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Monthly Calls

YUSA, along with the YMCA Website Services partner agencies, hosts a monthly call to update the community on distribution, demo new features, and answer community questions.

Starting September 2024, calls are held on the second Wednesday of the month at 11:00 AM Central Time.

YMCAs, partner developers, and other interested parties are welcome to [contact us](mailto:ycloud@ymca.net?subject=Monthly Meeting Invitation Request) for an invitation. Please include your name, YMCA affiliation (if applicable), and reason for wanting to attend.

Watch the latest call in our playlist:

Review past calls below:


December 11, 2024 - YMCA Website Services Community Call

Tom Scarborough from the Core team is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden from the Core team, guest Mike Hennesey from YMCA360, and Y-USA CIO Tom Gardner to discuss the status of YMCA’s Website Services.

Agenda

Agenda items include:

  • Small Y Template Release
  • YMCA360 Demo
  • Deprecation Reminders
  • Community Resources
  • Y-USA Update
  • Q & A

Recording

Resources

November 13, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Stasya Paliienko, Avi Schwab, Shelley Goetz, and Andrii Podanenko from the Core team to discuss what’s coming up in the YMCA’s Website Services roadmap.

Agenda items include:

  • Upcoming Releases
  • Small Y Template demonstration
  • Deprecation Reminders
  • Product Roadmap Reminder
  • Community Resources
  • Questions

Recording

Resources

October 9, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden and Avi Schwab from the Core team to discuss what’s coming up in the YMCA’s Website Services roadmap.

Agenda items include:

  • Release Schedule Update
  • Small Y Template demonstration
  • Deprecation Reminders
  • Product Roadmap Reminder
  • Community Call Time Change
  • Community Resources
  • Questions

Recording

Resources

Small Y Template

The Small Y Template is a collection of modules designed to customize the appearance and functionality of the distribution for small Ys.

Key modules included in the Small Y Template:

  • Small Y: A collection of modules to customize the appearance and functionality of the distribution for small Ys.
  • Small Y - Staff Members: Helper module for the custom style Staff Members block type.
  • Small Y Articles and Related articles: Helper module for the custom style Articles content type and Related articles block type

Dependencies for the Small Y Template include:

  • bootstrap_layout_builder
  • layout_builder
  • layout_builder_restrictions
  • link_attributes_menu_link_content
  • openy_gtranslate
  • simple_sitemap
  • y_lb

August 13, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Shelley Goetz and Avi Schwab from the Core team and Michael DeTorre, Joe Michaelson, and Jeff Greer from VMLY&R to discuss what’s coming up in the YMCA’s Website Services roadmap.

Agenda items include:

  • Release Schedule Reminder
  • An explanation of the Small Y Template project
  • Font Licensing - for Cachet and Montserrat fonts
  • Product Roadmap Reminder
  • Community Call Time Change - Now on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 11am CT
  • Virtual Y - Sunset Reminder

Recording

Resources

Small Y Template Project

The Small Y Template is a collection of modules designed to customize the appearance and functionality for smaller YMCA branches. It is managed by the ws_small_y module.

Key modules included in the Small Y Template:

  • ws_small_y: Core module for Small Y functionality.
  • ws_small_y_staff: Helper module for the custom style Staff Members block type.
  • small_y_articles: Helper module for the custom style Articles content type and Related articles block type
  • small_y_hero: Hero banner modifications for the Small Y template.
  • small_y_ping_pongs: Helper module for the custom style ping pong block type

July 9, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Shelley Goetz and Avi Schwab from the Core team to discuss what’s coming up in the YMCA’s Website Services roadmap.

Highlight agenda items include:

  • Release Schedule Changes
  • Description of the Small Y Template
  • Security Updates
  • Virtual Y - sunsetting at end of 2024

Small Y Template

The Small Y template is a collection of modules designed to customize the appearance and functionality of the YMCA Website Services distribution for smaller Y associations. It provides a streamlined and focused set of features, making it easier to manage and maintain a website.

