Web Building

Protections needed for contract with website design co.?

sls2001 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:42:42 GMT

We are very small non profit hiring a company to build our first real website. It will be 16 pages with 4-6 being what they are calling content rich. They are giving us a good price due to our nonprofit status and the economy. We will have some interactive features, blog, data base, forms, etc later. Nothing is in the contract that says we will own the content, code etc but they will write that in. We intend to learn a CMS and maintain the site ourselves vs a web maintenance contract with the company building the site. I believe the site will be built with PHP? but wordpress was mentioned at one point and nothing is mentioned in the contract. Are there things that we should have in the contract to ensure we are planning for the future? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Good web solutions for managing a project group (community)

npriest — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:40:04 GMT

I'm looking for a good online tool or platform I could use to manage a group of about 75-100 people. Project management "light" meets very basic intranet or community-building functionality. Basic requirements:

project participants can share materials (files, links, possibly video) and best practices (tips, lessons)
project admin can post announcements, news
project admin post suggested resources (links, files, etc.) and tips
project admin can post calendar items (deadlines and training events). Even better if admin can create online registration form but we can plug this in if not

Tools like Google Groups or blogging platforms could handle most of what we need. Am also very tempted to use Facebook because so many potential participants are already there every day anyway.

Have others worked through this decision? Any tools to recommend? If you're using something, is there any feature you find yourself wanting that it doesn't have (to make sure I'm thinking broadly enough about our needs!) Any pros or cons to using something like FB for project-specific group management?

Many thanks!

Change Website Development Help?

mmha — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:34:17 GMT

Hi -

So I am incredibly techno-ignorant here and get a bit lost trying to read all the forums because I'm not familiar with most of the terms used. I was put in charge of maintaining our website, but the program we use, Macro Media Contribute 3 is very cumbersome and our website isn't very functional. So does anyone have a recommendation on what product we should consider changing to? I'd be the only one adding and changing the content. I do know my Executive Director wants the site to be fun, flashy, informative, easy to use, functional. She wants all kinds of media on the site, as well as links. What other information do I need to provide to get the best answer here?

Thanks!

How do you measure your web traffic? And what about privacy for users?

BeckyW — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:35:09 GMT

What tools do you use to measure your site statistics and traffic? Do you use a third-party tool or do you rely on whatever integrated tool your web host offers?

If you've implemented a third-party tool like Google Analytics or even use Webalizer, did you give much consideration to user privacy or letting users know what information is being tracked and shared in a privacy policy or announcement?

Share your tips on site traffic and web analytics tools as well as your experiences with balancing user privacy with your needs to measure traffic and effectiveness of your online communications.

How to get Google Alerts results to appear on blog/website?

ChristaC — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:27:52 GMT

Hi,

One of my nonprofit clients is using Google Alerts to get news, blog posts, etc. about one of its conferences. Now we want to publish the results of those Alerts automaticlly on the conference webpage, so that visitors can see a continual feed of "who's talking" about the conference. Our webpage is built on wordpress.com.

Any idea how I could do this?

website templates for pet adoption org

glura — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:12:15 GMT

Does anyone know of any website templates/frameworks for pet shelters?

Before I go try to build a new site for the pet rescue group I volunteer with, I thought I'd check if there are already some sites available to start with and then customize. I did some searching on the web, but didn't come up with anything.

thanks,

gary

ASP.Net and MS SQL hosting suggestions?

capaadmin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:37:57 GMT

I currently utilize Dreamhost's free non-profit hosting and have been very happy with everything. But a site I need to host utilizes ASP .Net and MS SQL, which they do not support. Can someone recommend a good alternative? Free hosting would be great (but I'm not holding my breath) but if not possible, something fairly inexpensive. This is a non-critical site, but we still would like decent uptime. I honestly don't know what sort of traffic the site experiences. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

looking for hosted, integrated web/backend tools (nonprofit in a box)

MichaelPatrickMcGinnis — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:22:28 GMT

We need to redo our web and put in place some type of cms and create some type of back-end infrastructure to accommodate contact mgmt, online donations, and emailing folks. I'm quite interested in hosted and integrated solutions in that they seem to have numerous built-in efficiencies.

Our needs are very simple and I don't see this as the permanent solution, but basically something to get us out of the starting gate, meet some immediate needs, and be able to function for some time before we make a more serious and thoughtful technology investment (hopefully < 6 months). I'm thinking that as long as we could use custom CSS that we'd be able to make the web-side of things look quite nice and high-end and present at a much higher-level than our very low-end toolset would suggest.

