TexasShooting.com -- Another Sister Site is Launched

[Charles L. Cotton]

The new http://www.TexasShooting.com has been launched. It seems like every time I want to do something new, I have to learn new software. I too old for this!! As always, I have to work it in between practicing law and dealing with a number of other commitments, but “not enough time� is something we all face, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

www.TexasShooting.com is the third element in an information system I loosely refer to as the TexasCHLforum system. The TexasCHLforum was and is the flagship and when it was launched in December of 2004, I had no plans to expand to anything else. Now 3 ½ years later, http://www.TexasCHLblog.com and http://www.TexasShooting.com have been added, each with it’s own purpose.

My goal for www.TexasShooting.com is to provide as much information to the gun owners/ shooting community as possible. At present, I have written a couple of new articles for it and I’ve copied a two “how to� posts I originally put here on TexasCHLforum.com. Those were mainly put there for testing purposes, but I decided to leave them, as www.TexasShooting.com will likely have many new people who don’t read TexasCHLforum. In fact, that is one of my motives for launching it; some people will use an information site like http://www.TexasShooting.com but will not participate in a discussion forum.

That doesn’t mean www.TexasShooting.com will be a duplicate of TexasCHLforum.com. While some information may be posted in both places, that’s not really the mission of http://www.TexasShooting.com. The new site, using powerful CMS software, provides capability not remotely possible on a discussion forum. In fact, what you currently see on www.TexasShooting.com is less than 20% of the features I already have set up, but not yet activated. I will bring these additional features on line as I am able to test them and add to the content. In addition to the articles previously mentioned, http://www.TexasShooting.com has activated an IDPA Match Calendar that shows every match in Texas, to the extent the match directors have given me information and has keep it up to date. Over the next several days, I’ll be sending emails to each club contact asking them to check the Match Calendar and let me know if any changes should be made. The Upcoming Events feature also shows the next few matches on the schedule. I plan to add the same information/calendar for USPSA and SASS matches, so please feel free to have match directors in those disciplines contact me with their clubs' schedules.

Also available is a link to all IDPA clubs in Texas, as they are listed with IDPA HQ. This too will be verified and updated in the next several days. You will also find web links and news feed links, as well as the latest two articles posted on http://www.TexasCHLblog.com and NRA News.

Miscellaneous features currently visible include News Flashes that appear at the top of the page that will be used for various announcements; RSS feed, and links to sister sites TexasCHLforum.com; http://www.TexasCHLblog.com and www.TexasIDPAforum.com. www.TexasIDPAforum has seen very little use and was launched primarily as a communication tool for our staff planning the many Texas State IDPA Championships hosted at PSC until 2007. Hopefully, this exposure will turn it into a good resource for IDPA competitors.

Not every article written will appear on the “front page.� As time goes on, many will appear only in their appropriate section and category. To view those articles, you need only to click on the Category link. Of course, these articles will also be coming to you via RSS feed, if you chose to use it.

www.TexasShooting.com will not have political editorials; it’s focus will be on guns, shooting, equipment, product reviews, competition, training and a wealth of other information gun owners will find useful. Political editorials and OpEd articles will be published on www.TexasCHLblog. Of course, they will also be a part of TexasCHLforum.com. As we get into the Presidential campaign and later the 2009 Texas Legislative Session, www.TexasShooting.com will provide information concerning upcoming events and votes, contact information for elected officials and other information to help us enjoy another successful session on behalf of gun owners. But editorials will remain on http://www.TexasCHLblog.com.

If you would like to publish an article on a match, your favorite gun, taking your son or daughter on their first trip to the range, or anything else related to guns and shooting, then register for www.TexasShooting.com and send me an email letting me know you’d like to write an article. (I have to change your privileges so you can submit an article for posting.) Remember, these articles are not editorials, those can be posted on TexasCHLforum. Articles on www.TexasShooting.com will not be published with screen names. Any article posted must have the authors real name.

