Difference between revisions of "UU-Money Recommended Book List"

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from ''Lyssa Jenkins, First Unitarian Church of Dallas'' - 2002
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== Comparison of services used by UUs ==
  
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I am now at the end of a two year term as president of a large congregation in Dallas, Texas, with five and one-half years on our board. We have spent the entire five plus years making a full conversion to policy governance. We have struggled mightily and made plenty of mistakes along the way--some small, some significant and will real consequences for our congregation. But, is it worth it! I feel that our board is at a very high level of functioning these days and our church is absolutely 'on fire' with a mission and vision.
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=== [http://www.3ix.org/ 3ix] ===
  
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I'd like to address three important mistakes that may have broad application to other congregations. First, we spent several years when we were both committed to change--our bylaws were amended to accommodate policy governance--and, yet, we were unwilling or unable to let go of the old ways of "doing church." We lost momentum and time. More importantly, though, our ability to govern was compromised as we careened between one model and the other, doing neither well. Our real progress began when we became totally focused on developing the basic policy infrastructure needed to become a fully functional policy governance organization. This was a good and necessary step and, yet, it led directly to mistake number two.
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'''Operating System''' - Linux
  
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After years of vacillating between old and new governance models, we did not have good safeguards in place when we focused our attention on developing our policy infrastructure to the exclusion of almost everything else. As a result, we later discovered financial issues that were not handled as we would have wanted over several years. The consequences for the congregation are several, including projects that will not get finished as planned or expected and operating budget difficulties due to various unexpected adjustments.
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'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs
  
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The third significant error was that we did not bring the congregation along with us. At our last Parish meeting it became painfully obvious by the questions members asked and the way issues were presented that most members had little understanding of the way our church works now! It was a real awakening.
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'''Cost''' - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)
  
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The lessons learned are pretty straight forward. (1) Bring the full board to a common level of understanding and commitment--then move! The basic policies (Executive Limitations, Executive-Board Linkages, Board Governance or Process) are fairly accessible--they are in the Carver books and other congregation's documents--so get them in place as quickly as possible and move on to the high level Ends policies. (2) Make sure adequate safeguards are in place to sustain the organization through the early stages of policy development, implementation and monitoring. Key areas are financial management and controls as well as basic personnel policies and any other issues that significantly affect the physical and fiscal safety and welfare of the people and the institution. (3) Communicate, communicate, communicate.
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'''Reviews'''
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*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for 1 1/2 yrs. with several sites and few problems, though it doesn't have a toll free phone number for tech support & sometimes the LiveChat will put in a ticket for tech support via email, I usually get a satisfactory answer to questions within 12 hrs. I wouldn't recommend it if you need faster tech support. I notice that some accounts (on different 3ix computers) have more updated software than others. They also don't have automated bill paying using saved credit card information - they email their annual renewal bill, but they don't take down sites that are late and there's no late fee (up to 10 days or something like that). I see there's a dedicated hate group to them that primarily criticizes their "unlimited bandwidth" - I don't see how any server can truly offer bandwidth that is "unlimited" or space either, though many claim to. The cost per service is very good for those who would like to save money.
  
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Make sure the congregation is getting the same education as the board. I now have a presentation called "First Church 101 or How do I get my issue on the board's radar screen?" that starts with an org chart! But, it ends when folks have a "church map" of which person or group is most likely to respond to which issues and concerns.
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'''Examples'''
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*[http://www.jpdwr.org/ JPD Women & Religion] uses the Excite plan ($12/yr.)
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*[http://www.uuallies.com/drupal UU Allies for Racial Equity] uses the Expert hosting plan (and pays a small amount extra for SSL and dedicated IP - for $128/yr.)
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*[http://www.baltwashuus.org/ Baltimore Washington Unitarian Universalists] and [http://www.philwiluus.org/ Philadelphia Wilmington Unitarian Universalists] share the same service in different directories using the Extra Hosing Plan ($33/yr.)
  
