The club uses the web site member’s area as its primary source of news and information. If you want to keep abreast of the latest club news and announcements, it’s important you subscribe to this central news source.
The web site has been chosen as the master source of club information, rather than Facebook or WhatsApp. A working group looked at the options, considering key factors like inclusivity, GDPR requirements, protecting individuals phone numbers, membership ‘turnover’, a single source for all club information, aspiring to ‘one version of the truth’ and it’s clear that a reasonable number of club members don’t go near a Zuckerberg platform such as Facebook or WhatsApp.
Facebook and WhatsApp will of course continue to be used for a variety of good reasons by different sections of the club, but the master source of committee-sanctioned, official club news is the web site members area. This includes a news section and a forum.
However, there is a simple solution that has all your club information in one place.
The web site member’s area has an App
To make the process simpler, and to avoid the need to continually access the web site and manage email, smartphone users can install an App.
The App is called “Spaces” and it’s provided by Wix, the platform we use to build and maintain the Web site. Creating a custom-branded Cheltenham & County Cycling Club App is cost prohibitive, but the general-purpose Spaces members App does the job nicely. It has been customised as much as it can be (for free) and it features the following:
· Notifications. Regular mobile “push” notifications are supported (just like Facebook, WhatsApp and other Apps in this regard). Assuming you have enabled notifications on your device, and assuming you have chosen to follow a specific forum category, then you will receive a notification each time a new forum post or news item is published. Tapping the notification will take you directly to the new post inside the App.
· Calendar. Single-click access to the club calendar is provided so you can quickly see upcoming rides and events.
· Forum. The club forum, with all its categories is easily accessed. You can decide which specific categories you’d like to follow, and authorised users can also post new articles directly from the App. Follow a forum category to receive notifications about new posts.
· News. Club news is also available directly in the App.
The App is available for iOS and Android devices, smartphones and tablets. The remainder of this post explains how to install, configure and use the App.
How to install the App
1. To install the App, go to the App Store (for iOS users) or Play Store (for Android users) on your device, and search for the “Spaces by Wix” App. It features the following logo:
2. Tap to install the App onto your device.
How to login and connect the App to the C&CCC members forum
Once you have the App installed, you need to login and connect it to the C&CCC member’s forum.
1. Open the Spaces App.
2. If you already have a web site forum account, tap I Already Have a Wix Account and login with your account username and password.
3. If you do not have an existing forum account, tap Got an invite code? enter the invite code HYLNLDand then tap Join.
4. Having joined the member’s area of the C&CCC club, tap Send Join Request.
5. Your request to join will need to be approved by a site administrator. This is usually done within 24 hours. Once approved, you will receive a confirmation email as shown below.
6. Now you can return to the App and select the C&CCC member’s forum.
How to access the club’s ride and event’s calendar
1. To access the ride and event’s calendar tap the Calendar button on the App’s home page.
Tap Done at the top left of the page to return to the App’s home page.
How to access the forum and follow categories
1. Tap Forum on the App’s home page to display the list of forum categories.
2. To receive notifications when posts are made, tap Follow next to forum category you’re interested in.
3. I’d certainly recommend following the General category at minimum as this is where most posts are made.
The Spaces App does not offer the UX of Facebook or WhatsApp but it is more inclusive. Once you’ve set it up and logged in, you will remain logged in and subject to your notification settings you’ll receive notifications to keep you fully informed about club news, activities and announcements.
The direct access to the club’s ride calendar also provides a speedier way for you to check out upcoming rides, rather than by browsing to the web site directly.
I have what looks like the same problem as Andy B. I enter my email address that I use to logon to this forum and it errors with "Enter a valid email address". As a test I've tried various valid email addresses and get the same error, so the problem does appear to be with Wix looking up the email in it's own database, rather than the validity of the email (sop the error message is misleading). Could you send me an invitation please Alex? I'm happy to report the bug in detail to Wix as well if you want to put me in touch with them.