By the way, in case you didn't guess - I'm cranky. I just spent 5 hours blocking a Russian spammer, doing security patches to the content manager and locking the website down a bit more. I've got health problems and life problems (3+ years of unemployment anyone?) that I've got to deal with and so rocketry has got to take a back seat. I can no longer continue to be responsible for this site and the club desperately needs someone to take the reins. PLEASE!

Warren, I would like to jump in and help, only thing is I know less about software than I know about women. I can build a computer in my sleep, but code? What is code? Ajax, that is a type of missile, isn't it?
Sure I can help, what do you want me to learn? If you tell me I am not qualified, then I understand that also. I have been unqualified before. I ocassionally do the other things like tow the trailer and help set-up or tear down because the skil-set is very small. I could teach my mastiff to do some of that and help. But write code, understand the stuff, get the correct protcols, and de-bug it? Not this year and probably not next unless I have a very patient tutor with a lot of time. If this is of interest to you, talk to me. 😳

The chief job requirements are thus:

- General knowledge of website operations in a LAMP environment
- PHP Nuke content manager experience helpful
- Ability to use text editors (Notepad, Brief, Multi-Edit, etc.) to modify raw HTML and PHP files in order to update certain specific pages.
- Ability to login and check/authenticate/approve pending new user authorizations preferably daily.
- PHP/Ajax programming experience would be ideal, but not necessary for web management duties. However, if you've got those skills, knowledge of version control software, code repositories and sites such as bitbucket.com would also be a requisite. In my ideal world, a real web developer/programmer type would take this site over. For those that are, we're in a PHP/MySQL backend using PHP Nuke 8.x on the server side as the content management package.

Experientially speaking, I'm not much of a web programmer - C/C++ and assembly language is more my speed. So most of the specialized development (launch logs and contests being the main part general users see) has been carried out by external programmers. The main programmer for the AJAX extensions was a club member who has unfortunately drifted by the wayside. As a club we either need to find a member with these skills or give up on having contest results reported on the website.

I wish I could help - my skills are not up this alley. That said - a hearty THANKS to Warren for getting this site to where it is. He's plowed a lot ground that many of us take for granted. First beer is on me at the annual meeting, Warren -

dittos to what John said. I'll buy the second one if wanted. Wish I could help with a job or other stuff. ('course I need to know more to know how to help, but I am willing!)

General knowledge of website operations in a LAMP environment
- PHP Nuke content manager experience helpful
- Ability to use text editors (Notepad, Brief, Multi-Edit, etc.) to modify raw HTML and PHP files in order to update certain specific pages.
- Ability to login and check/authenticate/approve pending new user authorizations preferably daily.
- PHP/Ajax programming experience would be ideal, but not necessary for web management duties. However, if you've got those skills, knowledge of version control software, code repositories and sites such as bitbucket.com would also be a requisite. In my ideal world, a real web developer/programmer type would take this site over. For those that are, we're in a PHP/MySQL backend using PHP Nuke 8.x on the server side as the content management package.

Is that english? 😯

I am thinking out loud here, so forgive my ignorance. Where can we find such people that are capable of doing the job Warren as been doing for us for so long and so well? What does it cost to hire someone to do this, if we bring them in from the outside, since, at the time of this writing, no one within the NCR is either willing to do this task or has the wherewithall to do, or has the time to do it. At the last general meeting there was discussion of raising dues. Joe, our greatly appreciated president who is doing a yeoman's effort, and whom I hope will willing continue this task, showed us that financially we were fine. that may not be the case now after the shunted Oktoberfest that we had, but regardless, we were fine in January. Would the memebers be willing to ante up a bit more and dedicate those funds to hire a webmaster? Just asking and looking for the reasons that say this suggestion is wrong and not needed. 😳

A Plan 'B' is a great idea.

I would be willing to up the ante.

I, as many, do not have the knowledge to help.

Joe already does much of the content management in terms of the News feed and even knows a few HTML tags like bold and italic, but by his own admission doesn't want to delve in deeply enough to manage some of the more technical stuff.

