Choir Website(s)?
  • AnimaVocis
    Posts: 196
    Hello Hivemind!

    What do you all do/use for management of your choirs?

    Ultimately, my goal is to provide a place where I can post documents, links for recordings, archive recordings of our choir(s), manage communication, share "choir columns" (think liturgical "concert notes"), as well as so much for for a total of 3-4 liturgical choirs, cantors, accompanists, etc...

    I inherited a google site (and I'm thankful) but it's simple, and I hate google sites. They are so NOT user friendly.

    I'm familiar with squarespace and love the UI. But I'm curious what you use!

    Also, would you build a standalone site, or piggy back off of your parish's website for all that I'm wanting to do?

    Happy to read your thoughts, and thanks in advance!
  • francis
    Posts: 11,175
    Wordpress pro is drag and drop… couldn’t be simpler
  • TimTheEnchanterTimTheEnchanter
    Posts: 230
    If your parish has Flocknote, set up a group or groups.
    Thanked by 1trentonjconn
  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 772
    Ditto on Flocknote; it's a great platform.
  • AnimaVocis
    Posts: 196
    My experience with flocknote is as a messenging service but not one where I can host resource databases for my choirs, essentially having a "choir portal" where they can access PDFs, ordos, practice tracks, etc ..

    Is flocknote able to do those things?
  • TCJ
    Posts: 1,034
    Flocknote + Dropbox
  • PaxMelodious
    Posts: 469
    Do you expect members to read PDFs / ordos on their phones? Because that is what the vast majority of choir members will be using to access any system you have now.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    I currently use Google Drive since we have email. (I’d prefer that the parish pay for Google Workspace and include us as a seat but until then…)

    This is a problem since a few people have emails that can’t be used for Google access apparently. Oh well. Dropbox is not a platform that I particularly like, and Google is still extremely generous with free storage.

    Drive means that they can use their phone or tablet too.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,193
    I have a personal website (built with Wordpress), and off that is a page with matters of enduring interest (scores, learning aids, recordings, general philosophy). For more transient matters, there's a weekly email. For public-facing information, there's a Facebook page.
    Thanked by 3irishtenor Abbysmum CHGiffen
  • emac3183
    Posts: 87
    I use Flocknote and keep a running Google Doc with links to repertoire PDFs and recordings/practice tracks.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,180
    AV—you know my answer, but for the benefit of others discovering this thread:

    I built a website and have a dedicated "blog" which is a list of all our Choral Ordos. I post our ordo and all the practice track resources available every week there, and then send out the link.

    General link:
    https://psallitedomino.com/church-choir-ordos

    Particular example for one Sunday:
    https://psallitedomino.com/church-choir-ordos/27th-in-ot-c-2025

    Honestly, it's a lot of work to do this, but I have found it worth the effort. First and foremost, it allows people who need to learn by ear a real fighting chance at success with our group. Secondly, people who are unsure on one or two things can focus on those and sing confidently. Thirdly, I have a nice archive that I can go back and get inspiration from years past. I have the better part of 3 cycles on there now, and every once in a while I surprise myself when I look at an old ordo and forgot about a piece we did that year.

    And FWIW, I think this approach also had a non-negligible impact on my obtaining my current post. I had a very user-friendly record of all the resources I've provided for my choirs which demonstrated the care that I take in servicing and supporting my singers. I think it helped me to stand out against other candidates.

    One of my long-term goals is to build out my "practice track repository" where I have dedicated pages of ad-free PT's for specific pieces, and that way when I build my ordos I can just link to those other pages on my site with buttons. Then there would be stable, easy-to-find PTs. Same goes for Fr. Weber chants. We'll see.
    Thanked by 2m_r_taylor canadash
  • AbbysmumAbbysmum
    Posts: 105
    @ServiamScores

    Do you have a way to notify your choirsters to check out new posts? Our choir has a lot of GenZ and younger, and unless it comes as a notification, they don't think to do it. I'm curious what you.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,180
    I email and text the link once it’s live.
    Thanked by 1Abbysmum
  • Earl_GreyEarl_Grey
    Posts: 927
    I remember when choristers simply showed up to rehearsals (without fail) and checked their choir mailbox for new octavos and handouts and then checked the board to see the rehearsal order and diligently organized their folders before rehearsal began and then then turned in all their music at the end of the season and... ok that was never a reality but that was the ideal we all strove after.
    Thanked by 4CHGiffen MatthewRoth probe Jeffrey Quick
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    I set things out and need to make a point of it because people waltz right by and don’t look.

    I’m going to get something that I can stick the rehearsal order on (and then use the pad for other things). It’s tiresome.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    One thing that’s killing me is, right off the bat, Dropbox has less storage space unless you pay up. And I have no budget.

    I also dislike its UI and UX compared to Drive. But not all of my members have Google accounts… and I’m not really inclined to a website where I link the public drive folders. And I don’t want to make the link public anyway.

    I’m surely not the only one in this scenario, right?
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,464
    Low tech option: turnstiles like those for cattle/sheep, but that you can't complete without reading/taking et cet. /s
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    Oh I wish

    People don’t look for things when they walk in and it’s a whole start-stop

    I’m also putting together a Google doc for each rehearsal. Doing it quarterly helps; then I can have a good lock on new material beyond the propers that might need more time (we are adding a new Gregorian setting next year). I will try to update it after rehearsal in case we do something like split the propers of a weeknight Mass between two weeks of rehearsals.
  • eduardopinzon00eduardopinzon00
    Posts: 10
    I have a few groups here. In two of them, I created an app that also functions as a website, GlideApps. They're very easy to use, but they have limitations, but I can add chord charts and sheet music, as well as embedded videos, and create playlists for Masses. In the other group, which is made up of older members, we communicate more via WhatsApp and YouTube playlists, in addition to printed sheet music.
  • TCJ
    Posts: 1,034
    Put choir "mailboxes" at the bottom of the loft steps. When they come up to the loft with nothing, let them know all their stuff is in the mailboxes. After a few trips up and down the stairs, they will stop forgetting (or stop coming).
    Thanked by 5Liam irishtenor ServiamScores tomjaw Abbysmum
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    I wish we had room.
  • PaxMelodious
    Posts: 469
    But not all of my members have Google accounts… and I’m not really inclined to a website where I link the public drive folders.


    This is the nub of your problem: If you have members who will not sign up for a Google account (using either their existing email address, or by making a new one like JustForChor179@gmail.com) - then they will most probably not sign up for any other kind of account either.

    So you are stuck between having a publicly-available site that you share links to - or a site that not all choir members can access.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    Yup. And for a lot of reasons I don't think that it's a good fit for us to have a publicly-available site (or a separate site at all) or Drive folders with public links (I get uneasy getting them from friends. I prefer to be added and then to copy what I need to my own drive), and the continuity purpose is why I wanted to keep everything in one place.
  • jhpak99
    Posts: 4
    I just found this discussion after starting a new thread asking about choir management software. Not trying to spam but I built a web app for myself and my own choir (software development is my day job) that you might be interested in checking out. (It's free.) https://choirdirector.app/
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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