I am starting up a website for the youth organization I work for that is mainly for our members (kids ages 6 to 18). We will be providing all of our kids e-mails through Google Apps (We can get a lot of e-mail addresses since we are a non profit) and we are going to be hosting blogs for members.
Some information before discussing my current challenges:
- Free hosting provided by dreamhost.com
- 5,000+ active members within the last year (what I'm basing as my user count)
- Will connect members over 18 different locations
What I am wondering is if Google Apps would be the appropriate way to go for e-mail or if anyone else can recommend a host that could handle the load? I know not all 5,000 members will use it but I want to be able to handle the capacity.
Also, I have looked into Wordpress MU because I want to have each member have their own blog, but dreamhost.com doesn't provide the technology to support it with their free hosting that I am on currently. I went with dreamhost.com because we are a non-profit and they are the only ones that gave free hosting and paid for the domain for non-profits, plus they have been great to work with through all of this.
I want to make a forum too if possible so members can go on and discuss things happening in the community, the organization and in school.
Also, I am thinking with going with Google Apps because that would allow members to utilize Google Docs since they are all school children, they would be able to write papers and save them online without having to worry about losing them.
Let me know your thoughts, thanks!