Transcript Slide 1

A presentation by
Websites for Talking Newspapers
ASTN Techy Talk - Inchyra Grange Hotel, Grangemouth, FK2 0YB – 09 April 2011
Websites for TNs
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Why have a website?
What are the various components involved?
What is involved in setting up a website?
What skills and knowledge are needed?
What costs are involved?
What help is available?
Questions
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But first let’s explode a few myths
• Myth 1 – Websites are expensive
– Not necessarily, you can create your own website
pages using a word processor and have them
hosted by a free web hosting service.
• Myth 2 – The technology is complicated and
demands a lot of expert knowledge
– The technology is complex but using it isn’t - just
as driving a car doesn’t demand expertise in
motor engineering. But you will have to acquire a
few basic skills.
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Why have a website?
• Promotion of your service
• Provides easy access to the information and
advice on how listeners can obtain your
service
• Can provide volunteer contact details and
duty rosters (in a restricted access section)
• Can provide on-line distribution of your audio
material
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The components involved
Servers
Internet
Internet
Clients
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The main components in more detail
Data
Base
Web Host
(Server)
http
Server
Port 80
ftp
Server
Web
Pages
http://www.domain.org.uk/page.html
Port 21
Internet
Web
Browsing
Client
PC
(Client)
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FTP
Client
Off Line Data
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Before you start
• Decide what you want your site to do
– Simply display static information on one or more
pages
– Display frequently changing information (e.g.
latest TN news)
– Provide for two way data exchange (a member’s
forum, applications for membership etc.)
– Stream or download your audio material
– Provide password protected sections for
volunteers and/or listeners
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Before you start
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Decide what you want your site to do
Decide if you want your own domain name
Decide what your level of expertise is
Decide what your budget is.
Write down your decisions on the above as
your Top Level Requirements – this will help
you plan and manage the project.
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Key Cost Considerations
• Domain name registration
– Your own private domain (e.g. www.mytn.org.uk )
will cost around £5 to £10 per annum to register
– Some hosting service providers bundle the cost of
a private domain name in their charges
– Some service providers provide a free domain
name but usually only as a sub domain (e.g.
www.mytn.serviceprovidersname.co.uk)
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Key Cost Considerations
• Domain name registration
• Hosting services
– Type of hosting service required (dictated in part by
the functionality of the site and partly by the TN’s
technical expertise.
– Server storage (dictated by site design, typically
500MB to 1 GB is adequate)
– Bandwidth required (usually 2 – 5 GB per month will
suffice)
– Complexity/functionality of the site
– Costs can range from FREE to £50 per annum.
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Key Cost Considerations
• Domain name registration
• Hosting services
• Site design and maintenance
– Professional web design services can be expensive, get a
quotation up front against your detailed requirements.
– Site maintenance splits into two parts
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2.
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Looking after the site generally, resolving problems, adding new
pages etc. (could need a degree of technical expertise)
Maintaining the dynamic content of the site – in a well designed
site this should be achievable by anyone comfortable with using
the internet.
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Key Cost Considerations
• Domain name registration
• Hosting services
• Site design and maintenance
We shall now look at each of these in more detail
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Hosting
• Most TNs needs will be adequately met by a
hosting service provider.
• Hosting services are sold as packages
• Make sure you have a clear idea of what you
want your web site to do and contain and also
what your access to the relevant knowledge and
skills will be before making final decisions on this.
• WEBHOSTING UK is a hosting service provider
which frequently appears near the top of most
comparison websites – it’s worth checking out
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Types of Hosting Packages
• Use of a whole server – not a good option for TNs
• Share of a server – also not a realistic option for TNs
• Share of server on which the hosting company has installed all of the
basic software and infrastructure for you to establish and operate a
web site – Good choice for a TN that has some technical expertise
available to it.
• Share of space on a web site. The host company has set up the actual
website, you simply supply and manage your set of pages on the site.
The service provider may supply template pages and page creation
tools as part of the package – Good option for TNs with low technical
skills.
• Entrusting the supply of your complete web site needs to a web design
and operating organisation who will design, establish and maintain
your site (including the supply of the hosting and operating services this could even include the supply of your own domain name).
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Domain Names
• A domain name, like domain.co.uk is associated
with an IP address like 123.456.789.012
• More than one domain name can be associated
with an IP address.
• An IP address is the unique address of a single
node in a network – the internet is a wide area
network.
• The association of the domain name to IP address
pairing is dynamically handled by domain name
servers (DNS).
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Registering a Domain Name
• When you establish a service with a hosting provider you
will be provided with an IP address which is unique to you
and which will be associated with a domain name like
yourservername.hostingcompanyname.co.uk
• Go to a domain registration company like easily.co.uk and
buy one like mytn.org.uk. The registrar will place this on
their DNS servers which you can then access to setup the
control parameters.
• You do this by using the DNS management tool which is
provided to set up a pointer to your web server and also
any mail addresses. Here is Hamilton Sound’s DNS setup
• The name and it’s associated entries will then take up to 24
hours to be replicated across the world’s DNS servers.
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Web site building
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How much you have to do when creating a web site depends on the tool sets
you opt for but all options require you to think carefully about your
requirements first.
The cost of designing and deploying a site to satisfy your requirements will
depend on your own TN’s access to voluntary technical skills – the more you
can do in-house the cheaper it becomes.
Professional web developers can offer a ‘one stop shop’ package but expect
this to be relatively expensive (say £100 to £150 per page)
If you can create detailed ‘mock-ups’ of your pages using, for example, MS
Word or MS Publisher (which is better for this) you can ameliorate these costs
if having them built professionally, or avoid wasting valuable time if building
your own.
You could consider beginning with a relatively simple site to get things started
and as you gain experience progress in stages towards your ultimate goal.
