[Chapter-delegates] Chapter Website(s)

Fri Apr 24 06:00:01 PDT 2026

When our new board took over and we had to launch an emergency landing
page, I tested several setups:

   -

   *Odoo’s page builder* (which includes free hosting).
   -

   *Cloudflare Pages* (also free).

We’re on WordPress and a regular cPanel hosting now, but I’ve also had
success exporting static code to *Netlify*—it works pretty much like the
Cloudflare Pages workflow.

On Fri, Apr 24, 2026 at 7:10 AM Eduardo Diaz via Chapter-delegates <
chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> @All:
>
> A few years ago, the Internet Society Puerto Rico Chapter decided to move
> our website from Joomla to Google Sites. The main reasons were simple: it
> is free, there is no need to maintain the underlying software or databases,
> and Google automatically provides SSL/security certificates at no
> additional cost. We have also found it much easier to manage and update
> content using Google Sites.
>
>
> Given the WordPress issues being discussed, I would encourage chapters to
> at least explore Google Sites as an alternative. We intentionally avoided
> WordPress because of the ongoing need to apply security patches and
> updates, as well as the risks associated with third-party plugins. In many
> cases, websites become vulnerable because of poorly maintained plugins that
> introduce security weaknesses.
>
>
> Eduardo Disz
>
> ISOC Puerto Rico
>
>
> Just sharing our experience in case it helps inform this discussion.
>
>
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>
> On Thu, Apr 23, 2026 at 9:16 PM Andrés Gómez via Chapter-delegates <
> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>
>> This is Andrés from the Aragon chapter.
>>
>> Our site was looking perfect until we had to update PHP and the theme to
>> the new version. That’s when everything went haywire, and we’ve had to
>> start from scratch again. We’re working on it.
>>
>> Andrés Gómez
>> FETERAND SRL
>> CTO
>> AMS's Aragon Chapter Internet Society
>> +34 656.904.544
>>
>> Lo urgente casi nunca deja tiempo para lo importante
>>
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>>
>> El 23/4/26 a las 11:27, Klaus Birkenbihl via Chapter-delegates escribió:
>>
>> Dear Chapter Leaders, (especially those responsible for the websites),
>>
>> *I'm not sure if this is the right place to bring up this topic. On the
>> other hand, websites are an important part of our public relations, and we
>> at ISOC.DE <http://ISOC.DE> don't seem to be the only ones having issues.
>> If you have an answer but don't want to leave it here, feel free to send me
>> a private email at Klaus.Birkenbihl at ISOC.DE <Klaus.Birkenbihl at ISOC.DE>.*
>> Initial Situation:
>>
>> After several attempts in recent years, ISOC.DE has decided to seriously
>> undertake the relaunch of its website. After all, ISOC is providing support
>> and guidelines for the relaunch in the form of the "Genesis child theme for
>> Internet Society chapters". This should make switching a WordPress site by
>> changing the theme manageable with reasonable effort.
>> Expectations:
>>
>> Besides all the dazzling, great features that make a theme attractive,
>> there are a few basic requirements:
>>
>>    1. The most important components of a WordPress blog—posts and
>>    pages—should be recognizably displayed,
>>    2. There should be acceptable default styles for frequently used
>>    elements such as forms (form controls) or tables,
>>    3. The remaining elements (menus, sidebars, categories, archives,
>>    etc.) should be easily customizable via CSS and, if necessary, a few
>>    scripts.
>>
>> Experience:
>>
>> So far expectations 1 and 2 were a disaster. After just installing the
>> theme, the site looks like this: https://www.isoc-german-chapter.de/.
>> (Before: https://www.isoc.de/). Apparently, even the structure hasn't
>> been preserved. Forms and tables are displayed unusably. Well, maybe we
>> just make dumb mistakes and don't get the glue.
>> Learn from the winners:
>>
>> We thought we simply should take a look at how others managed it. So I
>> investigated: who is using the theme? I examined 114 chapter sites (source:
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/chapters/#find-your-chapter). Of 93
>> sites I could access, 5 are using the theme. Of these 5 sites, 3 look kind
>> of successful. Congratulations to https://isoc.nl/, https://www.isoc.cat/,
>> and https://isoc-ontario.org/. https://isoc.mk/ seems to be under
>> construction without existing content.  (Fun fact:
>> https://www.isoc-aragon.org/ looks pretty much like
>> https://www.isoc-german-chapter.de/).
>>
>> So 3-5 out of 93 Chapter websites use the Theme? Doesn't sound too
>> encouraging. Were my investigations wrong?
>> Open questions:
>>
>>    - Did I miss a Website using the "Genesis child theme for Internet
>>    Society chapters"? Which one?
>>    - Who tried using the theme but then gave up? If so—why did you give
>>    up?
>>    - To those who are successful:
>>       - Would you recommend using the theme (migrating a lot of existing
>>       content)?
>>       - Do you have any tips or tricks on how to affordably switch a
>>       regular WordPress site with traditional structure (chronological posts,
>>       pages, menus, some forms, categories, archives, etc..,) to this theme?
>>
>> Best regards
>>
>> Klaus
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> _______________________________________________
>> As a Chapter Leader, you are automatically added to the Internet
>> Society’s Chapter Leaders Community Group and the Chapter Delegates e-list,
>> which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal
>> (AMS): https://community.internetsociety.org.
>> The Internet Society has a legitimate interest to communicate with its
>> chapter leaders, you will therefore remain subscribed for the duration of
>> your term and will be unsubscribed automatically when your term ends.
>> Please note that the archive of this list is publicly accessible and may
>> be viewed by anyone. By submitting information to this list and
>> contributing to the communications, you acknowledge that the contents will
>> be publicly visible.
>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>> -
>> Unsubscribe:
>> https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/9b6ef0621638436ab0a9b23cb0668b0b?The%20list%20to%20be%20unsubscribed%20from=Chapter-delegates
>>
> _______________________________________________
> As a Chapter Leader, you are automatically added to the Internet Society’s
> Chapter Leaders Community Group and the Chapter Delegates e-list, which is
> regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):
> https://community.internetsociety.org.
> The Internet Society has a legitimate interest to communicate with its
> chapter leaders, you will therefore remain subscribed for the duration of
> your term and will be unsubscribed automatically when your term ends.
> Please note that the archive of this list is publicly accessible and may
> be viewed by anyone. By submitting information to this list and
> contributing to the communications, you acknowledge that the contents will
> be publicly visible.
> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
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> Unsubscribe:
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