A presentation given at the Making Links 2008 conference in Melboure. It's an update of the talk I gave at Connecting Up, Brisbane in May 2008.
Transcript of Managing your Non-Profit's website
managing your non-profit organisations website Jason King www.kingjason.co.uk Making Links Conference, Melbourne 2008
be your organisations web champion every non-profit website needs one
heres a non-profit website that badly needs a champion
you are the admin take control of your own website
Manage your own web content with Joomla! WordPress Drupal Plone or many, many other CMS !
secure your domain name now before someone else does
and dont forget to renew it!
When their poems disappeared
to be replaced by something weird,
belatedly the Poetry Society knew
that they had forgotten to renew
their Internet domain;
and Viagra ads were not quite germane for their new schools poetry campaign.
how do other non-profits use the web? start here: www.squidoo.com/org20
think beyond your website use social networking to reach people
plan your sites structure sketch a site map
keep your planning lo-tech post-it notes dont crash
Needlepoint is a valid web planning tool
Wireframes help you visualise your site layout. They are done before any graphic design. You can create them easily in PowerPoint
involve staff, trustees, volunteers and clients in planning your site but limit decision-making to a few people (web champion, committee)
write a brief (and try to keep it brief)
always have a brief, even for a small project
refer to it at crucial stages
concisely detail the functionality you need
insist that code meets W3C & WAI standards
include background information, timescales & expectations
include a basic site map
ideally, get a techie to help you write it
the brief specified a brochure-style website
Someone suggested adding a blog and forums
whats essential to this web project? what can wait? What wont work?
whats essential to this web project? web 2.0 blog forums ajax maps video plugins kitchen sink FAQs online services widgets feed corporate hymn api what can wait? What wont work?
Avoid scope creep by getting work signed off at crucial stages
who should build your website?
your trustees nephew whos doing web design as a school project? maybe not
the chap who did a great job installing your network? but who knows little about web design
would a volunteer be suitable for a small project? absolutely, provided they are an experienced web developer
could you design the website yourself? yes, provided you have the skills, but what if you leave the organisation?
should you commission a web developer? how will you find them? how much should you expect to pay?
insist on standards-compliant code
A charitys website was designed using outdated practices: font tags, frames and a table-based layout and style attributes in the html throughout many dozens of pages. Next year, when their corporate identity changed, they had to redesign the entire website. On a better-designed website they could have simply amended the CSS and changed a few images.
Four Surprised there are so few errors? Valid HTML is only one aspect of accessibility
Just in case you get run over by a Melbourne tram tomorrow
compile a tech folder for your website
what should you record?
domain control panel login
domain renewal date (put in your diary!)
web hosting control panel login
FTP details
CMS logins
third-party website logins (Google Analytics etc)
contract and support details
do you backup your website?
Whilst uploading new documents to an educational charitys website, Dreamweaver glitched and deleted both the local and remote copies of the site files.
A volunteer designed an Internet radio stations website. After a petty disagreement the volunteer deleted the entire website.
Get a Google Grant
Free online advertising for your non-profit using Google AdWords. Apply now because you can wait up to six months!
www.google.com.au/grants/
analyse your web stats to help improve your website Notice the sudden rise in visits? That was the result of a Google Grant
managing your non-profit organisations website Jason King Making Links Conference, Melbourne 2008 Presentation is available to watch again at www.kingjason.co.uk. Planning your Non-Profit Websites Development
Thanks
to the following Flickr.com users whose use of a Creative Commons license meant I could re-use their photos in this presentation: dannyman, Marco Wessel, Daryl Mitchell, aynne, activeside, daveknapik, iamilk, Sam Knox, vidnar, ardenstreet, maadmob, pingmag, sita puddin pie
and to Vincent Flanders for bringing the glaucoma website to my attention.
