There are 14 comments on this post. Add your own comment.

Joshua, are you using Elexio for the new site as well? It seems like it might kind of suck.

said shane

at 7:44pm on Thursday

Elexio…seems like it might kind of suck

Your gift of understatement is large. I wouldn’t recommend Elexio to my most hated enemy.

said Joshua

Good to know. I suppose I am biased as I work on a competing product. I first heard of Elexio from the New Spring site, and have since met and worked with a designer who used to work there.

What are you using on the new site?

said shane

at 9:49pm on Thursday

I’ll do the front-end development (over half of which is actually done already.) For the CMS, it’s between Expression Engine, Symphony, or Some Super Secret Custom Mojo. I’m leaning towards EE right now, but I’m honestly not completely “in” the web project yet, as re-working a new identity has taken the bulk of my time so far.

said Joshua

What’s terrible about Elexio? I was thinking about using them.

said scott

at 9:45am on Friday

Newspring is a church I follow regularly, along with Elevation. I wonder what goodness went on in the discussion.

Can’t wait to see the new identity and website.

said David Hemphill

at 5:07pm on Friday

What’s terrible about Elexio? I was thinking about using them.

If you have little web knowledge, and no desire to do anything outside their templates, I’m sure they’ll suit your needs for a basic content management solution.

We won’t be using them anymore because:

1. I don’t have control of our DNS/domains
2. Their CMS isn’t intuitive
3. Their CMS doesn’t work fully in anything but IE
4. They’re all ASP and IIS. My knowledge base is in PHP and Apache.
5. Their customer service is often lacking, slow, or unhelpful, and almost any time I’ve asked them to do something outside the norm, no matter how simple, they’ve tried to charge us for it.

In short, we no longer have a need for them.

said Joshua

Joshua,

As the former sales associate for both the NewSpring.cc church site and the NewSpringOnline site, I would like to comment on and correct the significant amount of incorrect information you posted above:
1. We do in fact offer everyone the ability/option to control their DNS/domains. It’s possible that Lloyd had us manage that for him when he was still there. All you have/had to do is ask.
2. Interestingly enough MOST of the feedback we receive from clients/prospects/and even some of our competitors is that our CMS is VERY intuitive. I am not sure why it isn’t intuitive to you. Did you view our ‘getting started’ video that contains basic intro information?
3. Our CMS actually works with Firefox, Safari AND IE.
4. Yes, we are asp.net–on purpose.
5. The customer service perception is obviously very subjective and I would appreciate an opportunity to dialogue with you via phone or email as to the specifics of your ‘less then favorable’ experience(s). I am also puzzled by your ” no desire to do anything outside their templates” comment?! Especially since we currently offer more design options and flexibility than any other comparable CMS provider. Help me understand your perspective, please? thanks.

Keith
888-997-9947 x9207

said Keith Goodling

at 9:51am on Wednesday

Keith,

While I appreciate your desire to comb through the internet and find mentions of Elexio to connect with people, this entry was posted 15 months ago, which is essentially forever ago in web world. At that time, your CMS consistently didn’t function fully in Firefox or Safari, and no one on our team considered it easy or intuitive to use. Either we’re all idiots, or something was poorly designed. But telling a customer “I’m not sure why it isn’t intuitive to you” sounds a lot like “no one else has a problem with our product, you must be doing it wrong.” You’re not going to win many passionate users that way.

said Joshua

So Joshua…did you honor Keith’s request for a conversation on the phone? Will you be updating your ‘15 months ago’ critique, so all can see?

said Brian

at 4:34pm on Wednesday

I did not, and I doubt I will be. We have no desire to use their product/service in any fashion, nor do we have a need for it. I can’t speak for the current status of their offerings, I just hope for the sake of their customers it has drastically improved in the last year.

said Joshua

Soooo…I am to take that your public accusations of Keith/Elexio stand? I read Keith’s request as not to reacquire business but to resolve some type of perceptive error on your part. From your terse tone, lack of action to a reasonable request with no redemption in sight, I am left to percieve that you might not be a disciple of Jesus?

Do you walk with other men who know how you speak? Perhaps they overlook this character flaw to keep your HTML acumen on hand. They do you no justice if this is so.

You come off as a simple, condescending young men with perhaps more code skills than understanding of life in the Spirit. How I treat others says EVERYTHING about me!

While you may have phenominal DNS/domain handling skills…as a pastor, I would say you give the appearance of one who greatly lacks understanding of how to interact with others as a mature man of God. Talent or authority does not give us license to upbraid a man or company in such a manner.

