This page describes creation of the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen website and tech.
Hosting
The SBK website is currently hosted by Cernio a technology cooperative. The server is owned by Scott Beardsley and he manages the website back end and system.
Content Management
We use WordPress as the content management system. We used to use Text Pattern but the site was redesigned in late 2008. WordPress seems to be a better fit for this group. There are a lot of members (200+ at the time of this writing) and we wanted to encourage as many authors as possible. WordPress allows any member to contribute content (if requested).
Forum
The forum software is based on the latest bbpress. It is open source and integrates nicely with WordPress. In fact, in the latest migration we managed to copy in all of the old forum content (from phpbb2) and accounts. All of the old forum accounts are now members of WordPress and can contribute content (if requested). The forum is designed to be an area for open discussion of all things Sacramento and Bicycle and SBK.
Design
The design of the website was developed using the WP-Sanda 1.1 theme written by Tobias Sandelius as a starting point. The forum uses the WPMimic BBPress theme.
SBK email is hosted by Google. There are a few people that have @sacbikekitchen.org email addresses but it is mainly used for catch-all addresses like volunteer or donate.
Mailing Lists
We maintain two public mailing lists using Google Groups: a general news and announcements list and a list specifically for volunteers and prospective volunteers.
Two invitation-only lists are maintained for Core member communication and for shop staff communication, using a Google Group for one and Sympa for the other.
Project Management
We use Redmine software to track task assignments and upcoming shop requirements among the staff volunteers.
In-shop Tracking
To track patrons and manage memberships in the shop, we use Freehub software designed for the San Francisco Bicycle Kitchen.
Photos
Many of the pictures have been contributed by our volunteers. We use Flickr for storing photos online, with a special Flickr group that is open to all. If you add photos to that group they will show up on our website! We hope that by using this process we can organize all SBK photos in one place.
Privacy
Our goal is to keep your personal information private. We collect minimal personal information from our patrons and mailing list recipients, and we will not share that information with outside organizations. We will not send you messages unless you have opted-in to receive those messages.
