Comments | readercon: Roomshare/rideshare web packages

rosefox in readercon

Roomshare/rideshare web packages

Jul 23, 2009 11:42

One of the things I'd like to set up for next year is a roomshare and rideshare section of the Readercon site. Does anyone here know of a good open source (or otherwise free) package designed for setting up a site like that? We could do it all through LJ entries, but there must be some better way to go about it. And yes, I could JFGI, but I'd ( Read more... )

roomshare, rideshare, 2010, transportation, accessibility, brainstorming

Comments 7

eredien July 23 2009, 17:09:23 UTC

This is a great idea, and useful. I will ask some friends of mine who would know better about such software packages than I might.

rosefox July 23 2009, 18:08:43 UTC

Thanks!

Forums? rivenwanderer July 23 2009, 18:39:40 UTC

I've seen some cons have set up regular web forums (like phpBB or something similar) for rooms/rides--sometimes only giving people access after they've registered. I don't know if the improved organization and accessibility to non-LJers would be enough of a win over LJ entries, since generic forums don't add any ride/room-sharing specific features (and new topics don't pop up on people's friend pages!). I've never actually used forums for rides/rooms personally, I just know it's sometimes done... maybe someone who has found a room or ride share this way will chime in :)

Re: Forums? rosefox July 23 2009, 18:56:05 UTC

I used RWA's forums to find roommates, but it was kind of a messy process and I'm hoping for something a little cleaner. I know there are open source dating site packages out there; maybe we could adapt one for this!

adominello August 4 2009, 00:05:48 UTC

Rose--

David and I are setting this up as part of the new Readercon site as we speak. We'll probably have it all up and running by September.

rosefox August 4 2009, 04:29:08 UTC

Brilliant! I wrote to Diane about using Zimride; did she talk with you about that?

adominello August 4 2009, 14:49:22 UTC

David and I are rebuilding the entire site in Drupal which has its own forums module built in as well as the ability to add other modules to it. The forum will be the first module we activate-- apart from the normal web content.

An example of the Drupal user forum can be found here.

You, as forum moderator, would create a subject heading like "Readercon 21 Ride Share" and "Readercon 21 Room Share" or some such, and let the masses work out the gritty details. :)

David and I will be meeting about the purely technical details of getting the new site up next week after he and Diane return from Worldcon.