Posted by superhua on November 26, 2008 at 3:18am
With more and more web-based ChMS products touting their calendar/events functions, how do you think they compare with building a calendar/events function with Drupal using CCK and related modules?
I'm investigating web-based ChMS products now and wondering how much weight I should put on their calendar/event functionality since we'll soon have a Drupal-based church website.
One advantage I can see to ChMS calendar/event functionality is that those who schedule events such as admins would probably already be working within the ChMS for member management--hence, would only need to login to one service.
Thoughts?
Comments
2 Thoughts
First, if you are considering building a calendar site with drupal check out the free chapter from Using Drupal which is available at http://www.doitwithdrupal.com/blog/sample-chapter-our-oreilly-book-now-a....
Second, there are a couple of things (at least) to consider here.
You chuch staff or those using the ChMS should have all kinds of detail about the event on the calendar that isn't available to the general public. Information like points of contact for specific things and event details. At the same time how you phrase information for the general public vs. the staff should be very different. You are communicating to different audiences which means things are said in a different way. Unless your ChMS provides a way to do this well the point is moot and you really need two different systems. One for communication to staff and one for communication to the general public.
Online event registration is a great thing. It can help you get a good idea of how many people are coming to an event. How do you handle that through a ChMS? Especially with non-member attenders? And, doing that in a way that isn't a barrier to entry for non-members?
Using drupal does not mean you have to keep two separate systems. An option is to pull in data (e.g., ical, RSS) about the event and display it in your drupal calendar. There are a few ways to do it and it's not overly difficult.
Matt Farina
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
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Go With Drupal
I would suggest using a Drupal based event Calendar. I think that the purpose of an event Calendar is really more for the End viewers anyway. Also you can basically do what Matt is talking about with having some info only available to staff and stuff using a little bit of theme wizardry.
The ideal way would be to have the ChMS built into Drupal, but alas I am not yet done with my ChMS module for Drupal yet. It's getting there though.
Adam A. Gregory
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Security
How are you handling security and data integrity with a drupal based ChMS?
Have you looked into civicrm as a ChMS? I know it isn't designed for churches specifically. But, they are open to making it work for churches and have asked for feedback in doing so. Plus, that works with drupal, Joomla, and stand alone.
Matt Farina
www.innovatingtomorrow.net
www.geeksandgod.com
www.superaveragepodcast.com
www.mattfarina.com