You may have recognized similarly overestimated skill-pride in some musicians. Their talent may be great but the heart was arrogant. Action that had pretense as worship to the Most High, degenerates into just a performance. ‘Look at my mad guitar skills!’ That which is in the heart comes out of the mouth, instrument or keyboard. As pride looks down the nose at the less talented musicians, they dishonor God and man.

The Martin or Fender should be set aside for a season, to embrace the discipline of how to ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ As such, CSS skills here on earth will pale in comparison to walking in the Spirit.

Jesus gave no provision that a man’s gifting would compensate for his lack of grace as a man of God. “But the things that proceed out of the mouth (pen or keyboard…my words)come from the heart, and those defile the man.”

It matters not whether a church uses Open Source or proprietary CMS for their website. Accapella, organ or accustic guitar do not keep the worship pure. We are all imparting more than we realize. New Spring & Elevation Church should be concerned about what is being imparted through your code!

said Brian

at 8:39am on Wednesday

Brian,

I’ve made no accusation, public or otherwise of Keith Goodling. I don’t know Keith, but I’m sure he’s a great guy.

You couch your comments with words like “might,” “perhaps,” and “may,” but in the span of a few paragraphs you have insinuated that 1) I am not a disciple of Christ, 2) I either don’t walk in accountability or that I do, but the men around me don’t correct me when I am in error, 3) I am simple (which I take to mean unintelligent or unwise in your connotation), 4) that I am condescending, 5) that the leadership of NewSpring are willing to sacrifice character for talent, 6) that I am immature, 7) that I do not know how to interact with people, 8) that I am prideful, 9) that NewSpring is not concerned with what we are imparting, and 10) that somehow Elevation Church has anything to do with this conversation.

In my mind this is a simple dialogue between a former customer and a service provider. We were unhappy with the service they provided, for the reasons previously listed, and so we ceased to do business with them and began using different solutions. They set out to correct what they perceive as errors, and all of their corrections have happened in the span since we stopped doing business with them. In other words, the Elexio product that exists today is not the Elexio product we used.

My critique is a business critique, and is based on my experience with them from Jan—July 2008, and from my team’s experience with them for at least a year prior to that. From Keith’s explanation, it seems like they’ve fixed a number of the issues we had with them, but that doesn’t change my experience with them (which was specifically Scott’s question earlier in this thread). My “license to upbraid a…company in such a manner” stems from being a paying customer. I firmly believe that all paying customers have the right to openly discuss when they feel like the product/service is not meeting their needs.

said Joshua

Joshua,

I am glad you caught my meanings! I did indeed use words that did not infer fact, but provided how things looked…not how they were. I provided you with what I THOUGHT I was seeing in your discourse.

Whether a business critique or not, as a man of God (and I am making an assumption here) it is proper to provide an avenue to address said errors. The cold, business world does indeed chop, parse and neuter ‘vendors’ with impunity. As a former saleperson with International Paper, I endured such treatment as you have dished out to Keith and Elexio.

It matters not whether or not you use Elexio or not. Keith made an honest request, that was well within your reach to accomodate. So, while you have license to continue to publish your outlook on Keith and Elexio…are you as a man of God not obligated to provide them with the ability to respond.

You are influencing folks who have no idea who Elexio is…and in fact it COULD appear that you are spreading slander. That is neither business maturity or Godly manhood.

New Life MAY divide life in this walk between Kingdom issues and business issues. I am aware that many pastors do just that…treating a potential new member differently than the technician from the electric company. Jesus sees no difference. In fact, differing weights and differing measures are an abomination before the Lord our God.

To have one face for business and another for church life is immature. That is what I am reading in your words. I am treating you just as I would any other believer. I could care less if you are the largest tither in the church! Men of God have a shepherds heart, looking for those opportunities to build up and encourage.

If a person asks for resolution when they have treated you poorly…man up and allow them that option. You do not have to return to Elexio…but at least give them the opportunity to address your charges.

As you can tell, I would rather not see a man go down the path of error without at least raising the warning. I am so tired of dishonorable actions and disregard for how Jesus said we were to treat each other. Would that Matthew 18 would be inacted more often, separating pretenders from the disciples. Unfortunately, far too much of Christendom ends up chasing church growth instead of disciple growth seminars.

Give me 10 dedicated disciples willing to walk in the light, rather than 100 who want to be actors on the stage of life…

said Brian

at 5:25pm on Friday

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