Discussion Forum Developer needed ASAP!

Does anyone know how to set up a discussion forum really quickly. We have a bit of a disaster going on here in the Lower Mainland and I want to set something up to help people out. Basically one of our bridges caught on fire and there are only 2 other crossings which are already congested on the best of days. Today was the first working day since it happened and traffic has been gridlocked all day!! They are estimating it is going to take at least a month to get it fixed!!!! This whole thing is bordering on a state of emergency

Basically I want to put up a website so that people can discuss a temporary job swap in order to avoid the commute across the bridge.

I just bought a great domain name and I plan on contacting the local news stations so that they can air the idea when it's ready.

If anyone is good with the free discussion forums softwares and wants to donate their time, it would really really help. I don't even cross the bridge so I'm just doing this completely for the benefit of everyone else.

Benefits:

• Short Term Environmental - The news said that 80,000 cars cross that bridge every day. Those cars are being redirected to routes which are already congested which means hundreds of thousands of vehicles are siting idle in the choas.
• Long Term Environmental - Its possible that many people would actually enjoy the switch and choose to make a permanent change which will reduce the traffic long term commuting emissions.
• Personal Lives - Countless man hours are being wasted which affects people's stress levels and family lives.
• Economy - Many people are choosing to skip work which is has a direct impact on spending and costs businesses in lost productivity.
• Emergency Response - Vehicles are backed up well into the cities on either side of the two available bridges. Simply traveling through these areas takes an extremely long time. In the event of an emergency, the response times could be delayed to the point where it costs people their lives.

I'm going to create a forum layout and a couple legal documents to make sure the arrangements go smoothly.



I'd like to keep this thread primarily for discussing the website. If you want to talk about the problem see this thread in off topic

 

Go to www.simplemachines.org, the creators of the SMF forum software. There is a support forum, and there is a board where you can ask for assistance. Those people can have you up and running in no time flat!

Here's the link to the help wanted board:

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=50.0

 

Thats actually a really good idea. I'll go post something over there right away. Don't let this dissuade anyone from volunteering here though if you're up to the job.

 

It takes 3 months to a year to properly train people for a job, and then there's the paperwork involved and employee contracts, very specific skill sets most trained workers have, I'm not sure "swapping jobs" is very realistic? Unless you work at McD's or Wal Mart or something. When I lived in NYC and the trade centers were knocked down it was well over 100,000 people that couldn't get to their jobs because their office was...well gone or partially destroyed. So people worked from home or companies setup temporary offices elsewhere.

Either way, Ning is probably better than a forum if you pursue this:

www.ning.com

 

I don't expect highly skilled jobs to trade. There are thousands of general labour workers that don't require any training who could swap jobs temporarily. Warehouse workers, construction workers, landscapers etc etc. There are a lot of call centers in Vancouver and some customer service jobs could easily be changed. Car salesmen... the list goes on.

I plan on drafting some legal documents that indicate workers are still employees of their original employers so that payroll stays the same. I fully understand that the idea isn't without it's problems, but the issues that we're expected to deal with for the next month and a half is causing far more problems than the little issues of job swapping. I'm sure it will help a little bit and every bit counts in this situation.

 

Not much help on the Small Machines Forum so far...

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=287070.0

I understand the idea is a little strange, but I'm sure once the website is built and people start discussing things, there will be some action. I want to use the website as a general discussion as well so that people can exchange other ideas for easing the congestion.

Hopefully someone will help by 2moro. It's a great way to get some free advertising if you're good at what you do as well.

 

Actually, it's Simple Machines - Small Machines sounds like a lawn mower engine company.

I posted in the SMF staff boards, so maybe you'll get a little more help than the new guy who posted in your thread. Every once in a while, my former developer status can come in handy.

 

You are Awesome! PM me with an email contact if anyone wants to help. I'm going to post in the Web Host Request forum as a way to get free advertising.

I found a host and someone to put up the forum. CoreISP on the simple machines forum is an awesome person!!!

 

Glad to help.