If you browse over to http://www.wrpf.org.sg,
you'll realized that the banner has something rather out of place. It's
the numbers '2007'. That's right, the casting nets design which you see
right now on the church website has become obsolete, and although
generally, a design on a corporate site lasts for 2 years, this rule
only applies to websites that have passed the evaluative phase of the
website development. In our case, we wanted to test try Drupal, for it
has been reputed to be a powerful system that runs portals or big
websites.
In retrospect, we aren't a mega church (although this might change if it's in God's will), and actually, we don't need such a big website. A small website could simply suffice, if we are willing to do away with functionalities such as a prayer board that is customized to each and every registered member on the website. The consideration of Drupal was primarily because of the availability of ready-made plugins or additional functionalities for the website. Some of those available were Bible verse for the day, Bible Study, volunteer management system etc.
Honestly, if we want a website loaded with Ministry tools, my humble option would be that Web-Empowered Church (WEC) would be the best option. They offer extensions such as online devotional, prayer connector and even a sermon management system. Sounds good doesn't it? I think a lot of the features that are typical of a church are available digitally with the use of WEC.
Yet, on the other hand, it can be argued that most Singaporeans are not at the cutting edge of technology. While many in the States have been reading blogs and news via RSS and ATOM, most Singaporeans simply don't do that. Thus, if one really looks at the features offered and ask an honest question, 'It this really needed, or do people have better alternatives', then you will realize that while the features of WEC are nice, they aren't absolutely necessary in our context.
What I think our church needs is for a super user-friendly website. Strip the design. Keep it short and simple and focus on the content. It should be easy to comment on any blog posts, and podcasts need to be supported. Certainly, functions such as 'open as word document' or 'open as PDF' will be very very useful. A website is a platform for 2-ways communication. No point having a pretty website but it's like a dead town.
This time round, we will have a more powerful, but simpler forum as well. I am also thinking of some space for young people to share their photos, some interesting links. It's like Stumbled Upon. The youth site will be built after studying Facebook and Friendster and other popular youth sites. But why so? This is because the main users of our websites would be the Youths. Certainly I can get the adults to log in as well, but they didn't grow up with the Web, and their needs would be very diverse as well.
So what are we considering. *Drum roll*
Introducing...Movable Type 4.1 which this current blog is run on, and Wordpress! Wordpress is not unfamiliar to most of you guys, for you certainly have seen Blogpastor!
In retrospect, we aren't a mega church (although this might change if it's in God's will), and actually, we don't need such a big website. A small website could simply suffice, if we are willing to do away with functionalities such as a prayer board that is customized to each and every registered member on the website. The consideration of Drupal was primarily because of the availability of ready-made plugins or additional functionalities for the website. Some of those available were Bible verse for the day, Bible Study, volunteer management system etc.
Honestly, if we want a website loaded with Ministry tools, my humble option would be that Web-Empowered Church (WEC) would be the best option. They offer extensions such as online devotional, prayer connector and even a sermon management system. Sounds good doesn't it? I think a lot of the features that are typical of a church are available digitally with the use of WEC.
Yet, on the other hand, it can be argued that most Singaporeans are not at the cutting edge of technology. While many in the States have been reading blogs and news via RSS and ATOM, most Singaporeans simply don't do that. Thus, if one really looks at the features offered and ask an honest question, 'It this really needed, or do people have better alternatives', then you will realize that while the features of WEC are nice, they aren't absolutely necessary in our context.
What I think our church needs is for a super user-friendly website. Strip the design. Keep it short and simple and focus on the content. It should be easy to comment on any blog posts, and podcasts need to be supported. Certainly, functions such as 'open as word document' or 'open as PDF' will be very very useful. A website is a platform for 2-ways communication. No point having a pretty website but it's like a dead town.
This time round, we will have a more powerful, but simpler forum as well. I am also thinking of some space for young people to share their photos, some interesting links. It's like Stumbled Upon. The youth site will be built after studying Facebook and Friendster and other popular youth sites. But why so? This is because the main users of our websites would be the Youths. Certainly I can get the adults to log in as well, but they didn't grow up with the Web, and their needs would be very diverse as well.
So what are we considering. *Drum roll*
Introducing...Movable Type 4.1 which this current blog is run on, and Wordpress! Wordpress is not unfamiliar to most of you guys, for you certainly have seen Blogpastor!
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