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That's my take on recent years in Dallas. I hope some of you will find some help (and some shortcuts!) in these experiences.
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=== [http://www.bluehost.com/ Blue Host] ===
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'''Operating System''' - Linux
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'''Features''' - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access
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'''Cost''' - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)
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 +
'''Reviews'''
 +
*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.
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'''Examples'''
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*[http://www.jpduua.org/ Joseph Priestley District]
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=== [http://www.uuism.net/index.php UUism Networks] ===
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'''Operating System''' - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4
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'''Features''' - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"
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'''Cost''' - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)
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'''Reviews'''
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*From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.
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*From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years.  Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages.  But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism.  First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla.  (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.)  Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns.  Site availability has been much better than 99%.  Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.
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'''Examples'''
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*[http://www.rec-room.org/ REC-Room]
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*[http://www.uuism.net/uuwiki/ UU Wiki] - this site
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=== http://simple.be/hosting/ ===
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'''Operating System''' - Windows, Linux
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'''Features''' - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, Debian GNU/Linux
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'''Cost''' - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.
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'''Reviews'''
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*From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years.  He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases.  Readily available via email or phone.
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'''Examples'''
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*[http://www.mpuuc.org/ www.mpuuc.org]

Revision as of 23:38, 23 August 2007

Comparison of services used by UUs

3ix

Operating System - Linux

Features - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs

Cost - 4 packages range from $12/yr. to $88/yr. ($73 additional for SSL & dedicated IP using their top 2 packages with Shell Access)

Reviews

  • From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for 1 1/2 yrs. with several sites and few problems, though it doesn't have a toll free phone number for tech support & sometimes the LiveChat will put in a ticket for tech support via email, I usually get a satisfactory answer to questions within 12 hrs. I wouldn't recommend it if you need faster tech support. I notice that some accounts (on different 3ix computers) have more updated software than others. They also don't have automated bill paying using saved credit card information - they email their annual renewal bill, but they don't take down sites that are late and there's no late fee (up to 10 days or something like that). I see there's a dedicated hate group to them that primarily criticizes their "unlimited bandwidth" - I don't see how any server can truly offer bandwidth that is "unlimited" or space either, though many claim to. The cost per service is very good for those who would like to save money.

Examples

Blue Host

Operating System - Linux

Features - cPanel with Fantastico and a long list of Open Source programs - 1 package only, includes Shell Access

Cost - $6.95/mo. if you sign up for 2 yrs. up front ($166.80/2 yrs. = $83.40/yr.)

Reviews

  • From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I have log-in capability on a site that uses it, but I haven't dealt with them directly. I see a lot of people think they're great, but I compared software versions and they're not up-to-date on everything. I believe it's their customer service that gets them top ratings, which includes 24X7 toll free phone support. I have also read some reviews from unsatisfied customers, though.

Examples

UUism Networks

Operating System - Red Hat Linux Fedora Core 4

Features - EnsimPro administrative panel - "comes with Web Site, Subdirectory Access (FTP), Shell Access (SSH) and Email Server Access (POP3)"

Cost - "$48 per year for 25 MB with free setup" (according to site 11/7/2007)

Reviews

  • From JoyceD 11/7/2007 - I've used it for ~8 yrs. & it has improved over time. I've only used it for services that our UU host, Jim Hermann, has offered free. THANKS, JIM! He serves over 100 UU congregations and organizations.
  • From BruceC 2007/11/7 - I've used this service for many years. Our main pages are still hosted on a local community based service for non-profit pages. But they don't offer server programs so I have been migrating more and more to uuism. First was our domain name, then email lists, then the forums and now we are rebuilding our site in Joomla. (UUism doesn't currently offer Joomla via Ensim, but it was not difficult to install.) Ensim doesn't always keep all software up to the most current, but most of it is especially if there are security concerns. Site availability has been much better than 99%. Response to emailed questions is usually within a couple of hours.

Examples

http://simple.be/hosting/

Operating System - Windows, Linux

Features - Web hosting (Apache, PHP, CGI, and Perl), Secure POP / IMAP / SMTP email service, Secure shell (SSH) & secure copy (SCP), Databases (MySQL & PostgreSQL), Anti-spam service, Snapshot backups, Debian GNU/Linux

Cost - 6 packages from $14/month (for 80 MB storage and 3 email aliases) up.

Reviews

  • From PatRodgers 2007/11/08 - Brett Hamilton has hosted our www.mpuuc.org website for almost 4 years. He walked me through the WinSCP setup and quickly handles changes in the forwarding of our email aliases. Readily available via email or phone.

Examples

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