What's new about this site?
The Chapel community is a shining example of fellowship, cooperation, and collaboration. We have an amazing community of people from all age groups and political persuasions and socio-cultural backgrounds. Our talents range from engineering to the humanities; from the sciences to the arts. We are active in the local community as well as the larger Communion. Our presence on the World Wide Web ought to reflect the vibrance, passion, and spirit of this amazing community.
In the Beginning...
I started working on the Chapel's website in the autumn of 2005. At that time, the emphasis was on finishing a beautiful website to compliment Chapel Completion efforts. Much of the design had already been done and most of the text had been generated. I focused on realizing the final product. I was proud of the work that had been done, both by myself and the people who had come before me. The site included a calendar, a list of weekly bulletins, and color schemes that changed with the liturgical calendar (although I wonder how many people noticed that). For new members of the community, I think the site provided a great depth of understanding for what was happening and where they could get involved.
It didn't take too long to demonstrate the short-comings of that website. Because I was the only person updating the site, updating the calendar, adding bulletins, and maintaining the color schemes became overwhelming. The biggest failure of the site was that it could not adequately express the activities of the Chapel community. Activities appeared in the calendar, but there were never stories or pictures to tie the events in the calendar to the people who experienced them. By Fall 2006, it was clear that we needed a change.
Building the Community Online
Our new site employs the Drupal Content Management System (CMS). While there are many CMS systems to choose from, Drupal combines the features of proprietary web solutions in a free, open source package. What does that mean for you, a visitor to the website? Well, let's take a look at the features!
Search Functionality. Let's start at the top right. Go ahead. Try it! Search for something fun, like the word "about". Or search for something meaningful, like "worship". Either way, it works, which is pretty cool!
Calendar. While our previous calendar was all coded by hand, our new calendar allows authenticated users to add events from their browser. Adding events is no longer limited to one or two people, meaning that we hope to have a fuller picture of the activities happening at the Chapel and in the community. In addition to the calendar items, there is a list of upcoming events, which displays the event as well as the time until the event.
RSS Feeds.Whereas we used to put a .pdf version of Prologue, the Chapel's newsletter, online, we can now publish the newsletter online and allow other websites to post our news on their site. Even more exciting is that you can sign up to get the newsletter delivered right to your email Inbox. Just sign up!
Prayer List. Anyone who wants to receive the prayer list from the Chapel of St. John the Divine can simply sign-up to receive them in their Inbox. If you don't want to receive those emails anymore, you can simply unsubscribe yourself.
Active Content. At the bottom of the left column, news stories from the Episcopal News Service get pulled onto the site on a daily basis.
Blogs. Drupal has built-in blogging features. At the moment, the Rector, Timothy Hallett, has agreed to blog on the site under the title, "The Rector's Pen". Soon, I hope to add a blog by the Director of Music (assuming she would consent to do so).
Much, much more. Drupal has the ability to support user-created image galleries, forums, Happy Birthday reminders, and much, much more. If you happen to see an interesting feature on Drupal's Module list that looks interesting, drop me a line and let's talk about how you would like to see it working.
Getting Started
What makes this most exciting is that members of the Chapel community can help build the site. To become an official user, simply click here. You will be asked to enter a user ID (I would suggest using your first and last name, e.g. Ross Musselman) and providing an email address. When I know that you are part of the Chapel community, your account will be approved and you can engage more deeply in the Chapel's Internet presence.
The next step is up to you. This is your site, your community. If something is happening that other people will benefit from knowing or understanding, contact me and let's see what we can do about getting you started with putting that content online.
Together, I know that we can build a website that will welcome new members into the community while also being a resource for fellowship, cooperation, and collaboration. The next step is up to you.
In peace,
Ross Musselman
The Webmaster
