[sharnon007]

Hi everyone! I'm new- not shy- and here for help. I was invited by Andy a few days ago.
There's a lot of info in the following post- I'm just trying to be as thorough as I can.

I've finally decided to branch out from my yahoo and ning boundaries and TRY to start a community of my own. It's for reading teachers- right now, I have a focus on one reading series, but hope to incorporate more.
My problem is... I have so idea where to start and no idea of what I'm doing. Well- I have SOME idea of what I WANT to do - does that count?
I'm hoping to find the right CMS- problem is I've never done more than the typical embedded game or add italics. If it weren't for the HTML option in a WYSIWYG, I probably would've had a hard time with that.
The thing about me is that I'll figure it out- if it's important to me- and I work best backwards. I've read a few things about using xml for 1 game & only having to link to the info for each different set of questions. I dunno' if I can do that in all instances. I dunno' if I can put media into a wiki.
I know nothing a cms either (obviously). I do care about community support for the cms, security, etc... However there's so much conflicting info. OMG! I read so much about joomla, drupal, xoops, moodle, phpWiki, tikiwiki (I def decided against xoops because of the inside beef) that I was dreaming about it.
I finally decided on a bold move- which was moving my blog on posterous to WordPress. Now I'm even more conflicted (if that's possible). Because I feel like WordPress is really going to grow and it has TERRIFIC community support.
&
This is what I want to do. I want to offer a section that does NOT require a password- so that games & worksheets can be linked to and played. A place for teachers &/or parents (NON-MEMBERS)can have easy access to information about the series (what is taught with each story- grammar, comprehension concept, spelling words and definitions)- but can also be update by approved members. AND a spot for educators to collaborate and share (approved access only).
I'm willing to use a combo, if that's what it takes but wouldn't that be a major headache keeping up w/several cms?
I want to go with WordPress so bad I can't stand it- and would even wait for the next big update (seems like WP3 is gonna' be a big one). BUT, I keep thinking about how we've all been extremely disappointed by 'waiting for the next big one' (remember VISTA? better yet remember Windows ME?).

Any thoughts?
~~~ sharnon007 ~~~

***Thanx for recommending I come here Andy Field! Sorry it took two days- I was on my way when the baby started crying, then later on, I got stuck on twitter. twitter is an addictive pharmaceutical that came straight from Satan himself!

[Andrew Field]

What a fantastic first post!

Your enthusiasm to find solutions cannot be underestimated. I'll reply in further detail when I have more time but I'd suggest focusing on using Open Source solutions so you can invest any budget you do have into spending time developing your materials. These also provide you with a great opportunity to try out and experiment with a range of solutions until you find what you're looking for. In short, I reckon running Moodle and Wordpress will fit your requirements.

The other thing to state is that many of the online tools can be adapted to your specific needs - thus you might run a wiki and embed games and other resources, or you could open up guest access to your Moodle and do exactly the same. What has clearly come across in your post is your enthusiasm to experiment - this is the key thing that is needed.

I think you need to think specifically what learning outcomes you are after - it sounds like you want to have open access for all in one section including the ability for chosen individuals to update and develop and then also have a closed section for other discussions.

To start with, I would suggest getting a Moodle installed - http://www.moodle.org - downloads and a fantastic community support. If you need some help with hosting (i.e. how you get an initial Moodle setup and running) do just ask. I'd also suggest getting your own Wordpress installation - http://www.wordpress.org. You can then begin to experiment and play with the features.

Moodle will be fantastic to upload and share materials in a lesson format - you can setup access exactly as you require allowing parents / students full access to some areas and then limit access to other courses. At my school our Moodle is at http://www.nwvle.net - there you can see how some aspects are open - see the ICT topics - whereas others are closed. Moodle itself can be expanded or developed exactly as you require.

Wordpress is an excellent way of communicating and running a blog-based site - again at my school we have http://www.neale-wade.net/blog - we use this primarily for communication but resources and other materials can easily be uploaded to a Wordpress site.

The resource sharing aspects though might require something more. You can do this in Moodle, but I'm not sure if that is the ideal solution to establish a resources sharing / discussion section. For that it might be worth exploring something like a forum (this forum - for example - is ideal to encourage resource sharing. It is commercial software from http://www.invisionp...products/board/ but there are Open Source / free equivalents). Alternatively, you could be creative in your setup of a Wordpress or Moodle site - giving colleagues different levels of access. For example, you could give colleagues access to update a 'resources' course on Moodle. That way each colleague could upload the course with their latest materials and then have a linked mini-discussion forum for each section.

Keeping installed resources up to date can be a pain, but Wordpress is fantastically easy - one click upgrades. Moodle is more complex to keep up to date, but if you have a helpful webhost they will provide you with assistance and, of course, you can always ask for some help here and on the main http://www.moodle.org forums.

Just some initial thoughts - and welcome to the forum!

[sharnon007]

Ok- this is my thinking.
I added moodle- but I think I'm going to add a wiki OR a wordpress type thing.
I'm planning on buying another site for the moodle instead.
What I've decided is to make glogs for each story in the ReadingSeries that I've forused on- and I think it'll be easier to got teachers to come in and work on a wiki.
In order to be successful at what i'm doing, I know that I'm going to need help in my community. So, I think that there are more teachers that use wikis & would be more help in that area.
That'll give me real help- and time to learn. I'd like to get this 'show on the road'.

Can you give me some feedback on the type of wiki that allows multimedia embeds & such.

Sharnon