Transcript Calendars

Passing Along Traditions of
Learning
Welcome to
622 Websites &
Newsletters
Presented by:
Jim Graney
Course Description
Learn the nuts and bolts to creating
your unit newsletters that are not only
informative, but fun to look at as well.
Learn the tricks of the trade for creating
and deploying a unit web site.
Why do we want a
newsletter or website?
To communicate information with or about
our Unit.
To be effective communication, the idea
must be clearly sent and clearly received.
Common Elements of Good
Newsletter / Website Design
Clear
The information needs to be easily received.
Accurate
The information needs to be true and correct.
Timely
The information needs to be received while it is still
usable.
Consider your Audience
Are you trying to communicate to the
members of your Unit?
Are you trying to communicate to others
ABOUT your Unit?
Tailor your information to your
audience
If you are trying to convey a message to
non-Scouts, remember that most people
don’t know what a Blue & Gold Banquet or
Camporee may be.
Avoid specific acronyms such as BALOO
or CSBLT or YPT, unless your specific
audience regularly uses them.
What is News?
News is any new information or
information on current events which is
presented by print, broadcast, internet, or
word of mouth to a third party or mass
audience.
Wikipedia
Newsletters
A newsletter is a regularly distributed
publication generally about one main topic
that is of interest to its subscribers.
Wikipedia
Usually, Units publish newsletters to pass
information to their Unit members.
How do I create a newsletter?
The simplest way is to use a computer
program such as Word or Publisher.
You can also type or handwrite the
information and cut & paste the pieces,
then make copies.
Content
The single most important factor for your
newsletter should be the content.
You can get your content from many
different sources, then compile it into your
newsletter.
Have each Den or Patrol submit some
information or an article.
What should I include in my
newsletter?
Upcoming events
Meetings
Camps
Unit Events
Council Events
Committee news
Reviews of recent events
Stories
Calendar
Polls
Sign-up information
Anything that your audience may enjoy, that is in line
with Scouting ideals.
How often do I need to make a
newsletter?
That is determined by your Unit’s needs.
1 newsletter detailing the exact yearly schedule
is likely to be inaccurate in a short time.
Consider:
Quarterly
Monthly
Weekly
Factor in the effort and time to make then
distribute your newsletter.
– Don’t spend 2 months to make a newsletter that only serves a purpose
for 1 month.
Layout
 Think of a newspaper. The articles are arranged in a manner to
make them easy to read.
 Use short headlines to capture attention.
 Use ‘full justification’ to neatly align the sides of the text.
 Use whitespace to emphasize the text within it.
 Use columns and organize them so that they keep your ideas
together.
 Consider a table of contents if your newsletter is more than a couple
pages.
Columns
Whitespace
FULL
Justified
Text
Short
Headlines
Graphics / Photos
Use pictures to get people’s attention and
draw them into the text.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but
are they the correct words that you want to
convey.
Use your picture along with the text to tell
the story.
What does this say?
Brave Scout
climbs his
way to the
top.
Scared boy
clings on for
dear life.
OR
Fonts
Fonts or Typefaces can come in many shapes
and forms.
abc abc abc abc abc abc abc
Make your text large enough to read.
Use fonts that are easily readable and use the
same font consistently within each article.
Limit the number of different fonts that you use
throughout your newsletter.
Do I need color?
Remember that content is the most important
part of your newsletter.
Color may be useful, but it should not be
necessary. Color can add considerable cost to
reproduction.
Consider using colored paper for your newsletter
if you want the whole thing to stand out.
Proofread
Your information will be less well-received if
there are misspellings, grammatical errors, or
inaccurate information.
Errors may make it difficult to understand.
Have at least one other person, preferably two
or more, proofread the information before you
publish it. Tell them to be critical.
Websites
A website is a collection of Web pages, images,
videos or other digital assets that is hosted on
one or more web servers, usually accessible via
the Internet.
A Web page is a document, typically written in
HTML, that is almost always accessible via
HTTP, a protocol that transfers information from
the Web server to display in the user's Web
browser.
Wikipedia
In Layman’s Terms
A website is a group of related
computer newsletters found in the
same location.
How do I create a website?