It seems there are two paths: 1) look for an integrated solution to host everything (wild apricot is an example of this type of tool) -- the plus is that there is one-tool, but these types of tools seem to have some limitations; or 2) look for two solutions -- a web solution (using a tool such as squarespace -- which is robust and flexbile) and an everything else solution that would allow us to near-seamlessly integrate with the web.

So, thoughts are very welcome on the two approaches (others?), as well as the tools within this space.

Migrating site to a new webhost - suggestions?

jeffwmorg — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:07:35 GMT

I know there is a topic regarding web hosts already, but there are only a few posts at the end that are current, so I wanted to create a new topic.

The person who was hosting our website will cease it's hosting practice and hence we now have to move our website to another host. Our particular situation might be unique in that we had no experience with setting up the current hosting. The people who did our website redesign about 3 1/2 years ago are the people who coordinated the hosting of the site.

What I know we need is the following: A Linux based server, preferably with a Plesk Control Panel and MySQL databases. We need nearly unlimited bandwidth and a decent amount of storage capability. I am trying to get any additional info from our current host about specifications but contact has been tough to get due to our particular situation.

My main concern is support. Since I have very limited knowledge on the process and our website is a very integral part of our business as it takes care of online sales transactions, I need to ensure that the transfer is done correctly. Would one recommend hiring a Web IT person to oversee the transfer to a new host, or would the support team from the new hosting company be enough?

Any recommendations for hosts would be appreciated. Our website is a bit more complex than what a godaddy or msn type of host could provide.

Jeff

Hmmm.... Making a server process web forms

dvsa — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:30:10 GMT

Hi, my 1st post here, hopefully you can help me w/the problem that led me to this fab. site!

I work at a very small org and don't have a regular IT person, so I try to figure out the tech stuff. We want our website to start accepting forms, like a regular "contact us" form or a registration form that visitors can submit and, ideally, an email would be sent to our generic email address w/all of the info.

However, the server doesn't allow this. The website is in FrontPage, so I am thinking that something needs to be done w/the server so the info from the form can be processed and come through OK on the other end and not be lost on the internets.

Your help is appreciated. Thanks.

Joomla for Nonprofits: What do you think?

BeckyW — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:17:54 GMT

Are you using Joomla as the CMS of choice for your organization? If so, why? What have you liked about it? What haven't you liked?

If you've looked at using Joomla but decided to go with a different content management system, what were your reasons?

Share your insights into how Joomla has or hasn't worked for your nonprofit website here.

We're publishing a new article on the topic and once it's live, I'll post the link in this thread. In the meantime, tell us what you think about Joomla for nonprofits!

Blog Embedding on Existing HTML Website

tpfund — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:20:07 GMT

Hello All,

Our organization is looking into ways in which we can better utilize our existing website to relay information and we decided to have a blog that we will use as our news feed. We have seen several websites where blogs are actually embedded into existing websites and visitors can view blog posts without leaving the original website.

Can anyone help me do this? I know little to nothing about HTML coding and I assume this might have something to do with embedding a blog into the website.

Any suggestions or instructions on how this could be done would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

website image display guidlelines/recommendations for a slideshow

LieseCT — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:39:10 GMT

Hi there,

I volunteer for a non-profit conservation group that would like to create a digital library of their collection of nature photos. I have been asked to find out the recommened length of time that an image should be shown in a slideshow, before automatically being switched to another image. How much time is needed for people to grasp the picture, before moving to the next one.

Has there been any usuablity testing that would provide this information? What other resources are available on this subject?

Any thoughts or suggestion would greatly be appreciated.

How Do I Get My Website Listed In the DMOZ.org Open Directory Project?

greentextbooks — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:03:52 GMT

How Do I Get My Website Listed In the DMOZ.org Open Directory Project?

I have tried several times to get my website http://www.GreenTextbooks.org listed in the DMOZ Open Directory Project with no luck. I have not seen any websites added or changed in the selection I would like in almost two years. Does anyone know how to get your webiste on the fast track for review with them. Thanks in advance for your help.

Suggestions on web designers, companies?

