Build brief: A community app for the Ridgeline area
Ridgeline Chamber of Commerce · Chamber staff · 2026-08-06
Readiness
Early 58/100
Worth answering the open questions before anyone quotes you a price — the answers usually change the price.
What this is for
A free community app for residents, visitors and event-goers that also creates non-dues revenue for the Chamber through member promotion and advertising.
How it would be built
Our own hosted platform — Public surfaces, background jobs and no login wall — the owned stack, which is the cheapest to run and the fastest for us to ship.
Signing in: Private links, no passwords. Each person gets a private link that only works for them. Nothing to remember, nothing to reset, nothing to leak.
What we'd assemble
These aren't features to be written from scratch. Each one already runs in something we've shipped, which is the difference between a quote in weeks and a quote in months.
- A directory of businesses, people or placesWe've built this before: Ridgeline Connect · Reviews · Spotlight
- A map people can browseWe've built this before: Ridgeline Connect
- Events people can find and sign up forWe've built this before: Ridgeline Connect
- Someone submits something, someone approves itWe've built this before: Ridgeline Connect (member edits) · Accolade (nominations) · Sites (SOP)
- It sends people email, texts or push notificationsWe've built this before: Score (owned email) · Ridgeline Connect (Web Push) · Reviews · Pocket
- You sell placement inside itWe've built this before: Ridgeline Connect (ads) · Sites (tiers)
The genuinely new part
A dedicated hub for the winter light parade: live updates on the day, route maps, schedules, and information for float participants.
This is where the real conversation is — and where any honest estimate has the most room in it.
What's still open
Not criticism — this is the agenda. Every item here is something that decides scope, price or timing.
- And a date it has to be genuinely live?Without a date there's no plan, only a wish.
- If yes — what's charged, how much, how often, and who takes the payment?If this is where the revenue comes from, leaving it blank leaves the point of the project unspecified.
- A year from now, what number would make you say this was worth it?No target means no way to declare victory — and no basis for doing more of it.
- Who has to approve this on your side, and when do they next meet?We'd plan to an engineering schedule when the real schedule is a meeting calendar.
What we'd need from you
Across every project we've delivered, this list — not the code — is what decides whether something ships on time.
| What | What it holds up | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Export from Our member portal | Real content on day one. Sample data works for a demo and not much else. | You |
| Addresses for every pin | Geocoding. Half a list is half a map. | You |
| The calendar for the next 12 months | Launching with an empty calendar. | You |
| A named approver who has agreed to do it | Handover. A queue with no owner is decoration. | You |
| Control of the sending domain's DNS (for email) | Deliverability. Mail from an unverified domain goes to spam. | You |
| A consent position — how people opted in | Legal exposure on the first send. | You |
| A rate card, and a decision on who takes the payment | The revenue itself — which is usually the whole point. | You |
| Someone who can change the website, named and available | Anything that has to appear on your existing site. | You |
| Logo and brand colours | Branding. We'll use a neutral placeholder until they arrive. | You |
Everything you told us
| What's the organisation called? | Ridgeline Chamber of Commerce |
| And your name? | Chamber staff |
| Email — so we can send you this brief | example@example.com |
| Does the thing you want built have a name yet? | A community app for the Ridgeline area |
| In one sentence: when this works, what is different for the person who pays for it? | A free community app for residents, visitors and event-goers that also creates non-dues revenue for the Chamber through member promotion and advertising. |
| Who touches this? | The general public / your community, Your customers or members, Your own staff |
| Does anyone outside your organisation expect a username and password? | no |
| What's the most sensitive single thing that will end up in this? | contact |
| Where does the information you'd start with live today? | Our member portal |
| Could you send that export this week? | soon |
| What's your website, and who controls it? | ridgelinechamber.org |
| What else are you already paying for that this sits next to? | Member portal, email newsletter |
| Does money change hands inside this thing? | third_party |
| A directory of businesses, people or places — Roughly how many listings to start? | Around 250 members |
| A directory of businesses, people or places — Who edits a listing — you, or the listing's owner? | The owner keeps it current |
| A directory of businesses, people or places — Is there a paid upgrade for a listing (featured, promoted, enhanced)? | Yes |
| A map people can browse — What area does it cover? | The Ridgeline area |
| A map people can browse — Do you have addresses for everything that gets a pin? | Some |
| Events people can find and sign up for — Do people register, or just show up? | They register |
| Someone submits something, someone approves it — How fast do you want to promise people an answer? | Two business days |
| It sends people email, texts or push notifications — Which channels? | Push notifications, Email |
| You sell placement inside it — How many slots, and where do they appear? | Banners, sponsored listings and promoted specials |
| Anything else | A dedicated hub for the winter light parade: live updates on the day, route maps, schedules, and information for float participants. |