Links for Building Your Own Website
From The Presentation at the PWP International Convention,
July 2000
Updated October 2004
The idea is to have fun and make it fun. Update often to encourage
vistors to come back and let everyone know about it in every meeting
and newsletter. Once you have completed the site, send a message via
the Contact Form to get it approved. Watch
out for copyrighted material and if you get stuck, try visiting the
computer center at a local community college or university. There are
often times folks that will do some work on a non profit site in exchange
for an entry on their resume.
Creating a Page
Decorating It
Hosting It
Message Boards and Mailing Lists (2004)
You may also want to give your community a more interactive feel.
A message board gives your chapter a place where people can read and
reply to messages in an open forum. A mailing list is something similar,
but instead of needing to visit a web site to read and reply, messages
are emailed directly to everyone's inbox. Be careful, though, some
free message list servers have hidden options (that can be turned
off) that will increase the amount of unsolicited email (Spam). Also,
you should make it absolutely clear in description of your mailing
list that joining the list is not the same thing as joining the chapter.
Since most email list servers let just anyone join, you probably should
avoid that solution for that reason. A message board where you can
control the members is probably a much better solution.
Blogs (2004)
Blogs (short for Web Logs) have been around for several years, but
in the last couple years, they have been gaining popularity. They
are being used for everything from individuals keeping daily diaries
to game software companies keeping fans informed of progress. They
are usually free to set up and extremely easy to keep updated. You
can set up calendars of events, information pages, and have a running
commentary of news from the chapter officers without having to worry
about the complicated issues of web site programming. Most of the
time, you only have to worry about the content.
- Blogger (Free with Ads, Small
Fee for Ad-Free)
- TypePad (Small Fee)
- Blog City (Free, Small
Fee for Additional Features)
Of course, you can always ask your friendly International webmaster
any questions you may have in email.
