[CS-FSLUG] Church webhosting

[Ed Hurst]

I've been asked to help setup a website for an arm of our church.
Because this is destined (we hope) to include other churches in the long
run, it need not be hosted with the church's server. Indeed, it's a sad
fact of life the folks with hands-on control of the church's server are
not in any hurry at all. I suspect they are worried about the nature of
our request constituting some sort of security risk.

What we need is some sort of forum. This ministry is aimed at
coordinating those with talents, skills and equipment to take care of
facility repair and maintenance. By that, we mean everything from yard
work to disaster clean-up, from fixing a broken step to remodeling a
run-down home. My huge church has some contractors, journeymen, etc.
Many have spoken of a desire to reach out with this kind of ministry.

We expect to have teams with leaders, and some sort of layering. We
expect the website to provide a place to post news, such as the next
"event" and what it calls for. At some levels, each team will need a way
to communicate, and we wanted it to be online as much as possible --
rather, that other forms of communication will reflect what's online.

This website would thus need an email capability, with a permission
structure that limits teams from stepping on each other by accident.
Posting permissions need to be adjustable, as well as email sending.

Bear in mind, the website portion of all this may well be a bust, as
there is no way of knowing how many of the folks will adapt to it as a
primary tool.

My requests is: Is there someone here who can provide/point me to a
provider who can do this free/cheaply? I'm ready to learn as much admin
as necessary, but I'll need help at first, since I'm no part of a
webmaster. I'm prepared to learn admin for any software you want to
offer: PHP, CGI, Java, etc. I've searched to see what FOSS apps are
available, and many have said PHP is the hardest to secure, so I'm
flexible. I'm asking because I have serious doubts the church IT is
prepared to handle this sort of thing (it's handled by a donor provider,
a member of the church).

-- 
Ed Hurst
----------
Bible Application - http://ed.asisaid.com/bible/index.html
Plain & Simple Computer Help - http://ed.asisaid.com/
Plain Package blog - http://ed.asisaid.com/blog/