Thread: Query on how to do the following

Hi all

Got a friend who wants me to build a website for him, I'm getting him to join vodahost for the hosting. but he wants the following:

he wants his website to be able to have a calendar that he can update and that will email and / or txt his customers on their mobile phones with reminders and updates about services that he does.

i'm not sure how to do this, but is there a program in fantasico that can do this sort of thing or will i need an outside piece of software? if so what recommendations.

Any help much appreciated

Thanks

Jason

There is a calendar, but not one that will email or SMS customers. You will need to find a script for such features. Google it.

thanks for the reply

Apparently Google calendar will do this for users in the USA. (Not sure where your from)

There are other widgets.. just do a search for calendar widgets or calendar gadgets... many sites offer them.

Karen

Originally Posted by jbatts

Hi all
Got a friend who wants me to build a website for him, I'm getting him to join vodahost for the hosting. but he wants the following:
he wants his website to be able to have a calendar that he can update and that will email and / or txt his customers on their mobile phones with reminders and updates about services that he does.
i'm not sure how to do this, but is there a program in fantasico that can do this sort of thing or will i need an outside piece of software? if so what recommendations. Any help much appreciated Thanks Jason

The easiest way would to be to start with a CMS foundation for the site (Joomla, Mambo -- in Fantastico) and use the newest RSS plug-in's to feed to a specified distribution list.

Or, depending on how he wants to create the impetus for instance (what triggers the update to be sent), he may wish to add the Facebook plug-in so he can use the Events Calendar in FB to keep everyone updated.
> Using the FB plug-in, people register from the site to a Fan Page on FB, which then is configured to distribute to members on the email they have on their User info .... most already have their phones pulling email, so this is the shortest route.

If you try to find a script to install in your VodaHost account to mimic the above, I believe you will run afoul of VodaHost's Terms of Service, as this functionality is typically a form/cousin of "Chat" scripting (prohibited), or may require more server resource allocations than allowed.

Like I say, it's easier all the way around (installing, configuring, administrating, and universal to the majority of today's Users) is to apply an advanced plug-in to a CMS foundation --- the improvements for more efficient interactive environments have evolved very quickly in the last 18 months!