Creating a simple web site using bpfp.org
BPFP.org can provide any partner group with free hosting of a simple web site that includes a web address “yourgroup.bpfp.org.” If you register your own domain, e.g. “yourgroup.org,” web searches can be redirected to this site. This is an easy way to get started.
Partner groups also can group their posted events and news items as a “category,†giving them a searchable web presence that has many uses.
Email Susan Schwartz at f5creeks@gmail.com for help with these.
If you want your own independent web site
Examples: www.ourgroup.com, www.we-are-doing-great-things.net, www.ourneighborhoodpark.org
Start by acquiring your own domain name. Examples: www.ourgroup.com, www.doing-great-things.net, www.ourneighborhoodpark.org
- First, find a name. You can check with your domain registrar company (see #2 below). You can also use whois.net , which will tell you if the name you select is already purchased.
- Pick a name you think represents your group. Keep it short, memorable, and easily written down. Chances are your first choice will already be taken, but you might luck out. I would avoid dashes or underscores, as they will lead to typos and confusion. (Your domain name is not as important as many think. But most of your traffic will come from links from other sites and search engine results.)
- There are several companies out there that handle the selling of names. You buy it and pay a yearly fee (about $10/year in 2009). You can pay your fee annually, or pay several years in advance. One possibility is GoDaddy.com — their prices and services tend to be good. The company that hosts your site (see below) also may provide this service.
- Don’t forget to renew your domain each year or whenever it expires. If you do lose your domain by not renewing it, it may be difficult to get it back.
Once you get your name, you’ll need to tell your registration company where the web site is hosted:
Hosting your site: The computer it runs on.
A host these days will cost you $3-5/month. There are free sites, but they generally do not give a lot of flexibilty, and you may have to put up with ads. (See above for free hosting on BPFP.org.)
There are many good web hosting companies. Read reviews and check prices and what they offer (easy web site creation? free email?) before choosing one.
Running your site
Keep your site simple and easily updated. Many groups create beautiful web site with lots of functions. But if users see that they are out of date, they are likely to conclude that your group is not not active.
Look into free options like those provided by Google. Your host is likely to provide some free options for easily creating a web site. WordPress makes it easy to create a database-driven web site (as do Joomla and Droopal). This has some advantages:
- All the pages reside on the site, which allows you to update the site from anywhere, and multiple people can edit it without worry about who has the most updated version of each page.
- The work of all the code for the site is already done, all you need to do is select a style and add your content.
- There are numerous add-ons and themes (styles) to select from.
This should get you started with making your decisions about your web site.
Links.
- WordPress
- WordPress themes (be sure to click the “Preview” button on the themes that look good to you).
- WordPress Plug ins