Transcript - the Home Page of the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust

Websites for Conservation Groups
by Peter Cooper
Rimutaka Forest Park Trust
Workshop Structure & Outline
 Title: Promoting your conservation project effectively on the
World Wide Web
 Description: This workshop is aimed at helping conservation
project personnel to appreciate the substantial benefits a
dedicated website can bring to their promotional efforts. In nontechnical terms it will cover such practical issues as:
 Getting started – what you need – a step by step guide
 Simple web design principles for persuasive and engaging
conservation sites
 Accessing top-quality, inexpensive (or free) web-hosting services
locally
 Using the Internet to reduce administrative costs, recruit
volunteers and woo sponsors
About me…

Webmaster and committee member for Rimutaka Forest Park Charitable
Trust

ISP (Internet Service Provider) and Web designer since 1994
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Former eCommerce Solutions Manager for US multinational
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Graduate of Wellington Teacher’s College, but ended up specialising in
adult Training & Development/ O.D.

Fell in love with computers & software whilst working with Exxon
subsidiary, Gilbarco, in Sydney in the early 1980s
 (it’s been downhill ever since – my latest mistress is a laptop!!)

Since returning to EnZed after 30 years of globe-trotting abroad, I have
indulged my life-long passion for tramping and the great outdoors by
getting involved with local conservation groups and restoration efforts
Top Ten Reasons why you should have a
website…
 It’s not hard to do
 It costs very little
 The rewards and cost savings can be enormous
 The visibility of your organisation’s goals & aspirations
can be greatly enhanced
 It’s a great way to secure volunteers
 It makes it easier for you to raise funds, gain grants
and receive donations
Top Ten Reasons why you should have a
website… (Continued)
 It’s the most cost-effective form of publicity
 Unlike a brochure, a website works for your Cause 24
hours a day, 7 days a week and has global reach
 It’s a great way to give recognition to your “heroes &
helpers”
 It’s a terrific way to disseminate your brochures,
application forms and press releases, etc.
Sure, the Internet has its Problems…
iracy
lagiarism
ornography
aedophiles
redators (including terrorists)
arental anxiety
rivacy invasion (AKA Identity theft)
(Let’s not forget those other scourges; Phishing, Spyware, Spam, Trojans
and Viruses!!)
But look at what it has given us!
How the Internet has permanently changed the way we do most things these days

eMail & Instant Messaging

WWW, Blogs & RSS feeds

Voice Over Internet Protocol

P2P file sharing, Intranets, VPNs, WANs

Superb resource for homework/ research/
supplier & competitor analysis

Internet Banking

Online Trading/ eCommerce

Low-cost distributed/ grid computing

Online maps, training, gaming, radio, TV,
Video on Demand, eDating,

Comprehensive, up-to-the-minute weather
forecasts, traffic & news reports and sports
results

Another media-rich channel for marketing
our conservation causes

Unprecedented access to Government and
Local Body records and services

Cheaper, faster, better ways of billing our
customers, keeping them informed of our
products and services/ special offers, etc.

Instant online reservations and bookings for
flights, accommodation and other travel
arrangements

Access to the latest books, software, techtoys and movies/ TV shows/ music etc. often for free - or at a huge discount from
retail
“Killer Combinations”

The “Killer Combo” – Browsers & the W.W.W.

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The “Killer Application” – eMail


Google, LiveSearch, Yahoo, AltaVista, Excite, etc.
The “Telecoms’ Domination Killers” – VoIP, Instant Messaging, VPNs


Where have all those expensive, old proprietary protocols gone?
The “Killer Research Tool” – Search Engines

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Bringing about the demise of telex/ facsimiles/ snail mail, etc. because of its superior
benefits: Immediacy, low cost, flexibility, utility, ease of use
The “Killer Network Protocol” – TCP/IP

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Allowing distributed computing and online communications & global collaboration,
trading and eCommerce
Voice over Internet Protocol, Skype, Virtual Private Networks, WANs, etc.
The “Killer File Formats”

ZIP, TAR, JPEG, GIF, MPEG, MP3, PDF, HTML, XML, DHTML,CSS, etc.
Smarter, faster, better, cheaper…
Standing out from the crowd

