Web-Empowered Church Blog

eBible Upgraded

bill@webempoweredchurch.org (Bill Tenny-Brittian) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:47:29 -0400

The WEC extension eBible has been experiencing some growing pains over the last couple of months. The extension was built in 2007 by the Web-Empowered Church team in cooperation with eBible.com. Since then, the eBible.com site was acquired by another company and some of the features for our extension went away ... at least temporarily ... and all of the features stopped working at one point. Last week, the WEC Team finished reworking the WEC extension so that verse parsing works (the feature where a link and hover box appear when a biblical reference is moused-over as shown in the illustration). The Verse of the Day feature is no longer available, but may be returned sometime in the future. If you're a WEC Hosted Client you can request an upgrade by submitting a support ticket. If you're not WEC Hosted then you can upgrade via your Extension Manager or download the wec_ebible 3.x extension from the TYPO3 Extensions page at TYPO3.org.

What's Happenin'

bill@webempoweredchurch.org (Bill Tenny-Brittian) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

If you've been an avid WEC Blog follower for any amount of time you've likely noticed a couple of changes here at the ol' WEC HQ. Probably the most profound is our increasing energy in working in site-specific design, creation, and extension modification and implementation. Over the next two posts we'll share some examples of what we've been doing in all our "spare" time.

This week we want to introduce you to Christ Fellowship Church in South Florida. This church serves 30,000 folks on multiple campuses and also serves over 10,000 people through its live streaming services. Their Communications Department had secured a design from an agency, but wanted that design implemented via the TYPO3 framework. They called on the Web-Empowered Church team and the work was on!

The site not only included a new look for the church, but they needed customized extensions in order to accommodate their demanding sermon archive as well as connecting with an external video streaming platform. They also needed a completely new extension that connected with their Church Management Software and would allow members and guests to search and find small groups that were geographically located and provided for specific needs such as groups that provide childcare, gender based groups, etc.

The results were nothing short of spectacular ... as you can see for yourself.

View the site at: http://GoChristFellowship.com

Check out the sermon archive tool at: http://gochristfellowship.com/about-us/sermon-archives

And let your fingers do the walking through the Life Group Search Tool at: http://gochristfellowship.com/adults/life-groups/

TYPO3 4.5.4 and Starter Package Released

bill@webempoweredchurch.org (Bill Tenny-Brittian) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:24:32 -0400

The TYPO3 Community has released an important security update for the TYPO3 core (version 4.5.4). This update primarily addresses issues that could be problematic with non-admin Backend users who have malice on their minds. This being the case, the WEC Team has developed a new Starter Package that�s available on the website for those needing to manually update their site (available here: http://bit.ly/nlHKmX). The security bulletin can be read here: http://bit.ly/raQhH6. Of course, WEC Hosting Clients have already been updated.

In addition a number of extensions have been updated as well for the Starter Package as well (these are non-security related updates). Upgrades can be done through the Extensions Manager. A tutorial on upgrading extensions can be found here: http://bit.ly/qMcZqY

http://bit.ly/qMcZqYThe extensions in question include:

be_acl,
cal
div2007
wec_about
wec_config
wec_contentelements
realurl

WEC in Haiti

mark@webempoweredchurch.org (Mark Stephenson) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Most of you may think of the Web-Empowered Church team as a web developers, but we are pleased to assist churches and other Christian ministries with other technology needs as well. From April 29th to May 8th, Mark Stephenson, the Director of WEC, and his son Thomas with be assisting a United Methodist mission team (Team Churches: Church of the Resurrection in KS, Granger Community Church in IN, Ginghamsburg Church in OH). They are traveling to Petit Goave, Haiti to install fixed broadband wireless internet at various locations around that city. Sadly, about 1/5 of the people in Petit Goave died from the earthquake in January 2010. These internet connections will support relief workers at multiple locations, a school for children (Kindergarden through High School) named Brakeman College (classroom), and a Methodist church. Mark is part owner of a fixed wireless broadband internet company called Country Connections, and his son is one of the main installers there. They will be using the same kind of equipment they use in Mark's business.

Please keep Mark and Thomas and the team in your prayers. The conditions there are difficult; it is very hot; and they will be on rooftops several stories high to make these connections. If you have need for a high speed wireless network connection to support your church or missions activity, please contact Mark.

WEC iPhone App Now Available

mark@webempoweredchurch.org (Mark Stephenson) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Get your own customized iPhone App to give mobile access to your online ministries. Let us build an iPhone app for your church or ministry and put your message in the hands of anyone with an iPhone, iPod Touch, or an iPad. We'll even get the app in the iPhone App Store so it's available everywhere!

You can learn more on the WEC iPhone App Page or get the App that we created for Ginghamsburg Church to try. The App is called "ginghamsburg" and is available for free.