A MASTER GARDENER WEBSITE D E S I G N, D E V E L O P M E N T A N D M A I N T E N A N C E C O N S I D E R A T I O N S

Transcription

1 A MASTER GARDENER WEBSITE D E S I G N, D E V E L O P M E N T A N D M A I N T E N A N C E C O N S I D E R A T I O N S

2 WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE AND WHAT FUNCTIONALITY IS NEEDED? Public? Static Content: About, Mission, Contacts, Resources, etc. Dynamic content: Event calendar, Photo Gallery, Newsletters, Event Registration/payment, etc. Responsive Design: Website looks good on all devices, PC/Tablet/Phone Members only? Potentially all of the above plus: Access control/authentication Volunteer opportunities/signups Member Roster Online Board minutes, etc

3 WEBSITE BUILDING APPROACHES There are currently 3 general approaches to creating a website: 1. Use a Web builder site such as WIX, Weebly, SquareSpace 2. Use a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress, Magneto, Drupal 3. Custom built using Integrated Development Environment (IDE): NetBeans, PhpStorm, DreamWeaver, etc. Each has pluses and minuses depending on functionality required and skillset available

4 WEBSITE BUILDERS Website Builders - WIX, SquareSpace, Weebly (About $ /year depending on plan/components) Advantages: Easiest to get something up and running and update. Web-based interface, nothing to install Rich, powerful set of drag and drop add-ons & widgets. Don t need to be a programmer or learn scripting languages (PHP, JavaScript, CSS) or HTML Disadvantages: Not much room for creative freedom May not have functionality you need

5 CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Template/Theme based i.e. WordPress (about $100- $300/year depending on plan/components) Advantages: Web-based interface, nothing to install Rich, powerful set of add-ons & widgets. Don t need to be a programmer or learn scripting languages (PHP, JavaScript, CSS) or HTML Easier to find folks with WordPress experience then PHP programmers Disadvantages: Takes some time to learn WordPress platform and can be difficult and/or confusing to customize for your needs Add-ons/widgets can be expensive and require a lot of configuration.

6 CUSTOM BUILT Programmer/Web Developer uses IDE NetBeans, PhpStorm, Eclipse, DreamWeaver, XAMPP, WebMatrix (cost: about $ /year) Advantages: Most flexible of the three approaches Content tailored to organizational needs. Fine control over all aspects of the website Access to the actual website source code Can be least expensive if you have a volunteer developer Disadvantages: Requires Programming knowledge (PHP, CSS, HTML, MySQL ) and regular maintenance making it difficult to find skillset needed within the organization. Can be very expensive if you don t have a volunteer, running into the thousands of dollars to build one from scratch by a third party developer.

7 MY DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT Originally WebMatrix, now NetBeans IDE with XAMPP (includes: local Apache Webserver, PHP, MySql ), OMNIS (ISP). $75 annual cost is limited to Web Hosting Service and domain registration. Separate test and production environments allow me to design, develop and test on my local computer before uploading changes to production server at OMNIS. OMNIS (ISP) Updates to production Me at home Local testing with Netbeans/XAMPP

8 Ease of use vs power difficult Custom coded site NetBeans, PHPStorm, Elipse, DreamWeaver learning curve Content Management Systems Wordpress, Drupal Website Builders WIX, Weebly, SquareSpace easy Less flexible/ less powerful More flexible/ more powerful

9 YCMGA.ORG FEATURES Role-based Access control (public, member, admin) Static Content: About, Mission, Contacts, Resources, etc. Dynamic content: Event calendar, Photo Gallery, Event Registration/payment (via paypal), etc. Volunteer opportunities/signups Member only Roster: Individual members control access/content Docs: Resource Manual, Newsletters, Board minutes, Forms, etc Responsive Design: Website looks good on all devices, PC/Tablet/Phone

10 Public facing view

11 Member only view