Your Congregation On The Internet

1
Your Congregation On The Internet

• Christopher G. HigginsManager of Internet and
  New MediaCommunication MinistriesOffice of the
  General Minister and President

Angela HerrmannDirector of Web Site
DevelopmentDisciples Home Missions
2
Web Sites 101

• Primary Function Of Any Web Site
• USEFUL Information
• Where do we find useful content?
• Users
• Congregation members
• Clergy
• Higher Education Organizations
• Regions
• General Ministries
• Other Church/Faith Based Web Sites

3
Web Sites 101

• Top 5 Biggest Mistakes Made On A Church Web
  Site
• Too much text (oversized pages)
• Stale content
• Overdoing it (i.e. Flash, animations, fonts)
• Improper use and handling of images
• Poor, confusing or non-existent navigation

4
Web Sites 101

• 10 User Pet Peeves (In General)
• Audio that plays automatically
• Under Construction
• Pop-Up Ads
• Splash or Flash introductory pages
• Stale Content
• Broken Links
• Moving Text
• Too Little Content
• Too Much Content
• Slow-Loading Web Sites

5
Web Sites 101

• Designing A Web Site
• Plan Your Site! Ask These Questions
• What is the purpose of our web site?
• Who will use our web site?
• What message or information do we want to convey?
• Who will maintain the site?
• Who approves the content on the site?
• How much are we willing to spend for
• Development?
• Hosting?
• Tools, software?

6
Web Sites 101

• Designing A Web Site
• Web Site Development Lifecycle

7
Web Sites 101

• Designing A Web Site
• Tools Of The Trade
• HTML Editor / WYSIWYG Editor
• Macromedia Dreamweaver
• Microsoft FrontPage
• Adobe GoLive
• Sausage Software HotDog
• Microsoft Word
• Image Editor
• Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator
• Specialized Software
• Macromedia Flash

8
Web Sites 101

• Designing A Web Site
• Design should give way to content
• Dont sacrifice your information to the Oooo
  and Awwww factor!
• The latest and greatest technology is NOT for
  everyone.
• Complement the content with nice design but dont
  distract the user.
• Flash has its place within web sites not as a
  web site.
• Keep It Simple!

9
Web Sites 101 - Example
Example of Clean, Simple Design Disciples Connect
10
Web Sites 101

• Designing A Web Site
• Organize your content
• Group information into various pages
• Dont post all information about your church on
  one page
• Bullet points Bullet points Bullet
  points!
• Users dont want to read large bodies of text
• Users want to get their information fast
• Tip Start your content design by placing content
  in an outline and use that outline to design your
  page structure.

11
Web Sites 101
Poor Content Organization
12
Web Sites 101
Good Content Organization
13
Web Sites 101

• Designing A Web Site
• Navigation An often overlooked importance
• Without good navigation, people wont be able to
  move about your site with efficiency
• Clear and Consistent
• Make options obvious in their intent
• Make the navigation consistent throughout the
  entire site.
• Users have to learn a web site in 3 seconds to
  efficiently use it consistency will make that
  happen
• Avoid the notorious Mystery Meat mistake!!

14
Web Sites 101 - Example
Example of Good Navigation Design Global
MinistriesWeb Site
15
Web Sites 101

• Images
• Vector vs. Raster (Bitmap)
• A Vector graphic uses mathematical equations and
  line definitions to create an image
• Good for solid color art, cartoons, graphics,
  etc
• A Raster or Bitmap graphic uses color information
  per a grid of pixels to create an image.
• Good for more complicated images with lots of
  color such as photos.
• Web sites use Raster or Bitmapped Images

16
Web Sites 101

• Images
• Image Types
• JPEG
• Uses a compression to reducefile size
• Good for photos or complexcolor images
• GIF
• Uses an indexed color method to reduce file size
• Good for logos or images with solid or few colors
• PNG not good for web
• BMP not good for web

17
Web Sites 101

• Images
• Image Resolution
• For web sites 72DPI (Dots Per square Inch)
• Higher resolutions are for print quality
• Some digital cameras will shoot at 72, 150, 200,
  250 or 300 dpi.
• Higher resolution is wasted space!
• Image size
• Always size in an image editor not a page
  editor
• Always create thumbnails for galleries

18
Web Sites 101

• Images
• Image Editors
• Adobe Photoshop The Best! (649)
• Adobe Photoshop Elements The Next Best! (89)
• Corel Draw (399)
• Corel PaintShop Pro (79)
• Microsoft Paint
• GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program available
  for Windows)

19
Image Demonstration!
20
Web Sites 101

• ADA Compliance
• Section 508 Standards
• Requires federal departments and agencies design
  and maintain web sites that are accessible to
  disability browsers
• Does not apply to private organizations
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
• Guidelines for designing disability accessible
  sites
• Bobby
• Online service for scanning and checking your
  site for compliance.
• http//webxact.watchfire.com/

21
Web Sites 101

• ADA Compliance
• Tips to keep your site at basic compliance
• Use ALT in image, multimedia and applet
  elements
• Use captions and headings to organize information
  Dont use frames
• Use clear, to-the-point language
• Make sure text can be read without style sheets
• Dont use color alone to convey information
• Use text versions of site, if needed
• Provide text links for any image map links on the
  page.

