Recently, however, one of my clients sent me a link to Artisteer and asked me to take a look at it. On its surface it offers something that I have not seen others will – create one template and export it to Joomla, Drupal or WordPress.

That was the response from our Rackspace server as I tried to install a new instance of Joomla. As much as I want to say it was unexpected, the truth is, I have seen it before. I have a personal client who also uses Rackspace and Joomla for his business. When I first encountered this problem, I had to search high and low, even contacting Rackspace for help. It took a few days to get it fixed.

Ultimately, it was this simple. Don’t let Joomla try to create the configuration.php file. It won’t work. Why, I don’t know. Is it the RedHat Enterprise Linux or perhaps how Rackspace configures it, I could not say. What I can say is this, if I do not change permissions on the configuration.php.dst, it works great.

No problems loading the sample data.

No problems connecting the FTP layer.

It just works.

Wonderful.

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It is rather easy to install if you have one of those wonders of technology called One-Click Installs or Simple Scripts. But, what if you don’t. Since I have clients that manage their own servers (think Rackspace), any software that needs to be installed has to go through me first. While this is the tried and true method of server management, there is much to be said for having someone else handle these tasks. Yes, you give up control of the machine, but if you are using off the shelf software or open source tools that can be installed via ftp or ssh, this is really the way to go. Most virtual hosting environments know their customers want the software to run without problems and that’s what they get paid to do. So, if someone tries to convince you to setup a machine that you will manage without much help from the hosting company, make sure they understand the limitations and cost.

For a small ministry on a budget, ten bucks a month sure beats having a beast of a server you barely use.

I am sure this is typical of many churches.

You manage to get someone who can setup the website.  (In case that person is you, our main site has all you need to know to get started.)  He/She gets started and immediately runs into a problem.  (OK, they probably ran into one when they needed to figure out the username/password combination for the domain registrar or hosting company, since the person who originally set it “hasn’t worshipped here in a while”.)  They have precious little content and, despite their best effort, no one is willing to step forward.  Now, keep in mind, that the senior pastor will probably commit to putting their sermon on the website “every week”.  Each department has also been told they need to provide initial and ongoing content for their events in order to show visitors how dynamic their congregation and ministries.  The church secretary has been asked for the bulletin and any other material that gets sent out.  Still, there is an empty website.

Why?

It’s really hard to keep the momentum moving.  Someone not only has to receive all this information, but also format it and make sure it’s timely.

Sound familiar?

If it doesn’t, you either have one very determined webmaster or someone on staff is tasked with the responsibility of managing your church communications.  As much as I like the idea of a willing volunteer (webmasters sheepishly raise their hands), I prefer having a communications director for the church.

A what you say?

You heard me, communications director.  And its better if they are on staff.  Still, very few churches have one.

Why would you want to add another salaried person to your meager staff, especially when tithes are hard to come by?  Well, because while even the most fervent evangelist can bring in new members, they can’t copy/paste, edit content and “pretty” it up all the while presenting a cohesive (and coherent) message about your ministry.  And don’t even get me started on the church podcast. It really takes time and talent, and we should consider the benefits of having someone manage how we present our ministries to the outside world.

[Update] Unfortunately, the person who volunteered for this ministry was unable to take the reigns. I fully understand. Its a daunting task to be the one who manages the “online presence” of a ministry. Fortunately, I can keep doing this for the time being. In my mind, it simply justifies my thoughts above.

I will write a more extensive review after a few weeks have passed and I have a fair amount of experience with this product.

Template Monster Skins Drupal: “

Everybody look out–Template Monster is approaching! *Cue menacing shot of actor in a cheesy monster costume rising over a miniature set of Tokyo*.

But wait! This monster isn’t here to harm us; it’s here to help! As one of the largest template providers on the web, Template Monster has set its sights on Drupal, launching a series of design themes, or ‘skins’ meant to make setting up a site on Drupal a breeze.

“

(Via CMSWire.com – All News.)