Managing your Non-Profit's website

managing your non-profit organisation’s website Jason King www.kingjason.co.uk Making Links Conference, Melbourne 2008

be your organisation’s web champion … … every non-profit website needs one

here’s 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 don’t 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 site’s structure… … sketch a site map

keep your planning lo-tech … … post-it notes don’t 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

what’s essential to this web project? what can wait? What won’t work?

what’s 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 won’t work?

Avoid scope creep by getting work signed off at crucial stages

who should build your website?

your trustee’s nephew who’s 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 charity’s 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.

Involve staff and clients in testing

test your website for errors

HTML: validator.w3.org

CSS: jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator

Broken links: validator.w3.org/checklink

Colour contrast: www.snook.ca/technical/colour_contrast/colour.html

guess how many HTML errors?

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 charity’s website, Dreamweaver glitched and deleted both the local and remote copies of the site files.

A volunteer designed an Internet radio station’s 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 organisation’s website Jason King Making Links Conference, Melbourne 2008 Presentation is available to watch again at www.kingjason.co.uk. Planning your Non-Profit Website’s 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