22
Web Sites 101

• Video and Audio
• Media Delivery Two Basic Types
• Streaming
• Requires a special streaming server to deliver
  the data
• More efficient as it can determine connection
  speeds and deliver content based on client needs
• Allows for changes in media timeline
• Can handle live events
• Progressive Download
• Media posted on HTTP (Web) server
• Not as efficient
• Cannot handle live media

23
Web Sites 101

• Video and Audio
• Types of Media Audio
• MP3
• Compressed format
• Ideal for Podcasting
• Universal
• WAV
• Uncompressed
• Better quality
• Ideal for recording and producing CDs
• Real Audio
• Windows Media Audio

24
Web Sites 101

• Video and Audio
• Types of Media Video
• Windows Media Video
• Real Video
• QuickTime
• Flash
• MPEG
• Which One Should I Use?
• All have their strengths and weaknesses
• All are fairly universal

25
Web Sites 101

• Hosting Providers
• Two Basic Kinds
• Simple hosting services
• Requires good knowledge of web development and
  programming
• Usually less costly
• Template based services
• Build a site from a database of templates
• Easier for those not familiar with web
  development
• Usually costs more

26
Web Sites 101

• Hosting Providers
• Things to watch for
• Advertising
• If you pay for hosting, there should be NO
  advertising on your site!
• If the site is free, most likely there will be
  advertising. Watch these ads to make sure nothing
  inappropriate is displayed. (Stick to faith-based
  hosting companies.)
• Security
• Is the control panel, login, etc. on a secure
  channel?
• Look at sites that use the provider. If needed,
  ask for references and check them!

27
Web Sites 101

• Hosting Providers
• ForMinistry.com
• Webmedley.com
• ChurchQuest.com
• E-zekiel.com
• Churchaddress.com
• Rechurch.com
• GoDaddy.com
• ChurchSquare.com

28
Web Sites 101

• Maintaining Your Web Site
• Who is going to update your site?
• What content or features are they planning on
  updating?
• When, or how often, will they update the site?
• Where do they do the site update? Home? Church?
  School? Starbucks?
• Why does it need to be updated?
• How will they update the site?

29
Web Sites 101

• Maintaining Your Web Site
• Dont leave it up to one person
• Have a backup webmaster handy in case of
  emergency or the primary person is not available.
• Backup Your Web Site OFTEN!
• CD or DVD ROM Backups of the site will insure
  data security and will provide a record of the
  history of the site.
• Dont trust hosting providers backup
• Set your web site as your homepage in the church
  office

30
Podcasting

• What Is It And Can I Use It?
• Podcasting iPod broadcasting
• Despite the name, podcasting was not originally
  developed for only the iPod.
• Multimedia file distributed by a syndication feed
  for playback on a computer or portable media
  player.
• Originally used for audio blogs (web logs) or
  audioblogging.
• Used in ministry for sermons, services,
  commentary, educational lectures, etc

31
Podcasting

• How It Works

A user subscribes to aPodcasting feed.
The client downloadsany new content filesand
stores them forlater playing
The client requests the feedfrom a web server
and checksfor new content.
32
Podcasting

• How To Produce A Podcast
• Two Basic Ways
• Online services that help produce and host your
  podcasts
• podomatic.com
• icancast.com
• mediablog.mail2web.com
• mypodcasts.net
• podshowcreator.com
• audioblog.com
• Create and host a podcast on your existing
  services

33
Podcasting

• How To Produce A Podcast
• DIY Some Basic Tools
• Audio Editor
• To record and edit the audio for your podcast
• Feed Editor
• To create the syndication feed for your podcast
• Hosting Service
• To host the feed and audio file
• This can be an existing web service
• File Transfer Software (FTP)
• This transfers the audio and feed files to the
  hosting service

34
Podcasting

• How To Produce A Podcast
• Basic Steps
• Record Edit The Audio
• Create/Edit The Syndication Feed
• Upload The Files
• Optional Submit your podcast to public
  directories

35

• QUESTIONS?
• COMMENTS?
• DISCUSSION?

36

• Be sure to subscribe to the Disciples Webmaster
  Forum at www.disciples.org!
• If you would like the PowerPoint presentation
  used in this resource group, please email
  chiggins_at_cm.disciples.org.