The Arizona Crappie Association (AZCA) website and forum is getting a full rebuild from the ground up this summer. This was a promise I made a few years back when started on as President of the AZCA and I'm following through on that promise this summer. Here are a few reasons for the upgrade:
* Current website not welcome for visitors (it's mostly a forum and missing key navigation features most modern websites have)
* Current website not mobile phone/app friendly
* Current website forum using older outdated technology and limited on features (only 5 pictures, rotation issues, etc.)
* Current website not easily expandable (e.g. membership renewal is not integrated in the site and is done separately)
* Current website doesn't have newsletter or mail features most newer websites have
* Current website doesn't have payment feature (we need this for membership renewals)
The site will be built using WordPress and likely the domain hosted through GoDaddy. WordPress currently powers 43.4% of all websites as their Content Management System (CMS) and has over 20k themes available, many of which are free. I spoke with Louis (PhishingPhreek) our prior Director of Technology and previous website admin, and he also wanted to rebuild the site using WordPress and GoDaddy.
I'm using the content I've been posting on the site as requirements for pages on the new site, so the new site will have pages for:
* Homepage with navigation bar
* Event Calendar
* Spring Crappie Fest Event page
* Bob Hirsch Crappie Classic Event page
* National Crappie League Event page
* Link to forum (see discussion below)
* AZCA Membership Renewal Page (includes submitting info and payment)
* AZCA Member list page
* AZCA Officers page
* NCL Board members page
* AZCA Information & FAQ page - might also include info about the AZCA, joining requirements, links to bylaws, insurance docs, etc.
* AZCA Crappie Tournament History page
* AZCA Treasurer Reports page (might end up in forum like it is now)
* Newsletter subscription (uses mailchimp in backend for decent mailing service)
The new website will be mobile friendly, but will not have its own mobile app (except for the forum, see discussion below). Custom mobile apps cost thousands of dollars and honestly we shouldn't be recreating our own as long as the website is mobile friendly when viewed on mobile devices.
Now.... about our discussion forum. We've all seen the decline in participation in the azcrappie forum from both members and non-members. I've tried hard to keep the forum alive, but it doesn't work well when I and only a handful of others are posting and participating. However, the forum does provide useful information and collaboration that we would still need a solution for because not everybody uses Facebook.
To have a decent forum in the new website, we'd need to purchase a membership subscription, which is $35/month so over the year would be $420 annually. This is a significant cost I'd like to avoid and don't think we need.
So, my recommendation to still have a discussion forum linked from our website but hosted and run on crappie.com and here's why:
* It's been around since 1996
* It has active discussion
* The crappie.com owner has been helpful and open to adding sub-forum boards under the existing Arizona board:
https://www.crappie.com/crappie/arizona/* The crappie.com owner is working with me to allow for creation of sub-forum boards that only AZCA members can view/reply on (e.g. AZCA Meeting Minutes, AZCA Member-Only Discussion, etc.).
* Crappie.com has a mobile app available on the Apple store and it should be available on Google Play store, but a bug is preventing it from appearing (they are working on a fix). Regardless, the forum for crappie.com is built off of "Tapatalk", which has a mobile app that works for crappie.com discussion forums for both Android (Google Store) and Apple devices (Apple Store).
* Crappie.com also owns the Crappie.com Facebook group (
https://www.facebook.com/groups/497685673603135) and we can post information there as well.
OK, that's all. Please chime in here with any input, would love to gather your input.
