Tendenci AMS Holiday Letter 2019
The freedom in the Tendenci open source software
Let’s take it again to RICHARD STALLMAN, “FOUR FREEDOMS”
A program is “free software” if the program’s users have the four essential freedoms:
- The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.
- The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
- The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
If software is licensed in a way that does not provide these 4 freedoms, then it is categorized as nonfree or proprietary.
Don’t miss our October Newsletter!
Hello Tendenci Community, happy month of October, especially for those up in the Northeastern side of the United States, where the leaves are just beginning to change.
Don’t miss out on our quarterly newsletter, subscribe today and stay in the know. This month we have some pretty cool stuff to share, from learning how to Run Campaigns with your Tendenci website to our SEO services and our $500 OFF Coupon!
Tendenci – The Open Source AMS October Newsletter
Nüwa Connect @ Gateway Theatre in Singapore
Join Nüwa Connect at Gateway Theatre on July 22, 2019
Nuwa Connect is the place to meet people in art and culture, to connect, and discover new opportunities. The networking event on July 22, 2019 will be hosted by Little Creatures Brewery who proudly supports a range of arts events across the country.
Tendenci is proud to partner with Nüwa as they continue to connect, support and inspire artists, and affirm their role in their society.
Dr. Galati’s “Your Health First” Website Gets a Fresh New Look to Promote His Podcast and Book!
Dr. Galati recently launched his Your Health First site upgrade with a fresh, mobile-responsive layout to make his podcasts readily accessible and to cross-promote his practice and his book. His website’s beautiful new theme was chosen to align the branding sites for his podcast, blog, new book Eating Yourself Sick, and his practice – The Liver Specialists of Texas. This ensures consistent branding, which is key to recognition!
Read more about it here.
Harris County Houston Sports Authority Upgrades Website To The Latest Version Of Tendenci
Houston, TX — February 11, 2019
Since 1997, Harris County – Houston Sports Authority (HCHSA) has provided oversight to world-class, professional sports venues and promoted the region for sports-related events, enhancing economic development and bringing better quality of life to the city’s residents.
HCHSA has assisted in overseeing monumental projects in Houston, helping bring to life Minute Maid Park, NRG Stadium (formerly Reliant), Toyota Center, and BBVA Compass Stadium.
The Houston Sports Authority recently upgraded to the latest mobile responsive version of Tendenci and relies on the feature-rich Tendenci Content Management System (CMS) to deliver a fresh modern look and an engaging interface for their business partners and all Houston-area sports fans.
Since 2013 we have worked with HCHSA to provide a streamlined and secure interface to site users. We are excited to help further enhance their user experience as they upgrade to our latest release of Tendenci version 11, also known as T11.
We are proud to partner with HCHSA as they achieve their vision to provide oversight to world-class, professional sports venues and promote the region for sports-related events, bringing better quality of life to residents. Go Houston!
The Brooks Law Group Celebrates Rebranding with a Revamped Tendenci Website
Houston, TX — January 21, 2019
As The Brooks Law Group went through the rebranding process last year, they relied on the feature-rich Tendenci Content Management System (CMS) to build a fresh modern look and an engaging interface that makes information readily accessible.
In addition to the fresh, mobile-responsive design, they are currently implementing Tendenci’s groups and newsletter mailing features to streamline the accessability to their legal and consulting services, as well as to disseminate information to individual subsets of clients.
We are proud to partner with The Brooks Law Group as they achieve their vision to provide aggressive representation and creative solutions for home healthcare and hospice providers throughout the country.
NonProfits and Associations Love Tendenci
Written specifically for the NPO/Association market, Tendenci has continued to grow and adapt to meet the specific needs of these groups. From building on an open source framework that allows complete freedom – to mobile responsive software design – to online forums and newsletter features that keep the community involved, Tendenci continues to invest in the NPO sector. And the NPO’s have responded!
We are pleased to continue our relationship with the following organizations that have recently released upgraded websites and extend a warm welcome to those that are new to the Tendenci community.
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University and College Designers Association Selects Tendenci for New Membership Website
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Groundwater Resources Association of California Launches Tendenci Membership Management Website
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The Children’s Assessment Center of Houston Releases New Mobile Tendenci Website
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American Association of Singapore Launches Upgraded Mobile Tendenci Website For Their Membership
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American Citizens Abroad, Inc. Launches Tendenci Membership Management Website
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Rice University Energy and Environment Initiative (EEi) Presents Transformative Solutions with New Website
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International Association of Directional Drilling Chooses Tendenci for Fast Launch of Member Website
Why Tendenci Chose Python over PHP
Note: this is a repost from the eschipul.com blog and also lives as a help file on Tendenci.