To get an idea of the type of human interest articles I’m talking about, have a look at http://www.vansairforce.net This site deals with kit built Van’s RV aircraft, but the “front page� gives you a good idea what I mean. Also, if you want to link to photos, you can do it as you do now for TexasCHLforum. I may try to set it up so you can upload them to my site so they will always be there.

If you register for www.TexasShooting.com, be sure to use the same screen name and password you use on TexasCHLforum.com Software called a bridge is being developed that will allow me to combine the member databases for www.TexasShooting.com and TexasCHLforum.com so that when you log in to either site, you’ll be automatically logged into the other. (If the bridge can handle three sites, I’ll add TexasIDPAforum as well.) When the bridge is stable, I mean really stable, I MAY implement it. If I do and you have a different user name and password on www.TexasShooting.com, then it will be lost. If you register using your screen name, you can still write articles for posting with your real name. Just put it at the bottom of the article and I’ll list it as an “alias� in the article. That way, readers will only see the alias, ie. your real name, not your screen name.

I am very excited about the capability of this new CMS software and I can’t wait to get more features on line. I started to wait until I had a lot more “bells and whistles� going before launching www.TexasShooting.com, but it became apparent that this site will never be “finished.� New features and capabilities are being added almost on a weekly basis and I’m sure I’ll be incorporating many of them in the coming months. So believe me when I tell you folks that what is currently active on www.TexasShooting.com is only a fraction of what will be available in the coming weeks and months. Streaming video, Internet radio/TV and much more are on the horizon. This is the type of media that will reach younger people, so it's precisely what we need to do if we are going to reach them and bring them into our ranks. Yes, it will be fun and useful for us, but bringing new people into the fight for the Second Amendment is more than just fun; it's critical.

I also want to thank Skiprr for his help once again! The logo is his work and I sincerely appreciate everything he has done for me and for TexasCHLforum.

So have a look at http://www.TexasShooting.com and tell me what you like and what you’d like to see added. Since you don’t know what technological capabilities are available yet, I’m primarily looking for input on what Categories you’d like to see added, the types of articles you’d like to see, links that would be helpful, news feeds to add, etc.

I hope you enjoy the new site!
Chas.

[KBCraig]

Which CMS are you using?

[The Annoyed Man]

Which CMS are you using?

Looks like Joomla. The favicon icon gives it away.

I had a Joomla install on my own site, but never really developed it. Lately I've had a hankering to play with it.

[Charles L. Cotton]

Which CMS are you using?

Kevin: Annoyed Man is correct, it's Joomla 1.5. It took some time to learn, as the terminology is less than clear. Reuse of terms like "categoey" was confusing, but when I finally took the time to stick with it, I figured it out. The core functions are great and the number and variety of extensions are amazing. I really like the fact that it's database driven. I can change templates almost with the click of a radio button.

Chas.

[The Annoyed Man]

Well your site looks real nice Charles... very professionally done.

You actually whetted my appetite to investigate Joomla again. I had it running in a test directory on my own site (a political board), but I couldn't get my primary admin person to really sign on to the vision, so I eventually let it drop. That was an early version, and it was more difficult to use. I'd had years of experience with database connectivity, and had written some of my own stuff for it, so the idea wasn't new to me, but the admin functions for early Joomla versions were clumsy.

I'm uploading version 1.5 to another domain I own as I am writing this. I've had an idea for a project for a website of inspiration, introspection, human interest, and Christian living, and I think Joomla will be a workable CMS for it.

[Tactical_Texan_CHL]

Charles, great job on everything. I really enjoyed talking with you the other day. Now, I'm glad to see all your hard work pay off. Thanks for the time and effort you put in to this for all of us!

[Charles L. Cotton]

Thanks for the kind words folks. I've changed the template on www.TexasShooting.com just to show another format.

Chas.

[CompVest]

VERY nice!

[Keith B]

I agree with all. Great layout and super info!