My experience with Elfsight + some advice

Hello Elfsight,

To give you a little background about myself. I am a government worker with a bit of a technical background, however in no way what you would consider one of a computer programmer.

For the last 20 years I have been a disc jockey. 10 years ago, I stopped working for a company and decided to start my own business. One of the first things that I needed to do was create a website and try to obtain event bookings. I knew what I wanted in a website but was not certain how to do it on my own, so I got someone to create my initial business website and that was up for a few years. Over time I noticed that the website was becoming a bit dated and needed to be redone. The problem was that my website designer had decided to take another career path and was no longer making websites.

It was at that time I decided to research the best platform for me that would allow me to create my own website. As I mentioned above, I was not a programmer so something simple to use was my top priority. I know there are several great options out there, but in the end, I decided on Weebly, as it met my needs. In the end, I was proud of myself and created my first business website all on my own: www.djjoe.ca

I really enjoyed the experience and felt confident that I could do this again. I am presently in the second year of overseeing the creation and maintenance of a website that I make for the campground for which I have been a camper for over 10 years. The campground has over 150 sites with people of all ages.

In the past the campground communication revolved around whomever decided to create a Facebook page for that year. Over time, some campers left and deleted the groups (for reasons unknown), and we lost all the pictures and posts information. I must also add that last year with Covid some discussions became more heated over Facebook and much more difficult to manage. To help with this, I started by creating a profile-based system, meaning people would only see content that pertained to them. There are also other safeguards and measures that are inherent on the site.

Ok, “When are you going to get to the Elfsight part,” you might ask?

Here it is. Having spent countless hours looking at all the various apps and functionality, I fell upon an Elsight app. To be honest, it has been so long that I cannot even remember which was the first one I had chosen. In previewing the Elfsight website and assessing the demos I was able to see which apps I felt I could use on my website. In the beginning I when I wanted to perform a certain task I would check to see if Elfsight provided it. In some instances, they did, which was great, so I simply added them to my site. Over time, I started looking at Elfsight in a bit of a different way. I then went and checked each of the individual apps to see if there were some that I could also be beneficial to my site, so I added those as well.

Here is a quick list of its features (Not all Elfsight):

• Bilingual Website

• Local Weather Forecast

• Multiple genres of free music streaming.

• Email News/Updates from owner

• Official Documents i.e., budget, rules, swimming safety, etc.

• Real-time updates on Twitter and Facebook.

• Booking Requests sent directly to owner for individuals looking to become a camper or book a stay.

In the works:

• Official Mapleview Calendar of Events accessible on computer, tablet, or smartphone.

o Ability to add to your personal calendars.

• Last minute activities calendar for campers who are looking to organize a volleyball, soccer, or card game for example.

• Listing of various activities and group members.

• Kids/Teens Section

• Advertising opportunities for businesses and campers. (Campers receive 50% discount of all pricing.)

• Coupons/discounts for campers at local businesses.

• Polls letting campers choose which movie(s) to watch on movie night from a list of suggestions.

• Ability to vote on campground questions/decisions.

• Tech and gadget reviews and recommendations.

• Emergency messaging capabilities.

• More…

I must say that Elfsight has been my go-to app as it often offers what I am looking for, is easily customizable, and provides an appealing appearance.

Now for a game! If you like, I have over ten different Elfsight Apps that I have included on the mapleviewers.ca website. Try and find them!

As this is a member only website you will need to join prior by simply registering and choosing advertisers/supporters. I will accept your application and then you can setup your own password.

Helpful advice.

  • Get feedback from others regarding color and design themes, try not to be too critical with yourself and save time.
  • There are websites that can help with providing color templates, as well as information to the feelings they can create for your visitors.
  • If you like a color, use a color pick add-on to get the exact match to add to your website.

One last thing to finish off. I know this all was posted on the Elfsight Forum. A forum is something I have been looking to add to my website and excited for it to be released to users. I would even be happy with evaluating a Beta version and could give you some feedback.

Thank-you for your time.

Joe

1 Like

Hi @Joseph

I could not let such a wonderful post to pass into oblivion, so I’ve placed it as a separate one in our Inspiration category. I hope you don’t mind :slight_smile:

You’re welcome to set the title of your choice, and thanks again for sharing your wisdom with us!

Hi Joe, thanks for taking the time to provide us with some valuable insights. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for your quality feedback and I am glad about you that took a step to be a programmer and made your own website.