Thank you for your interest in our new website template

Transcription

1 Phone: Thank you for your interest in our new website template Why do I need a web site? Different parts of the Internet support different disciplines. Facebook is called 'Social Media.' A web site is 'Informational Media.' Different media communicates in different ways but it all means having people become aware of all the great work done by Lions and supporting our mission. The new website template has multiple design goals: Blind / Low Vision Goal As Helen Keller's Knights of the Blind, Lions should lead the way with accessible websites. This new design features full Screen Reader navigation for the blind plus a Contrast Changer and Text Resizer for visually impaired users. Community Connection Goal Many in our Community want to connect with Lions. This new design has information from LCI to Club services including where to donate eyeglasses and hearing aids. Next Generation Lions Goal Younger Lions and potential Lions frequently use mobile computing such as smart phones and tablets. The new design is responsive to the different screen sizes of phone, tablet and desktop/ laptop and is also 'Touch Compatible.' Member Information Goal The new design makes information available to visitors. Some such as monthly financials, minutes and membership list are behind a password protected firewall. Access is simple so even our Internet challenged Lions will find using the website easy. We are selling Lionism Goal Remember, a confused mind never buys and we are selling Lionism. Success means keep it simple and guide users through your website promoting our Mission. Each page addresses the visitors need for information on a variety of subjects demonstrating our commitment to our community. Keeping Website Content Fresh Goal Stale content turns off visitors and members. The Event Calendar section is dynamically updated and the Home Page image and newsletter can be updated to promote current events. The Members Only section features a full web based Administrator section. Club Secretaries can upload Monthly Newsletters, Meeting Minutes, Budget Statements saving printing and mailing costs. A separate menu allows membership and administrator list to be updated easily.

2 PHONE: What is a 'template'? The website template a design with the layout and much of the content included but requires some set-up to add your specific Club's information and images. What does it cost? The website template is free to registered Lions Clubs. Are there other costs? Yes. This is a website template not a finished website. Each Club is different so your Club specific information will need to be added by the District IT Chair. Any nice thing your Club would like to do, like a bottle of good bourbon, is appreciated but not required. Are there other costs? Yes. The place where your website lives on the Internet is called the 'host'. Cost vary but ipage usually has an introductory offer of $2/month. It is appreciated if you use the sign-up link, because your District IT Chair gets a couple of free cigars out of the deal. Please do not use GoDaddy. Why doesn't the District IT Chair make our website? Our District is 45 Lions Clubs, 8 Lioness Clubs and 6 Leos Clubs. A low estimate to make all the websites is about 600 hours work. IF your Club gathers the requested information, simply adding your work to the template greatly reduces the amount of time required. How do we start? First is get your domain name and hosting. Then, when you have gathered all your information together, just notify IT and your supplied information will be uploaded. Answers to installation/deployment questions are available by ing 27A2Tech@Gmail.com. We are on our own? No. Knowing not every Club has a techie, 27-A2 is working on a new program to help. Let your Zone Chair know your plans and, when there are enough sign-ups, the presentation will be scheduled. What about support? The website template has been tested but errors could still be found or new standard features added. Changes/upgrades are made periodically.

3 Phone: Website Information Worksheet General Business Information 1. Your Club Name 2. Your Club Slogan 3. Your Club Address 4. Your Club Telephone No. 5. Your Club Web Address 6. Your Club Facebook Address 7. Your Club Instagram Address 8. Your Club Youtube Address 9. Your Club Address 10. Your Club Contact Person 11. Other pertinent information not listed

