[Tim]

Hey all,

I figured I'd just post a quick update on the redesign, some things going on in my life, and to see if anyone's available to help out with arrangements.

As you may or may not know, the new site design itself is basically done. It will just need a little tweaking, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. You can see it by choosing the "SquareSound (CVB)" skin from the drop-down in the bottom left-hand corner of the page if you haven't already. Many of the links in the main navigation may not work yet, but they will soon.

The main challenge in front of me now is converting all the existing pages to the new design, and getting the arrangements added into the new system. I sent out an email to all the arrangers who have submitted to us in the past asking them to join up and post their arrangements in the new system, but the response hasn't been as good as I'd hoped. Several people have joined and posted their arrangements, but there are dozens (if not hundreds) of others who haven't responded. What we'll probably have to do is post them ourselves, and if the authors ever do join, we can transfer them to their names. Are any of you willing to help post arrangements from other members? We're talking several hundred arrangements here, so it would be great if I could have some help.

As for me, things have gotten awfully hectic in my personal life lately, so I currently have limited time to work on the site. I just started a new full-time job last week after being unemployed for about a month. My sister, whom I currently share a house with, just lost her job that she'd been working for the past 10+ years though, so things have been a little stressful. To compound the issues, I'm getting married on August 1st, and my fiance is moving into what will be our apartment on July 1st. My sister wants to go back into teaching elementary school, but she has to get recertified, so she probably won't be able to get a job for this upcoming school year. Since I'm going to be moving out of the house, there's a very good chance that she'll lose the house, which makes me feel really bad. The timing just couldn't be any worse. I've been spending a lot of time trying to help her with her resume and stuff since she's been out of the job market for so long. Since I work as a web developer/designer, I'm much more used to job hunting. So that, combined with work and hanging out with my fiance, I haven't had much time to devote to the site, and won't for a little while yet.

Anyway, sorry to bore you with all the details, but I figured you deserved to know since a lot of you have been working hard to improve things around here. I'm going to be pretty busy these next few months, but once things calm down, I'm going to do everything I can to really get this place going again. Thanks to all of you for your help and understanding.

[The-Real-Link]

First off, let me congradulate you on your wedding! I'm very happy for you.

My family has been going through some pretty crazy stuff as well, so I feel for you!

I would be more than happy to help with some arrangement transfers. I won't have time until the beginning of July, but I'll help out as soon as I can. Also, if there's anything else you need, just let me know. Sorry I can't help you out with the redesign...I'm not much of a programmer. The best I've ever done was make a calender program using Java...and I had a little help with it. I've been meaning to learn Ruby and/or C++, but I haven't gotten around to it.

Again, congrats on the wedding!

[Joseph Perkins]

You know I would love to help. lol Just let me know what I need to do.

There are a lot of people facing problems like that. You think it would be easier for younger people to find jobs, but everyone wants experience.

[LegendaryCloud89]

It will be no problem for me to help. I understand what you're going through as my family is through a small rough patch as well. But I've been lucky enough to be able to land a job for the summer and will hopefully hold it through the school year. I start training for it tomorrow!

Also...congradulations on your upcoming wedding, Tim! It'll be on my birthday so I'll remember it! Best of luck to you now and in the future!

[Tim]

Thanks for all your kind words and offers to help. I really appreciate it!

I believe I have all your email addresses somewhere, but for simplicity, if you could PM them to me again, I'd be grateful. I'll send you each some arrangements and you can start adding them as you get time. What I may do is just create user names for those who aren't members of the forum, and I can send you their login information and you can post them under their names. That's a bit of a pain now, but it will make sure they get credit for the arrangements if they join later. Thanks again for your willingness to help out!