Beautifully done. Thanks for selflessly putting all the code online as an excellent use of RoR.
Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
171–180 of 323 posts
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great job, Tim. Looks really solid. I really think you should team up with someone to offer hosted versions of this to churches (take the WordPress model). My church uses The City [0] which charges anywhere from $20 to hundreds of dollars a month. It works well but I definitely think there's room for others. Also, Zondervan acquired The City from the developer/Mars Hill (he was an Amazon engineer too IIRC). I also th…
Our church also uses The City and I'd say it's fine but not great. There's a lot of room for another startup in this space - I've considered it more than once. The problem for me, on a personal level, is that it's very hard to mix business and the church. On the one hand, the technology used in the church generally lags far behind what is available and there are real benefits to the church body by having tailored tec…
This is something I have been pondering for a bit now. As the chair of my church's outreach ministry, I struggle with church communications. The church is a unique community of groups, sub-groups, etc. And the activities are just as varied. There are many activities that need to be communicated and only so many channels available to do so. Not to mention making sure that everyone is connected and "plugged-in."
You touch on some good points on how to monetize and build a for profit company that is theologically sound. I have this idea that I'm considering for my next venture.
The idea is to build a self-funded startup with a mix of talented developers, designers, and product people. The company would not ever take outside investment so that the focus is never on dollars and return. Instead the focus is to build awesome software that makes a difference (inside and outside the church), grow our craft, and enjoy life. Nobody will earn millions, but we'll sure have fun making a living to support our families.
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#173Great work! I've been watching from the sidelines, and I'm glad you finally had a big public launch! OneBody looks really good from the screenshots.
I started http://www.churchmint.com over 2 years ago, and I have not made any progress for a while now. Seeing your success and all these positive comments though has encouraged me quite a bit. There are still a lot of churches out there that are severely under-served by technology. Kudos to you for using your skills for the kingdom and donating your time to a good cause!
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
Our church also uses The City and I'd say it's fine but not great. There's a lot of room for another startup in this space - I've considered it more than once. The problem for me, on a personal level, is that it's very hard to mix business and the church. On the one hand, the technology used in the church generally lags far behind what is available and there are real benefits to the church body by having tailored tec…
This is something I have been pondering for a bit now. As the chair of my church's outreach ministry, I struggle with church communications. The church is a unique community of groups, sub-groups, etc. And the activities are just as varied. There are many activities that need to be communicated and only so many channels available to do so. Not to mention making sure that everyone is connected and "plugged-in." You to…
Ah, welcome to a dilemna I've been wrestling for a couple of years. I actually have an idea/product that has started/stopped a few times that's geared for missionaries, pastors, evangelists, etc.
I just need to find someone smart like the OP here to help execute the vision.
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#175Hard to believe, but I've been working on this Rails app for over 7 years now! It started as a Rails 1.0 app waaayyy back when, and I've managed to bring it along through almost every major Rails version (still working on updating to Rails 4.1), which I'm pretty proud of. You can see screenshots at http://church.io . Being specifically church software, it might not find much of an audience here on HN, but still, I'm…
Well done, sir. I've always thought something like this was needed. Paid products are fine, but why not open source if a person or crew wants to take the time to build it with the polish required to pull it off? Well, you built it and it looks awesome.
Plus it's refreshing to see something seven years in the making and testing posted here. News and speculation are always interesting, but this project has some weight to it. Thanks for posting.
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#176Hard to believe, but I've been working on this Rails app for over 7 years now! It started as a Rails 1.0 app waaayyy back when, and I've managed to bring it along through almost every major Rails version (still working on updating to Rails 4.1), which I'm pretty proud of. You can see screenshots at http://church.io . Being specifically church software, it might not find much of an audience here on HN, but still, I'm…
Very nice, not something for me, but I have passed the link onto relatives who are involved in churches.
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#177I wouldn't develop software for chuches since my opinion is that they are bad for society. Feels weird for me to wish you luck, since I want religion to vanish.
But good job in making a sophisticated software, even if it was for a horrible cause.
EDIT: I knew this was probably going to be downvoted. But I just want to say that I have nothing against this person. I just dislike religion but understand that other may not agree with me.
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#178Looks cool. Maybe you should change the name so it's not just focused on churches? Non-"church" denominations and organizations could use it as well.
Or branch out several personalized versions for each faith/denomination.
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
Glory to God! :-) It's just my passion. I really hope someone does build this as a slick hosted service. I don't do well dealing with customers :-)
Then can I suggest you find someone who can - otherwise one if us Atheists will host it and make money off your hard work ;-) Seriously, a simple hosted package, a non-profit org and I think you could find you have built a vehicle for doing some good elsewhere.
I realize you may have been joking, but I wonder how most atheists and other nonreligious people here would feel about selling a product or service targeted specifically at religious people or churches. To me, it feels dirty, like I would be saying, "I know that religions are false and even harmful, but I'm going to milk those less enlightened believers for all they're worth."
Re: Show HN: OneBody Church Directory software I've been hacking on for 7 years
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then can I suggest you find someone who can - otherwise one if us Atheists will host it and make money off your hard work ;-) Seriously, a simple hosted package, a non-profit org and I think you could find you have built a vehicle for doing some good elsewhere.
I realize you may have been joking, but I wonder how most atheists and other nonreligious people here would feel about selling a product or service targeted specifically at religious people or churches. To me, it feels dirty, like I would be saying, "I know that religions are false and even harmful, but I'm going to milk those less enlightened believers for all they're worth."
What difference would it make? Religious institutions, writers, horse-traders, scuba divers - a market is a market.
If you go into any business harboring that level of disrespect for your customers then you're probably going to fail to provide a product they'll be willing to use. Although there is also an argument to be made for domain experience - if you're going to sell a service to religious groups wouldn't you be more likely to understand the market without having a bias against religion?