But it is still important to have a clear set of final objectives in mind before you
start.
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Web site building tools
• MS Word or MS Publisher could be considered as a starting
point.
• Choose a web site building tool that suits your own technical
abilities but which can be used to create a professional
looking website without employing a professional.
• Check your web hosting service provider – they may offer a
Website Creation package with ready made templates.
• There are three ‘Open Source’ web content management
(CMS) tools currently available that you might consider –
Joomla, Drupal and Wordpress. They are all widely used, well
supported and free. I’ll cover these now.
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Content Management Systems (CMS)
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Table driven – no original HTML coding required
The whole site is put together by means of configuration – the rendered pages are
then produced automatically.
Lot’s of plug-ins and ready made components available to add special features –
again no HTML scripting needed.
The whole site is backed up very simply by taking a copy of the database.
Because of this, the whole site can be instantly recovered, or ported to a new
server.
Built in security features that keep your site and data free from hackers and
malicious use.
If a professional web site creator were asked to use one of these to create your site
the cost would be much less than a totally bespoke design.
Site maintenance features ease the task of keeping your data up to date and allow
design changes to be quickly and easily implemented.
Installation is easy – simply unzip a set of folders and files (as downloaded from
the provider’s web site) to the relevant area on the hosting server and run a
simple installation script.
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Wordpress
• Simple to use and fast to set up
• Works well ‘straight out of the tin’ with little or no
configuration. A great way to get started.
• Principally aimed at blogging and information sites.
• Additional features difficult to introduce but ideal for a TN
which wants to keep things simple and initially only provide
information and a forum for the exchange of ideas.
• Avoid if you are wishing to achieve greater things from the
outset or be prepared to switch horses to one of the other
two at a later time.
• Here is a live site – Coventry TN using Wordpress
http://www.talkingnewspaper.org.uk/
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Drupal
• Drupal probably has a slight edge on Joomla as a platform for
professional developers because of the unrestricted way it can be
extended and developed.
• But it can a bit daunting for anyone with limited technical skills
• It is suggested that Drupal should only be considered if you are
entrusting design and development to a professional or highly
competent amateur.
• It could be the next step up if your website needs outgrow Joomla
for example.
• It has a good set of site maintenance tools.
• Here is a live site – Warwickshire Association for the Blind using
Drupal http://www.wa4b.org.uk/talking-newspaper-serviceswarwickshire
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Joomla
• This is probably the best choice for most TNs because it can be
developed to a fairly sophisticated level without recourse to
professional skills.
• It does take a bit of familiarisation and practice to take advantage of
all its features but striking results can be quickly achieved whilst the
learning curve is followed.
• Because of the comprehensive catalogue of templates, add-on
modules and plug-ins it can satisfy every conceivable need of any
TN without resorting to bespoke coding.
• Here is a live site constructed using Joomla –
http://hamiltonsound.co.uk
• Let’s now have a look at the same site backstage through the
administration portal http://hamiltonsound.co.uk/administrator
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Website maintenance
• Think about this before you start
• Any website containing out of date information or
broken links infuriates users and will scare them away
• Design in the content management features as you go
along (you may need to create a special set of pages)
• Ensure that your website maintainers are properly
trained and rostered.
• If possible separate content administration from
technical administration by having different levels of
access and authority
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CMS Comparisons
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Front end
Back end
Wordpress
Wordpress
Drupal
Drupal
Joomla
Joomla
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Scenario 1 – Low budget
• Use a free web hosting service provider
• Use a free domain name – try here - or use a subdomain
provided by your internet service provider or webhosting
provider.
• Design your site in-house using MS Word (you can save
your completed design as an HTML document).
• Expect to be limited in the number of pages your site can
have and you may have to accept inserted advertising.
• The site will almost certainly need to be static
• Your site may also be difficult to find using search engines
such as Google
• Have a look at this comparison website for ideas and be
sure to look at http://www.zymic.com/
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Scenario 2 – Medium Budget
• Use a commercial web hosting provider but the free
web hosting provider http://www.zymic.com/ could
also be an option.
• Design your own site using MS Word, MS Publisher or a
Web Creation Tool (based on templates and often
provided by the web hosting provider) – this doesn’t
require any technical knowledge to use – basic word
processing skills are adequate.
• Alternatively use Wordpress or Joomla
• Set up costs will be very low – recurring annual costs
could be under £50.
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Scenario 3 – High budget
• In the extreme case – a professional company can
provide a one-stop shop solution which would
include domain name registration, site design, set
up, web hosting and site technical support and
maintenance.
• Don’t forget though – you still have to provide
web content management.
• There are many intermediate solution
permutations between the Low and High
Scenarios I have covered here.
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On-line media storage
• If you plan to offer an on-line archive downloading and
streaming service the costs of this may become prohibitive
if you use the web hosting server.
• Amazon web services offers a low cost alternative solution
called Simple Storage Service (S3) which is part of their
Cloud Computing Services Offerings.
• Storage costs around $0.14 per GB per month
• Data transfers out cost $0.10 per GB per month
• Data transfers in are FREE.
• We access our S3 repository using a plug-in feature
available for Firefox
• Hamilton Sound’s Data Archive (going back a year) and total
streaming costs work out at about $1 per month (about 65
pence)
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Other Tools
• MS Word or MS Publisher – great for drafting
your design proposals. MS Publisher has
some HTML Templates to get you started.
• HTML Editors (freeware?) try Mozilla
SeaMonkey
• FTP Clients (freeware?) try FileZilla
• Sandbox server - XAMPP
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Getting more help
• Contact ASTN
• Visit forums or look at on-line tutorials on web
site building – use Google to find them.
• Website hosting service providers usually have
pretty good FAQ sections and support sections
• Speak to a TN who has established a website.
• Approach a professional
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Questions
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