Key modules included in the Small Y template:

  • Small Y Module (ws_small_y): Core module providing the base functionality and styling for the Small Y template.
  • Small Y - Staff Members (ws_small_y_staff): Helper module for the custom Staff Members block type.
  • Y Layout Builder - Small Y Hero Banner (small_y_hero): Hero banner modifications specifically for the Small Y template.
  • Y Layout Builder - Small Y Ping Pong (small_y_ping_pongs): Helper module for the custom ping pong block type.
  • Y Layout Builder - Small Y Articles and Related articles (small_y_articles): Helper module for the custom style Articles content type and Related articles block type
  • Small Y - Statistics (ws_small_y_statistics): Helper module for the custom Small Y Statistics block type.

For developers, the Small Y template utilizes a modern CSS development workflow:

  • SASS Compilation: Leverages node-sass to compile SASS files into CSS.
  • Auto-prefixing: Ensures cross-browser compatibility using postcss and autoprefixer.

Refer to the Small Y Module README for development and configuration instructions.

Recording

Resources

June 11, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Stasya Paliienko, Avi Schwab, and Shelley Goetz from the Core team to demonstrate features in the June release of YMCA’s Website Service.

Highlight agenda items include:

  • Release timeline updates
  • Showcasing new Activity Finder updates
  • Layout Builder improvements: Scheduling Options, Updated Schema, and Meta Tags
  • Canadian Colorway Improvements
  • Virtual Y - sunsetting at end of 2024

Recording

Resources

May 7, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Avi Schwab and Shelley Goetz from the Core team to demonstrate features in the forthcoming June release of the YMCA’s Website Service.

Highlight agenda items include:

  • Release timeline updates
  • Showcasing new Activity Finder updates
  • A closer look at Website Service’s Next Generation Design System
  • The “dark mode” enhancements and why they are important

Recording

Resources

April 8, 2024 Community Call

Tom Scarborough is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, and Roman Salo from the Core team to demonstrate newly released features from the March point release of YMCA’s Website Service.

Highlight agenda items include:

  • Release timeline updates
  • Demo of updates to Weekly Schedule Management
  • An in-depth description of the website update process from YMCA’s Cloud Hosting Service and YMCA partners

Recording

Resources

March 12, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, Roman Salo, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to demonstrate newly released features from the March release of YMCA’s Website Service.

Highlight agenda items include:

  • Demo of Weekly Schedule Management
  • Explanation of the Polyfill issue fix
  • Description of the Text Editor fix for creating buttons
  • Events entry and display improvements, now with recurring options!
  • Traction Rec Integration Update

Recording

Resources

February 9, 2024

Sandeep Goswami and Tom Gardner are joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Andrii Podanenko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to review the current state of the YMCA’s Digital Services roadmap, including an update about the TractionRec/Y-CRM, upcoming security updates, and addressing community questions.

Recording

Resources

January 9, 2024

Tom Scarborough is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Avi Schwab, and Shelley Goetz from the Core team to review the current state of the YMCA’s Digital Services roadmap.

Recording

Due to a technical issue, there is no meeting recording available.

Resources

December 12, 2023

Tom Scarborough is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Avi Schwab, and Shelley Goetz from the Core team to review the current state of the YMCA’s Digital Services roadmap. This includes a demonstration of the new Promotion content type and the Program & Subprogram content types within Layout Builder.

Recording

Resources

Content Types

This call included a demonstration of the following content types:

  • Promotion Content Type: A new content type designed for creating promotional blocks. These blocks can be used in various layouts to highlight specific programs, events, or services. The promotion content type utilizes features like a title, body text, call-to-action link, and image, and is built using the Layout Builder Promo Card.
  • Program & Subprogram Content Types: Content types used for creating program and subprogram information. This allows for structured content that can be easily managed and displayed using Layout Builder.