You need a domain name
www.myunit.com
You need a web host
A web host provides you with the space, tools and
support to create your web pages
You need to design the webpages
MS Front Page or some other HTML editor
– HyperText Markup Language
Sound complicated??
It can be
You have a few options:
– Hire someone to do it for you
– Find a parent who knows how to do it
– Learn how to do it yourself
– Or find a happy medium
Sound complicated??
There are a number of online webhosts
that offer a domain name, site hosting, and
web design in one simple package.
www.homestead.com
$20 set up fee
$4.99 per month
www.escoutz.com
No set up fee
$29.95 per year
WEBSITE
BASICS
Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms
BANNER
BANNERS
Banners can be found on many websites,
usually in the form of advertising.
They are usually in a format that is wide
and short, or narrow and tall, hence the
name ‘banner’.
This can be an integral part of your Unit’s
visual identification to tie together all of
your self-promotion.
Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms
NAVIGATION
TREE
NAVIGATION TREE
A visual aid to help navigate through the
many different pages of a website.
An easy reference to show where you
have been and where you may want to go.
Can be thought of as a table of contents.
Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms
LINKS
LINK / HYPERLINK
It is a visual representation of a pointer
whereby someone can navigate to that
other linked file or document by simply
clicking on it.
Frequently depicted in blocks of text by the
font color being blue.
Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms
GRAPHICS
GRAPHICS/PHOTOS
Help stimulate the mind and make a
webpage more interesting.
Graphics & photos are larger files, taking
up more space and they may load slower.
Don’t forget to Hyperlink your pictures too!
Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms
CALENDARS
CALENDARS
Online calendars are the easiest way to
show upcoming events to a lot of people.
These MUST, MUST, MUST be accurate
and up to date or they do more harm than
good.
Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms
FORMS
FORMS
Allow your Unit members to access common
forms they may want to print.
Keep the forms current and accurate.
Use file formats that almost everyone can view.
The 2 most common are:
.pdf , Adobe’s Portable Document File
.doc , Microsoft Word
It is easier to link to a form already at another
site, rather than add the form to your site.
National Council Guidelines
www.scouting.org/webmasters/units.aspx
While units and members act as private
individuals when communicating with the
public, the National Council provides the
following advice for those who use the
Internet to promote and support their units
or to communicate to the public about
Scouting:
National Council Guidelines
Decorum
– Scouters should exercise propriety and good
taste. Remember that the Internet (including
Web sites, chat rooms, bulletin boards, and
even e-mail messages) is a public medium.
Your conduct reflects not only on yourself and
your unit, but also on the entire Scouting
movement whenever the audience knows you
are a Scouter.
National Council Guidelines
Personal Safety
– While most Internet users are honest, there is a
criminal element that seeks information as a way to
gain access to victims. For that reason, be especially
careful about providing any personal information—
names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc. Always
get written permission before posting personal
information about adult volunteers, and never publish
personal information about youth members. If you
display or post images of adult and youth members
involved in Scouting activities on your Web site, you
should first obtain written permissions from the adults
and the parents or guardians of any youth members.
National Council Guidelines
Legal Issues
– Myriad federal and state laws govern publishing in any
medium, including the Internet—copyright
infringement, privacy of information, defamation, etc.
You should familiarize yourself with these laws so you
can ensure that the information you publish doesn't
create any legal problems for you or your chartered
organization. Key among these legal issues are that
(1) you should never collect personal information
about youth members over the Internet, and (2) you
should never reproduce or display on your Web sites
content from some other source without written
permission.
National Council Guidelines
BSA Policies and Procedures
– All policies and procedures that apply to any
activity are still in effect when that activity is
conducted on the Internet. For example, any
online recruiting must be done in accordance
with policies and procedures that govern
offline recruiting.
Basic Ethics
Create your website with the best interests
of Scouting in mind.
Protect your Scouters. Don’t display their
full names and/or personal information.
Be mindful of Copyright issues.
Advertise your Website
Tell everyone where to find your website.
Print your website address on all your
literature.
Remind your Scouters to check the
website and suggest improvements.
Absolutely necessary
Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise
Do NOT let your site become Static.
Good websites change & evolve.
Passing Along Traditions of
Learning