Page 14 - RAFINO Reporter Winter 2022

Page 14 RAFINO Reporter Fall-Winter 2022

New Webmaster Opportunity

Your current webmaster, Robby Robson, is finally succumbing to the ravages of old age and advancing senility,
to include issues with vision, and has decided it is time to hand over the reins of the website to some younger
blood. The website involves two distinct sets of skills.

Using the App that Runs and Updates the Website and Its Associated Database
The first skill set is the day-to-day administration of the website, mostly involving using the pre-programmed
features of the website for the following activities:
• Managing logins (and assisting folks who are login-challenged) and website privileges and
authorizations using the pre-programmed security management app
• Managing member records for those who are unable or uncomfortable with using the DIY features of the
member database to update their own records
• Updating the RAFINO bulletin board on the website
• The most serious—managing the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) rolls and
periodically scanning the member records for potential additions to the TAPs rolls; for example, records
with no recent activity or extensive delinquency on dues
• Producing targeted email (“E-Blasts”) on request from RAFINO officers and staff
• Assisting the secretary and treasurer in the execution of pre-programmed treasurer secretarial duties
• Providing spreadsheets and other targeted membership reports to RAFINO officers and staff
• Assisting members in using the website

Maintaining the Web App Programs and Web Pages for the Website
The second skill set is the maintenance of the pre-programmed apps on the website. Unlike many websites that
are based primarily upon static, hard-coded web pages, the RAFINO website is based upon a programmatic web
page “generator,” which combines some boiler-plate web pages with data from the RAFINO member database
and associated treasurer and secretary data and environmental information to dynamically generate and deliver
real-time, up-do-date web pages. An example of this is on our home page in the section showing today’s
birthdays. That information is programmatically generated every time you go to the home page to see which
members’ birthdates fall on the system’s current date. When you log in, the system checks your dues and
membership status, generates the section of the home page that displays them, and shows them in real time. The
birthdays appear at the bottom of the page.

This programmatic aspect of the website requires an individual who is comfortable with concepts such as the
following:
• Web App Concepts
• Database (SQL Server)
• HTML (markup language for web pages)
• Microsoft’s C# (“C-Sharp”) programming language
• Razor syntax (similar to PHP, Razor is a syntax that allows for combining static HTML code and C#
code and data for generating web pages)
• ASP.Net (Microsoft's technology for running dynamic web pages on web servers)
• Entity Framework (Microsoft’s Object-Relational data access framework)
• Visual Studio and GIT (Microsoft’s integrated tools for working in the development environment)

Call to Action
If you are interested in taking over one or both of these areas in the website (with plenty of hand-holding by
yours truly), please contact me by text (214-215-6221) or email (rrrobson@gmail.com)