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Don’t spend tens of thousands on a Yellow Pages Ad, or print-media, radio or TV
advertisements unless you are also promoting your website URL on it!!!
Web hosting is super cheap in EnZed – you can get 10 megs of space and full
services from as little as $1pw
It is easy to design, build and maintain your own website if you have the time &
inclination, a computer and access to the Internet – and, it’s a lot of fun!
If you don’t have the skills or inclination, get someone who has to do it for you,
then teach you how to update and maintain it, ongoing
Intelligent use of the Internet allows you to maximise publicity and minimise your
administrative costs – Depending on the size of your organisation, you can save
thousands of dollars annually on billing, postage, printing, advertising, telephone
bills, facsimile paper, travel, banking and customer service costs, simply by getting
your Internet act together!
Key Success Factors for Conservation websites

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Clear content
Simple messages (K.I.S.S.)
Attractive, logically-structured presentation
Easy to follow navigation scheme
Designed from the ground up with search engines and prospective
visitors’ queries in mind
Constant revision and updating of the site to encourage repeat visits
and better search engine rankings
Constant promotion of your website address in everything you do/ all
of your marketing efforts
Honour your “Heroes and Helpers”
Celebrate your successes and “manage” your public relations
Getting Started… Web Design
 Choices: - D.I.Y. or bring in the pros?
 Consider sponsorship
 Consider the use of a Content Management System such as
Joomla! or Mambo
 Choose an attractive existing Cascading Style Sheet (CSS). You
can download them from the ‘Net or create your own from
scratch.
 Plan the content and navigation structure of your website
meticulously. Flow charts are very helpful planning tools in this
regard
 Applying the K.I.S.S. principle is vital, intially at least!
Some pitfalls to avoid…
 Don’t make it too flashy!
 Avoid reliance on 3rd party add-ins/ media players
 Optimise your images so they download faster
 Don’t skimp on disk space
 Set a moderate target screen resolution – say 1024 by 768 – as
opposed to 640 by 480 (too low) or 1600 by 1200 (too high)
 Avoid coloured text on a dark background and garish colour
schemes in general…
Getting Started… Web Hosting
 Choose a web host – ask your current ISP first, but be prepared
to shop around
 Low-cost, high-quality web-hosting services are available in New
Zealand at very competitive rates
 Key choices to make revolve around:
 Disk space allowance (Do you need 10 megabytes or 100 megabytes
initially?)
 Traffic allowance (Gigabytes/ month)
 Web server capabilities to match your production requirements
(e.g. PHP/ MySQL or ASP, FrontPage Extensions, eMail services
etc.)
 Site administration services and statistics monitoring
Register a
Domain Name
• Examples: rimutakatrust.org.nz, savethekiwi.org.nz
• Consider .com; .org.nz; .co.nz; etc. according to the focus &
structure of your conservation organization
Choose a
Web Host
• Example: KiwiWebHost offers $1 a week full-service hosting
for 10mb space, 5 email addresses + 1Gb traffic/ month
• Your local council may offer free hosting for eligible entities
Create a
web site
• DIY or professionally designed
• Consider sponsorship and/or secure specific funding grant to
get you started. Ongoing annual costs are relatively low
• Maintain ongoing interest in your site & conservation efforts by
frequently changing or updating your content to encourage return visits
Update your • Use maps, graphics, cool photos, news releases and consider “Blogs”
site often
Publicise
constantly
Exploit the
Internet
• Put your domain name and primary email address on all of your
literature, correspondence, signage and press releases
• Constantly and shamelessly promote your website to all who will listen!
• Take advantage of the enormous cost savings that the Internet offers
• Put all of your brochures, newsletters, membership application forms,
donation & sponsorship forms, administrative forms etc. online
Rimutaka Forest Park Trust website
 Site visits and traffic have
built steadily over the past
year – Last month we had
over 22,200 “hits” and
thousands of visitors from all
around the world
 It costs us less than $200 a
year to maintain
 It is updated every month
and sometimes more
frequently
 We plan to expand it to
encompass more of our
operations
http://www.rimutakatrust.org.nz
Rimutaka Forest Park Trust website
 W3C Standards compliant –
relies on XHTML and
Cascading Style Sheets only –
no JavaScript or PHP etc. Very
simple!
 Originally created using a
beta version of Microsoft
Expression Web – the first
such site in New Zealand
 A copy of this presentation
will be available on our
website at
www.rimutakatrust.org.nz
Restoration Day 2008
Peter Cooper – RFPT
[email protected]
[email protected]
021 111 5630