History and Evolution of Our Website
Our website was initially launched in 2013 when the first community-led board of directors came together. The vision was to create a platform where board members could share HOA information, foster community connections, and establish an archive of resources for future residents.
In the early days, our management company, Hawthorne, provided website hosting. However, concerns arose about the potential loss of information should Hawthorne close or if we parted ways. This same concern persisted when we switched to AMG a year later. As a result, we chose to independently host our website through GoDaddy. This decision allowed us to maintain control and autonomy, using the site to share important forms, documents, and videos. For additional protection, we opted not to store these materials on the website itself but used Google Drive and YouTube for document and video storage instead.
Over the years, we’ve noticed that our WordPress site had performance issues, often running slowly and requiring frequent updates just to keep it operational. Additionally, many community members requested that we implement a security certificate (https) to enhance the website’s security.
A New and Improved Website
Today, we’re excited to announce that our website is faster and more secure than ever.
Recently, we reached out to our neighbor Eric Schwartz for advice on how to enhance the site. Eric took our concerns and enlisted the help of former board member Jon Rodman, who was instrumental in setting up the original website. Over the years, Jon and Eric have both been reliable resources for website assistance.
Jon Rodman, owner of Lightning Mine (www.lightningmine.com), offered a game-changing solution. His server, built specifically for WordPress hosting, boasts ample memory and an optimal configuration of Apache with LiteSpeed, ensuring better performance. Jon generously offered to move our site from GoDaddy to his server, and even took care of the security certificate installation (as seen in our new https). And to top it all off, he did this for FREE!
For those who may not know, Jon was the board member who advocated against the $15,000 payment to the pool builder in 2015, an action that ultimately saved us from significant additional costs. His efforts, both then and now, have had a lasting impact on our community.
Thanks to Jon, we now have a faster, safer website, and we couldn’t be more grateful for his continued support.
Rob Smith
President, Almond Glen Owners Association, Inc.