Layout Builder

Layout Builder is a powerful tool for creating flexible and dynamic page layouts. During the call, the team demonstrated how these new content types can be integrated into pages using Layout Builder. Layout Builder allows content editors to arrange blocks in regions of their installed themes and configure block settings. The Block Content module allows you to manage block types and content blocks.

November 14, 2023

Tom Scarborough is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Avi Schwab, and Shelley Goetz from the Core team and Michael DeTorre from VMLY&R to review the current state of the YMCA’s Digital Services roadmap and to present the Demo Content sample pages.

Recording

Resources

October 10, 2023

Tom Scarborough is joined by Tom Gardner, Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, and Shelley Goetz from the Core team to review the current state of the YMCA’s Digital Services roadmap including features slated for the December 2023 release. Guest presenter and SEO expert Richard Nosek shared his knowledge about Google Analytics 4.

Recording

Resources

September 12, 2023

Tom Scarborough, along with Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, Stasya Paliienko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team, presented the newly released features from the September release of the YMCA’s Website Service.

Key features demonstrated by Stasya Paliienko and Avi Schwab include:

  • Layout Builder content types for Camp, Facility, Branch, and Event
  • Content Overview documentation links
  • Ability to compare Revisions of pages
  • Updated CKEditor
  • Support for adding Structured Schema data and Metadata
  • Paragraphs module enhancements

Recording

Resources

August 8, 2023

Tom Gardner is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden and Shelley Goetz from the Core team and Dan Dieffenbach and Jessica Stroot from YMCA360 to share the latest news about the YMCA’s Digital Services roadmap, including a demonstration of the YMCA360 Web and mobile product.

Recording

Resources

July 11, 2023

Tom Scarborough is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, Stasya Paliienko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to share the latest news about the YMCA’s Website Service roadmap.

Recording

Resources

June 13, 2023

Tom Gardner is joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, Andrii Podanenko, Stasya Paliienko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to share the latest news about the YMCA’s Website Service roadmap.

Recording

Resources

May 9, 2023

Tom Gardner and Tom Scarborough are joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, Andrii Podanenko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to share the latest news about the YMCA’s Website Service roadmap.

Recording

Resources

April 11, 2023

Tom Gardner and Tom Scarborough are joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to share the latest news about the YMCA’s Website Service roadmap.

Recording

Resources

March 14, 2023

Tom Gardner and Tom Scarborough are joined by Shelley Goetz, Stasya Paliienko, Andrii Podanenko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to share the latest news about the YMCA’s Website Service roadmap. Stasya Paliienko demonstrates the Layout Builder version 2 components released today.

Recording

Resources

February 14, 2023

Tom Gardner and Tom Scarborough are joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, Andrii Podanenko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team, as well as Steven Wright from Daxko to share the latest news about the YMCA’s Website Service roadmap. Avi demonstrates comparing a page created with Paragraphs to an equivalent page created using the new Layout Builder, and Steven shares details about the new Daxko API.

Recording

Resources

Paragraphs and Layout Builder

This call features a comparison of pages created using Paragraphs and Layout Builder. Paragraphs is a Drupal module that allows users to create structured content by assembling predefined “paragraphs” of different types. Layout Builder, on the other hand, is a core Drupal module that provides a drag-and-drop interface for arranging blocks and other content elements on a page.

  • Paragraphs Module: The Paragraphs module enables the creation of Paragraphs entities.

  • Layout Builder: Layout Builder allows arranging blocks and content elements on a page using a drag-and-drop interface.

January 10, 2023

Tom Gardner and Tom Scarborough are joined by Kylie Aldridge-Ogden, Shelley Goetz, Andrii Podanenko, and Avi Schwab from the Core team to share the latest information about:

  • Daxko and GXP Embedded Code updates
  • 2023 site planning, including:
    • Migration to Drupal 10
    • Budgeting for end of year
    • 2024 for migration off of Paragraphs
  • Layout Builder V2 Training and Documentation Overview
  • Incorporation of Events page feedback
  • Welcome YMCA of Metro Atlanta to the community!

Recording

Resources