ReinaC — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:02:36 GMT

Hi Everyone,

The organization I work for is considering designing a new website. Do people have recommendations for how to find a web designer, green-conscious web design company, etc? We have a very low budget for this project. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

What is the best open source CMS to build a non-profit website?

jluszcz — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:40:49 GMT

I'm a front end designer with HTML/CSS knowledge, but I am NOT a programmer. I'm building a website for my non-profit which will include a social utility, 2 log-in sections (1 for non-profits / 1 for volunteers), a job board, and a message board/forum. I have access to volunteer developers for the really heavy lifting. But I want to set up the template and make updates myself.

I've looked at Joomla but the instruction is so sloppy it's as if they don't want you to use it. I've been told to explore WordPress, Drupal, and Expression Engine. Is there an open source CMS out there that can handle my needs while still being user-friendly? Thanks to everyone in advance!

WordPress - multiple author blog

Sasha — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:46:45 GMT

Hi,

I am helping someone with a WordPress blog. She wants to allow for multiple authors, who can write original entries under their own log in name. Does anyone know if this can be done in WordPress?

Thanks!

Sasha

Web analytics tools

wcook — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:54:00 GMT

Do you use a Web analytics tool? If so, which tool do you use, and why did you choose it? Have you changed your site because of the data you've collected?

Is your website usable? Find out with these website usability checklists.

Yann — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:00:04 GMT

A usable website is one that is easy to use, efficient, and allows its visitors to accomplish their goals. Is your site usable? You'd be surprised how many people and organizations THINK they have usable site, when in fact they don't.

Below are some handy checklists I've come across that will help you to assess and improve the usability of your site:

Is there an "out-of-the-box" non-profit package for open-source CMS?

georgehwilliams — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:45:30 GMT

Has anyone developed and packaged a standard set of non-profit-ready extensions, modules, and/or plugins for an open-source CMS like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla? I would appreciate any leads.

I'm thinking of something like ScholarPress, a project that describes itself as "a hub for developing WordPress plugins for Education." It seems to me that something similar is needed for the non-profit world.

I realize that non-profit organizations are not all the same, but they have enough of the same needs when it comes to websites that it ought to be possible to create a ready-made package that could be easily installed, allowing the organization to activate only those features that they need.

If such a project does not already exist, I'm interested in creating one. (I'd rather not re-invent the wheel, however, which is why I ask the above question.)

Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice!

--George | http://GeorgeHWilliams.net

Handling Web Hosting: Shared or VPS with Drupal

jass — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:07:58 GMT

We are currently considering moving to a CMS (Drupal). What I've read indicates that the configuration of the host server is very important. We get between 5000 to 7000 hits a month currently but we project our hits in the next year will double, and might triple. So I know that I want a scable solution.

What I've read thus far seems to indicate that a VPS hosting plan would be the best solution to give us the scalability we need and the optimal configuration for Drupal. The problem is that the hosts I've found thus far for VPS, though highly rated by Drupal users, would require us to administer the our slice ourselves. We are a small organization and have an even smaller tech shop (me). In addition I have other responsibilities which are just as important that I have to fulfill.

I'm wondering what solutions others currently have in place or propose for us that might meet our need for a good Drupal hosting solution and our shortage on administrative resources.

Thanks for your help,

Charlotta

Pro Bono Project to Assist Non Profits

vgraupera — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:01:34 GMT

Hi all,

I am working on a project to provide support in creating websites to non profits who need help in this area. I am forming a group of developers and designers who would do this as pro bono work.

If this something that is interesting to your organization please drop me a line.

I am looking to interview some organizations and then select a few to receive this pro bono work.

Best regards,

Vidal Graupera
vgraupera@gmail.com

Incorporating Blog into website

globalhood — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:42:00 GMT

Hi all,

I have just created a blog with wordpress, and I'd like to incorporate this blog into our existing website at www.globalhood.org. I'd like the blog to look like the rest of our website, and also have a URL that's something like www.globalhood.org/blog, rather than www.globalhood.wordpress.org.

I tried reading the Wordpress tutorials on this topic, but found them confusing. If anyone could tell me how to do what I want to do in simple terms, that would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

admindir1 — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:57:00 GMT

I have received an email telling me that I have to have my website checked due to the new security standards that apparantly have been in place since October 2007 (I think). I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. At the time, I was not processing credit cards via my website but am now. Can anyone tell me anything about this?

Online Donations

discount4rh — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Does anybody have a open source ecommerce type application they would recommend for a church? Our current online giving solution is not functioning in the way we desire and we have decided to add the online giving functionality to our own custom PHP app, but I would like to find a PHP open source ecommerce app to start from. I have looked at a few, but they all obviously focus on a storefront type setup and we will be doing donations not purchases. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!