The LC Club is one of the longest established clubs dedicated to the LC range of Yamaha motorcycles. Established back in the mid eighties, it is entirely volunteer run and non-profit making. Unfortunately the club website has not been updated since it was first put together and while it reflects the retro nature of the bikes themselves it is showing it's age. So here is the question. Would anybody be willing to take on the job of dragging the site into the 21st Century as a project for some beer tokens? Failing that can anyone recommend a good company to do the update? And how much are we talking about? I could search myself but would rather go with a company that has been recommended. We'd like to add a shop were we can sell the club merchandise. Expand the gallery section. Include a calendar of upcoming events, perhaps based on the forum calendar.
Designbp ltd. brilliant design team and development process. cant recommend enough. worked with them before so know from experience theyre a good bunch.
Do it yourself... Get yourself an open-source CMS (e.g. Joomla) and one of the many free skins/site templates, and do it yourself. OK, it's not for everyone, but there are plenty of how-to resources, plenty of free expertise and advice around... I'm assuming that since your are here, you are broadly comfortable with technology, so you ought to be able to make the leap... Hell, you might even enjoy it.
cjm yes I could do it, I've even dabbled in the old fashion html way of building websites but as the club mag editor I already invest enough of my free time to the club. We also want a nice slick, professional and personal site, which would take some time building from scratch and without experience. Thanks for the suggestion though I may check it out for myself.
It will require time and effort; there will be a learning curve... But with many modern CMS's, you can build the entire site without spending a penny and without writing a line of code. And there are plenty of slick, professional-looking skins available for free, or for a small fee (<$30). You'll be able to get photogallery modules to plug-in, membership databases, online store...etc The cost to get a freelancer to configure a CMS for you and apply a skin will be £££, and to get someone to build a custom site will be ££££. It's not a feat to be sniffed at, but unless you a healthy budget, or a benevolent professional willing to work for peanuts, it might be worthwhile. My final suggestion is to get a free or cheap CSS template, and simply drop it over the old site to give it an easy facelift.
Thanks again for your help. I am looking into Joomla and CMS skins. I may start with my own first then have a go at the clubs.
