The Chapter Website
You don't have to be a high-tech wizard to design a Web page these days. A number of
Web publishing services provide free space and tools to make it easy to create your own site.
In less than one hour, you can design a page that announces an activity... tells about a meeting... posts invitations for events... or describes your organization purposes and principles.
GETTING STARTED
The technology needed to get started:
- Computer that has a modem and dials your connection to the Internet.
- Internet Service Provider (ISP), which allows you to connect to the Internet.
- Web designing software. that will allow you to write the content of your site in html (Hypertext Markup Language), the language used by the web. The easiest to use is probably Microsoft Front Page, which allows you to prepare your site in the same way you would do it on a Word document.
PLANNING YOUR SITE
Before creating your Web page, visit other Web sites for design ideas. Steps to take...
- Visit a search engine, such as www.yahoo.com or www.google.com. Enter the name of the subject that your Web site will cover and check some sites on the same subject. Then click on each title that appears in blue. The Web pages will come up on your screen.
- Visit the sites of other chapters and National Organizations. You will find most links on JCI’s website at www.jci.cc.
- Make notes on what you like and dislike about each site. While you're "surfing" the Web, notice that most pages are made up of the following elements:
- Background – the color or pattern of the page.
- Headline – appears at the top and tells visitors where they are in a site.
- Text – is the body of the page on your screen.
- Graphics – pictures, company logos or other artwork. They add color and life to a site.
- Links – connections between two documents or sites. They can be External links (text or a graphic that, when clicked, connects you to a page outside the Web site on your screen), Internal links (connects you to other pages within the Web site on your screen) and E-mail links (text or a graphic that, when clicked, sends mail to an Email address).
As you look at other sites, write down the features you would like to include on your site. Your site may consist of one page or a number of pages linked together. Also write down the Web addresses of the sites to which you would like your site to be linked and ask for permission to link theirs to yours.
DESIGNING YOUR SITE
A number of Web publishing services offer free Web page design tools. Leading services that allow you to create a Web site at no cost...
- Homestead www.homestead.com.
- Tripod www.tripod.lycos.com.
- GeoCities http://geocities.yahoo.com.
All share a similar sign-in process and are easy to use.
Each of the services walks you through the entire design process, which consists of about 15 to 20 steps. Each service will also prompt you to do the following...
- Register your site. You'll be asked to enter personal information – your name and E-mail address. You may also be asked to choose a category for your site.
- Name your site. In most cases, the name you enter for your site cannot exceed 26 letters and cannot include punctuation marks. The actual Web address of your site will contain the name of the on-line service with which you are registered.
- Choose a template. Templates are preformatted pages that allow you to insert text or graphics. Most templates have a theme, such as a photo album, a personal page or a business page. You'll also be asked to select a background color or pattern and the color of the text.
- Add text. Since most people don't like to read long paragraphs on a computer screen, use short sentences to convey messages easily and clearly.
- Add graphics. Most services allow you to download images from their clip art galleries, free of charge. Alternatively, you may download images – and text – from your computer's hard drive onto your site. When adding photos to your page, always provide a text description of each image.
- Add links to other pages within your site or to your favorite Web sites. You may also add a link that allows visitors to send you Email.
- Add other elements. Some services allow you to add special elements to your sites.
- Publish your site. In most cases, you officially post your site on the Web by clicking a box on the screen labeled "publish" or "upload." After this process is complete, anyone can access your site.
If you are looking into a more professional website, there are three things to consider:
- Domain name. If still available, try to buy the international (.org, .net or .com) domain names for your chapter. Use the JCI corporate name as your chapter’s domain name: www.jcichaptername.org. Also consider buying the national domain name with your country’s extension, such as www.jcihamburg.de (.de is the extension for Germany). You can buy international and most national domain names from different sellers, such as www.register.com.
- Host. Check with your national search engine and find a host for your site. Prices vary from US$ 5.00 to US$ 15.00 per month for a simple site. There are some sites that even host small websites for free. Check with other neighboring chapter about possibilities.
- Webmaster. Make sure you have a professional Webmaster designing your site. A professional website projects a professional image of your chapter to the public.
EDIT YOUR SITE
Don't let your site go stale. Making timely changes and adding pages often will keep visitors coming back.
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