This blog is a WordPress blog written in PHP. And WordPress, which is written in PHP is a great platform when secured properly.
So why did our team choose to rewrite Tendenci Open Source and in the Python Programming language? It is a question I get asked a lot. We’ve never been a company that likes to talk in the negative if at all possible, yet it is important to talk about the megatrends going on given we work with associations and nonprofits.
Source: https://www.upguard.com/blog/which-web-programming-language-is-the-most-secure
Source: http://info.whitehatsec.com/rs/whitehatsecurity/images/statsreport2014-20140410.pdf
Source: http://info.whitehatsec.com/rs/whitehatsecurity/images/statsreport2014-20140410.pdf
Popularity of a language is a trend, and what you want is as many developers familiar and liking the language of your open source project as possible. This means you have a better chance to have a secure web site and therefore a more secure future.
To be fair – as Disraeli said – “lies, damn lies and statistics” – so there is no one perfectly secure language any more than there is a perfectly “safe” hammer. There will always be operator error and programmers make mistakes.
So we’re not saying Python is perfect, and all of us have used most of the other languages on those charts at some point. We’re just saying we are pleased so many other programmers also like Python and Open Source. THAT is the best that can be done to secure your future online. Secure code that you can examine yourself and even host yourself!
Addendum: As I post this on the Tendenci Blog. Given we focus on non-profits, associations, memberships, education, medical, religious – basically the do-good cause-based organizations, I believe it is particularly important that the project is as transparent as possible. Sometimes it is healthy to inform everyone of WHY we made a decision seven years ago. Python was the right call.
Tendenci Exports – Plus Easy Ways to Make Static Copies of Your Site
Today’s Tendenci community knowledge share. Here are three very easy free or low cost methods of making a static copy a web site. Use with caution, just know you have the power.
On Windows you can use HTTrack https://www.httrack.com/
On a Mac computer you can use sitesucker ($5) http://ricks-apps.com/osx/sitesucker/index.html
On the go? You can also use sitesucker from the app store to download to your iphone or ipad for $2 http://ricks-apps.com/ios/sitesucker/index.html
Of course for structured data in Tendenci, there are TONS of ways to export including exporting a copy of your entire database. There are help files on common exports like How to export your membership . There are too many options to list them all, but I’d encourage you to visit the support center or just google “tendenci exports” for more.
If you are on version 5 and want to “kick the tires” on Tendenci version 7, use https://demo.tendenci.com – you can login here https://demo.tendenci.com/accounts/login/ using “admin/admin” or “user/user”. It does reset every hour or so because of spammers but you can still get a feel for it. A HUGE upgrade from version 5.
There is also a previous post on making a static copy of your site here that is a bit more technical as well.
Why do we point out all of the ways to copy your Tendenci site (or most sites really)? Doesn’t that make it easier to leave?
Yes. Yes it does. BUT people rarely leave. Or if they do, they typically stay on Tendenci and self host. They’re still part of the Tendenci community which helps us all.
Another reason we promote exports and offsite backups is because we know the more freedom you have, realizing you have that freedom especially on the Tendenci open source platform, makes it less likely for clients to leave.
Think about it. Why would anyone who actually understands their product is open, does far more than other options, is lower cost, and they can self host if they want… why would that person make the decision to leave? It’s illogical.
I mean, who wants to be the President of an Association that takes it backwards in time to proprietary technology or an older open source software built on an unpopular programming language? That’s not in the best interests of the association long term.
Tendenci is written in Python and uses Java and Javascript libraries. This linked chart says it all.
Popular programming languages means more coders for open source projects written in that language. And more capable people to modify and customize your install if you choose.
One of our goals is FREEDOM from the tyranny of per-user-licensing, proprietary products that want to own YOUR DATA, long term contracts, sites that post your events on THEIR site so if you leave then the history of that event is gone in the blink of an eye. Companies don’t own your data and they shouldn’t trap you.
We think that is unethical and just wrong.
Membership Management Software should be Open Source, Accessible, Responsive, and Search Engine friendly by default. Tendenci does all of those things.
Further we believe that Open Source Membership Management Software should be written in a Modern Programming Language like Python (watch out for bunnies) and the software should documented and open source (free, as in beer.) Even the US Government likes Open Source!
Want to change something? Get involved! Post on the forums at https://ww.tendenci.com/forums or post an issue at https://github.com/tendenci/tendenci/issues . If you are a programmer or into documentation, submit a pull request.
We make it easy to leave because we hope you don’t. Hence Tendenci has an incredibly low churn rate. That creates stability you can count on.
#peace