1 / 27

Four Ways to Set up and Maintain Chapter Web Sites

Four Ways to Set up and Maintain Chapter Web Sites. Paul Wesling, SFBA Council Communications Director and Webmaster SF Bay Area Council Officer Training Mountain View, CA January 25, 2014. Outline. Content-Management System (CMS) WordPress Websites: the Gold Standard

ernie
Download Presentation

Four Ways to Set up and Maintain Chapter Web Sites

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Four Ways to Set up and Maintain Chapter Web Sites Paul Wesling, SFBA Council Communications Director and Webmaster SF Bay Area Council Officer Training Mountain View, CA January 25, 2014

  2. Outline Content-Management System (CMS) • WordPress Websites: the Gold Standard • WordPress on IEEE’s EWH Servers • IEEE’s WordPress “Sites”: specialized WordPress Installations • IEEE’s “Web in a Box”: Simple, well-documented • HTML Editing (eg, with Dreamweaver) • Ones NOT to use: MS WORD!

  3. Why Do We Need a Website? • Engineers need to find out about your meetings, seminars, events • The e-GRID gives engineers a summary, but then it has a link to what your chapter has put on the Web • Google/Bing/Yahoo can crawl your site and index it

  4. History • Old-fashioned websites were crafted in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) • Problems of training, coordination • Better: a system to manage the various content elements: a Content Management System (CMS) • Keeps the various “parts” in a database • Creates the web pages “on the fly” • A Chapter needs the ability to allow several Editors to work independently to update certain pages

  5. WordPress (CMS:Content-Mgmt System) • Free, Open-Source, well supported • Install on your own server, or use EWH • Easy to get started; easy to manage • Don’t need to know HTML (but it can help) • It is editable by multiple authors: • No “single point of failure” or “bottleneck” • IEEE Chapter Templates readily available • Jared can set up one for you on EWH • You can see what others have done • Pick/implement features you want

  6. IEEE’s WordPress Some features of IEEE’s WordPress installations: • Integrated web analytics (no need to sign up with Google Analytics) • Official IEEE WordPress themes compliant with IEEE web presence guidelines (no need for complex HTML templates) • Easy Integration with social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) • Page and blog post version control • Simple password protection • Secure login for multiple editors • Sitemap generation • Spam protection • Easy table creation and management • Google Map integration • Limitation: Can’t add your own plug-in’s.

  7. Any WordPress Installation • Download the great IEEE 85-page WordPress guide: • sites.ieee.org/files/2011/04/WordPress-Editors-Guide-WL.pdf • Good books for your Administrator: • WordPress: The Missing Manual (2012) • WordPress Web Design For Dummies (2013)

  8. WordPress Administrator’s View(webmaster, chair, prgm chair, vice-chair) Your Home Page (actually, a Post) is here Add/edit static pages here Your sidebars, footers are here Select menu types, add page to menu, move page within menu

  9. Add/Edit a Page (ie, not Home Page) Set this once – may show more options Click here to start To start a NEW page Click, to sort by column See who started this Page To edit an existing page

  10. Editing a Page (WYSIWYG and HTML modes) Make the Permalink Shorter Limited set of Formatting Choices WYSIWYG View HTML Editing, touch-up

  11. After an Edit Click UPDATE to make change permanent Then: Best to view finished page in several browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome) – hit REFRESH button

  12. Menus Menu Structure: Drag-and-Drop to re-arrange When finished, click SAVE Can also add custom links as Menu items – eg, link to GRID website To add a page: click here – then look for it at the foot of the Menu

  13. Getting Started • If you already have an EWH WordPress site • Ask your Webmaster to add you, as editor • Download and print/use the Tutorial • Considering learning basic HTML • To upgrade to WordPress • Either ask Jared to make a new instantiation • Or, get a “sites.ieee.org” instantiation,from the IEEE website (next demonstration)

  14. sites.ieee.orgA WordPress environment • Best-looking solution; standard look/feel • Painfully slow response times (3 to 5 sec.) • Standard CMS features: • Same methods are used • multiple editors allowed

  15. Social Networking Links Post date confusing – should be suppressed Navigation Sidebar Main (blog) Column

  16. CS Website: Archives, About Us Good way to handle past meeetings

  17. Left Sidebar Main (blog) Column Right Sidebar

  18. Sites: Nanotechnology Chapter Left Sidebar Meetings and Other Announcements Main (blog) Column Typical blog Push-down mode Could use a better way to handle past Meetings …

  19. (Some do it wrong) Use good web design:Make your most important info prominent Next meetings are hidden down here Visitor looks here, sees meeting is over or not listed Footer cuts off sidebar

  20. vTools: “Web in a Box” • CMS: multiple editors for chapter site • Easy setup and administration • Low amount of flexibility;good basic structure, not flashy • Built-in Announcements/Meetings system • Can coordinate with vTools Registrationsystem; can accept credit cards • Help: http://web.vtools.ieee.org/ • Tutorial:sites.ieee.org/vtools/webinabox-tutorials

  21. Web in a Box: MTT Chapter no Sidebars Officers pulled From IEEE database Single Center Column

  22. Web in a Box: MTT Chapter Good step-by-step Tutorial/Help files (PPT/PDF)

  23. Good Ol’ HTML • Your site can be hand-crafted • Content can be distinct from format/ presentation using HTML5/CSS3/javascript • Performance is excellent; fast page loads • Doesn’t have a modern look • Limited to only one Webmaster at a time • Difficult to coordinate multiple editors • Not suggested, for Chapters • Upgrade (over the summer) to WordPress

  24. CPMT Chapter Navigation Free-form multiple columns

  25. Column of rotating banner ads The SFBA Council GRIDall HTML -Special content/formatting needs Three columns of Chapter meetings Simple; light- weight; fast Updated in seconds from Dreamweaver

  26. Next Steps • See how your current website is being handled: • Is it working well for you? • Are changes needed? • New features? • If it’s WordPress already, you now know can access the tools to making it better! • If it’s old-fashioned HTML, this could be the time for a change.

  27. For more information … • Download one or more Tutorials, to study • Check out some chapter sites in SCV: • www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/chapters.html • See what some others look like • Contact that Chapter’s webmaster, to see if s/he can assist • Ask me for a referral! Thanks for your attention … Paul Wesling, p.wesling@ieee.org

More Related