West-Ridge.ORG (the organization's web site)

[ Remember the hyphen! You can use "www." or not — both ways work. ]

1. The Board's web site moved every time we changed property management companies, and sometimes for other reasons;
2. Those website names have often been rather long and less than obvious; and
3. Points 1 and 2 also meant we didn't have something easily shared with people NOT living here, or that might be interested in living here.

So, I fixed that by creating west-ridge.org. The name is short and easy-to-remember and simply redirects to the Board's web site, wherever that happens to be at the moment, today, tomorrow, or next year. You'll immediately see the Board's official URL in your browser's address bar, just like you would if you had typed their official name (currently westridgehomeowners.communitysite.com).

The Board can't officially endorse using west-ridge.org because it's not controlled by them. They are, however, welcome to the domain name.

West-Ridge.INFO (homeowner-contributed info about West Ridge)

[ Remember the hyphen! You can use "www." or not — both ways work. ]

West-Ridge.INFO is my creation. I'm responsible for the site overall and for any content not attributed to others. What's written or said in content contributed by others is the responsibility of its author and/or contributor.

No login is required to access any of the public information pages. In the Public Documents section, you'll find the West Ridge legal documents, the Rules and Regulations, the Architectural Standards, and more, either indexed by section headings and page numbers or in searchable text form. These can be useful to prospective home buyers as well as us. (Note: In case of discrepancy, the authoritative version of all Board-issued documents is the one on the Board's web site.)

Not only the public information here, but also restricted content, is scrubbed of email addresses, non-public phone numbers, etc., so that nothing not already public would be at risk if any of it did get out (unless some contributor insists on revealing their own data).

The Writeups section is the current home for my writeups on West Ridge issues, such as the roads, sealcoating, our electric bill, etc. I'm open to adding writeups from others.

Why have both web sites?

I don't think either Kathy or I had any idea anyone else was working on a web site for West Ridge until the announcement of her site came out and I called. So, I'll answer the question Why continue to have both?

Maybe we won't. The two web sites began with different purposes. Mine has public information (no login required) and homeowner-contributed content (restricted). The Board's site is the Board's official spokes-site. It has individual verified accounts, so they can have things intended for our eyes only. Anything with personal data, such as the newsletters (which had birthdays, anniversaries, cell phone numbers, and personal email addresses) is over there (if at all), not here.

Initially, their site was very space limited, but that's not a problem now that the Board upgraded to paid service. Depending on how the Board runs the Forums and how they handle homeowner-contributed discussion and content, it's possible that some day everything will be combined there and west-ridge.info will cease.

Why "west-ridge" instead of "westridge"?

So, Remember the Hyphen!