Partly out of gratitude for their great resource, and partly because I think it looks like a great book, I recently ordered their Smashing Book.

It’s 300 pages of full color tips on effective website design and application techniques. You can read all about it on their website. And until late September, they are offering it at a special discount, only $23.90 postpaid within the U.S. (It will ship in late September.)

I just finished the first phase of a facelift of The Great Controversy Readathon website. Please check it out!

Why did I switch? Here are some of the advantages of the new software:

• The old software, RapidWeaver, is client-based (it’s a Mac application that runs on your computer), whereas WordPress is server-based (it runs in a browser, and can be updated from anywhere where there is Web access). This means that when I’m away from home and I find something that I want to post on my blog, I don’t have to e-mail myself a reminder or send myself a file to post online later; I can do it right then. If I’m on location at a special event, I can post updates as events happen.
• RapidWeaver is commercial software, whereas WordPress is free. I’ve already been through two paid upgrades of RapidWeaver, and I’m ready for something free.
• WordPress is much more flexible and customizable than RapidWeaver. There are probably hundreds of plugins that extend the functionality of WordPress, as well as hundreds of user-developed design themes to use or adapt. There is a very robust user community to go to for help and support.
• Many standard blogging features such as comments and RSS are better handled by WordPress. 

On the flip side, WordPress is a bit more technical, and therefore more difficult for the average computer user to tackle; RapidWeaver is easy and fun to use, and well within the reach of average users. I was quite happy with RapidWeaver for a while, but now I’ve outgrown it.

So what’s next?

I need to bring over some of my posts from the old site to the new one, to give the content a little jump start. I haven’t decided whether I will go through the trouble of moving everything over. Then I need to move all of my subscribers over to the new blog.

At the time of my invite, there were only 8 or 10 members of the group. I had been reading The Great Controversy as part of my research for a series of articles I’ve been writing for 3ABN World, called “Our Heritage.” I thought joining Sandra’s group would be a great way to study the book more deeply, since I had not read it straight through since college. Being able to dialog with other readers would help me gain fresh insights, and would also provide a place to share what I’ve been learning. I thought maybe the group might grow as large as 20 or 30 participants, and we’d all have a great time sharing with each other.

Things have happened so quickly, it is hard for me to keep it all straight. But shortly after I joined, I decided to invite a bunch of my Facebook friends. Sandra and her friends were also continuing to invite people. The numbers were really growing fast. Sensing the momentum, Sandra suggested we invite church friends, and start making local announcements. (She’s such a go-getter!)

Sandra and I both felt impressed that this could grow far beyond Facebook. So I suggested starting a website to allow non-Facebook users to participate. Thus the website www.gcreadathon.com was created.

Sandra was calling conferences everywhere, in her home country of Australia, as well as here in the United States, trying to get announcements in church bulletins, etc. I posted a notice to the popular FIG list. Meanwhile, Facebook was working its own magic, as people continued joining, prompting their friends to join.

In one week we had more than 1000 Facebook members in our group, which is totally amazing. In fact, as of today the first full week of the Readathon has not ended yet (here in the USA), and now there are nearly 1700 members. Considering that the largest SDA group on Facebook, Seventh-day Adventists, has just over 10,000 members, our growth is quite impressive.

We’d love to have you join us! It’s not too late. In fact, we begin chapter 2 tomorrow. All you really need to do to participate is commit to read one chapter each week. If you’d like the additional blessing of interacting with others online, visit www.gcreadathon.com. You can sign up for e-mail notifications to help you stay on track.