4 PHONE: Images and Text Necessary Home Page You may use the standard text or make your own word descripton. The Home Page has a four image slideshow. 750 pixel by 350 pixel image files your Home Page image files should be name slider-image1.jpg, slider-image2.jpg, slider-image3.jpg, slider-image4.jpg. Our Club You may use the standard text or make your own word description. The club image is 750 by 450 image file named aboutmain.jpg. Six 300 by 200 image files named support1 thru 6.jpg for In Our Community We Support plus a title and 50 word description of each Support. Six to twelve Our Community Partners logos 150 by 130 with link information to website or Facebook page. Event Calendar 200 word description and Google Calendar. Information about Google Calendar is here What We Do This is the most elaborate page. Each section: What We Do List of Events Supporting Our Mission 100 word description of each Event. Optionally, 480 by 360 image file for each event named whatwedo- Eventimage1.jpg and so on. What We Do List of Programs and Services word description of each Program. Optionally, 480 by 360 image file for each event named whatwedo- Programimage1.jpg and so on. Some of the listed programs are Lions programs such as Camp. You may choose to use these or your own local programs. What We Do Questions and More Information This listing contains our District and LCI contact information. Donate Your Old Eyeglasses and Hearing Aids word description about Donating Old Eyeglasses and Hearing Aids. One 150 by 300 image file named community1.jpg. List of where to drop off Old Eyeglasses and Hearing Aids. 200 word description about What Your Club does in our Community. One 150 by 300 image file named community2.jpg.

5 Phone: Contact Page Variables are added automatically so no additional information is necessary. Links to Your Club's Facebook, Instagram and Youtube accounts are added automatically. If you do not have one of these accounts, the link will be removed. Newsletter - If your Club has a newsletter, your Club Secretary can upload the newsletter from our standard web interface. If your Club does not a newsletter, the link will be removed. Members Only There are two sections: Members Listing You will need to supply an excel spreadsheet of your membership. The online list will only show a members name, landline, mobile and address. A complete Members list is included as a download link. Meeting Records Minutes and Treasurer's Reports can be upload monthly by your Club Secretary. An Annual Budget is included as a download link. Special Note on Keeping Your Website Current The most important part of any website is keeping the content current. The template has been designed with a simple online web interface. Your Club Secretary or Technical person can perform maintenance functions to keep your content fresh. Things you can change through the online interface are: Update Newsletter Update Member List the PDF download document Update Home Page image(s) this is detailed on the Home Page section and may be one image or four if you select the slideshow option. Add Meeting information - Minutes and Treasurer's Reports Edit/Delete Member Add Member User Access List This is a list of people that have access to your secure section. Add User new access to the secure section Edit/Delete User for access to your secure section. We recommend changing General Access annually so dropped members cannot access the secure section. Change Password only for the person logged in.

6 PHONE: Technical The website template is designed to be easily completed but it does require some know-how about websites. In technical jargon, your technical person or IT Chair will need to set-up an FTP account at the host you have selected. The template will need to be FTP'd and a MySQL Database will need to be generated. The SQL script is supplied and has some defaults. The membership list supplied will need to be converted to a.txt file to be uploaded to the members table. At least one account will need to be set-up. All the variables for the aforementioned will be entered into the website setup page. If your Club does not have Facebook, Instagram or Youtube accounts, simple HTML edits will be required to remove the navigation links. The website template utilizes a Bootstrap 4 framework embracing its' mobile first design but the template is a modular framework employing a Singleton pattern philosophy. Jquery and related plug-ins are used extensively for a full featured client-side experience while taking advantage of PHP to add reusable variables. MySQL databases are also employed to enhance content dynamically. Accessibility roles and landmarks are already incorporated so, due to the complexity, basic template designs are never changed; only content. Schema/SDL is also incorporated to improve search engine scores. The majority of the work required will be limited to one folder, modules. There are only four pages that will require changes UNLESS you decide to change the default information: home page our club page event calendar page what we do page Each page is pre-built and tested. Your technical person or IT Chair will only need to edit your text submitted and add your supplied images. The website template pages are designed to accommodate most clubs but there could be limited HTML edits. For example, the Our Club page has room for twelve sponsors with links to their websites or Facebook pages. Your Club may want more or fewer than the default of twelve. Requests for new features are welcomed. New features will be added to the template if it is something of benefit to all Clubs. Special programming is not available.