You have probably noticed that the CIR web site has a new look. The reason for that is that we have migrated to a different web hosting platform. This is our third platform change in ten years. Our previous platform was hosted by the Porsche Club of America. We used their facility for nearly eight years at no cost. This saved the CIR a lot of money at a very financially difficult time in the club’s history. We were recently told that platform was going away but we were given no time frame so there was no rush. However, we wanted to get the site up and functioning before our list of calendars events got too busy. We are very grateful to the PCA for providing that service at a difficult time in the club’s history as well as the support they provided for that platform. It allowed the club to grow into a robust site and gain experience using a total functioning site. It also set expectations and requirements of what the new site should be able to deliver the CIR membership. Even though the CIR is much more financially stable now, one of the expectations was minimal costs. The entire cost of the new site is a few hundred dollars. Part of this cost is to pay for the site hosting for years into the future. The remainder was for software licensing for a few of the plugins such as the calendar, site maintenance and so on. The on-going cost yearly will be less than $100.
We’re excited by the new web site. We think it is cleaner looking, easier to navigate and has more functionality. It is also much more flexible in what it can do and there are many more software packages available, nearly all of them for free.
Of course, nothing is ever completely perfect. We are not able to migrate all of the images from events or members’ car images, so we will ask you to send them in again.
Also, we were unable to migrate members’ credentials. Those credentials were only used to register for events. The registration process on the new site is different. There is no login on the new site. Each event will ask for registration information. If the event requires fees, these fees will processed via a PayPay portal.
A lot of the contents are the same. We still have the President’s Message, the CIRcular newsletters, club Goodie store and we could not forget our sponsors who provide so much assistance to the club. In addition to the CIR events calendar, we have links to all of the regions that border the CIR. We still have the Contact Us page with an email link for each elected board member. We have some new features as well. We display the Facebook posts on the home page and have a Membership page to show how the CIR is growing. And yes, we still have a page where you can order the CIR name tags.
We’ve come a long way in the ten years that the club has had a working web site. We think you’ll like the new site and find the environment easier to use and more enjoyable. Please take a few minutes to browse around the site. As always, if you encounter an error or have questions or suggestions please contact us at Email Webmaster.
Thanks.
David Weaver