others use and have done - what works, what does not, what's 
> used, what's not - and sharing resources.
> 
> Most of us here share incoming Internet which has worked surprisingly well. I 
> am curious about who else is doing this and how it is going. I would like to 
> learn what guidelines are set for shared usage, for example.
> 
> How is your community communicating? What tools are you using to keep in 
> touch?
> Are you using shared online calendars? Collaborative spaces?
> 
> Please reach out to me directly
> Thanks a lot and looking forward to hearing back from you!
> 
> In community,
> Neil Planchon CPCC
> neil [at] swansway.com
> 
> Founding Resident and Webmaster
> Swan's Market Cohousing, Oakland CA
> http://www.swansway.com
> 
> PS If you are reading this and know the person in your community who does the 
> technology work, please forward this on to them. :)
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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