I should say that as long as we pay the hosting bill, the site won't go away or crash and burn. The key is the minor day to day management issues of vetting new users, occasionally moderating out porn and other spam (infrequent since we put all new users on moderation until their ID and country of origin checks out) and just generally checking that the site is up and working. This is a daily activity and does require at least a few minutes of undivided attention by someone with web management experience.

What I'm really hoping is for someone who can take over and move the site forward into the future. Update the contest code and databases, complete the club membership management and bookkeeping module (for exec committee members only) and apply security patches and updates to the site. This sort of stuff requires a real web developer and not just someone who can use the content management system to add/update content. Jeremiah Johnson worked on the site for a couple years and did much of the code and security patching I refer to, but family responsibilities made him step back. A guy like Jeremiah or the programmer who wrote the original contest code and altitude record stuff costs over $100/hour for small projects like this. Our site would probably have cost well into the 5 figures if we'd had to pay for these guys.

I should say that in the time since this site went live (Aug 2005), we've had dozens and dozens of inquiries about our site from other clubs, TRA itself not to mention quite a few compliments. Very few clubs have websites of this level of professionalism and flexibility. We have been blessed with some truly professional web developers helping to take this site forward. We've barely touched the capabilities of this software and while I know what the technology is capable of, it takes good programmers to make those ideas concrete. I'm definitely not one of them - I'm just the guy who knew how to manage folks who do that kind of thing.

For some unknown reason, my private message offering my skills for the webmaster duties must have been lost.

Yesterday I was able to get my custom built array processor computer installed in my new home and ran diagnostics over the last 24 hours. No damage to the computer after my move from Minnesota to Colorado Springs and it is fully functional. With 540 processors running, it rapidly warmed up my room, and with the very cold temperatures this weekend, that extra heat was very much welcomed.

Today I have been exploring the PHP and AJAX website development tools and what I need to learn. Nothing that unusual and this should not take me more than about two weeks to get up to speed.

Question: How do I formally become a paying member of Northern Colorado Rocketry?

I have been a Software Engineer since 1972 and learn new skills very rapidly. There was a time when people like me would create databases and make human interfaces like SQL so simple, that anyone could use them without the need to know software skills.

A few years later, this was reversed upon me and I was not offered a job because I had not been formally trained to use SQL databases. Are you kidding me? I could write them from scratch! Hint about PHP, AJAX and website development...

So, what do I need to do formally with Warren Musselman and learn what is needed to keep this website going?

Yeah for shunt1! I love this website and use it regularly. Unfortunately, being able log in is about the extent of my computing superpowers. Thanks for stepping up.

For basic website management I should be able to take over very rapidly.

Improvements to the website will take me a little longer, but as I am exploring PHP and AJAX today, I do not see anything that difficult.

I am doing this for very selfish reasons. The only person in the State of Colorado that I currently know is my wife, who has only been here three months with her new RN job. What better way to make professional connections than by showing off my software skills with a new challenge?

But most of all, I want my level two certification. And without this website, I would not know where to find the help I may need.

Yup, totally selfish!

Hey Shunt 1, help me out here. Your message at 13:35 this afternoon speaks of the move from the north country to Colorado Springs. Have I been laboring under a false impression that you had moved to Fort Collins? Or do you commute to the Springs from here? I also hope you build as good as you talk about languages and code. 😉

Had to look at what you mentioned and I had typed Colorado Springs for some reason. Sorry!

Actually, during the first Gulf War, I was working in Colorado Springs at the Army Space Command and that is when I fell in love with this State.

My first time in Colorado was when we moved the WWII era nerve gas bombs out of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal next to Denver. Now those were scary times, since I kicked dead birds off of the steps each morning!

As for building rockets, I tend to error on the "tank" side. For my level 1 effort, the Wildman Darkstar Jr may end up being my final choice. However, since I have my own lathe and CNC milling machine, I may end up creating something out of carbon fiber according to my own concepts of atmospheric dynamics. The idea of milling a foam shape and covering it with carbon fiber is getting rather tempting, rather than being limited to tubes with fins. I want something that looks “organic!”

I am a pilot and have been building remote controlled model aircraft for a very long time. Even my cabin cruiser sailboat has taught me many lessons about optimizing fluid dynamics.

Sorry about the confusion...