Why would a Lions Club want to have a web site? That's not a rhetorical question. It is the first question you should ask yourself and your club if you are even thinking about having a presence on the World Wide Web. Just a few valid reasons for having a club website might be to:
A good website will make people want to return to it in the future. Here are some things that turn site visitors off:
The actual process of creating a web site can be very simple, or it can be as difficult as you desire (as in full time job). The site can be free or it can cost a small amount ($10/month) to a great deal of money. If simple and free appeals to you - you have come to the right place. Bear in mind that free web space usually comes with an attachment - advertising. If you are willing to accept the fact that anyone using your website will see some advertising, then free web space is the way to go. The ProcessEstablish who is to create and maintain the website. This should be a Board decision, but if you are the one broaching the subject and showing interest, then you know what the Board decision will be. Only one person should be in control of the website. Plan the site: Decide on its contents, the process for getting something on the site, who will write the information, how much personal info should appear on the site (not too much - remember, potentially anyone in the world can view your site), what photos to use (if any), etc. Create the site: Don't forget to provide contact info (email address) so website users can contact someone responsible. Finally, don't forget to contact the 36-O webmaster so that he can provide a link to your new site. Check this out!A new free and easy webpage service for Lions Clubs is found on LionNet and is provided by the Lions of Turkey, MD-118. Besides being free and easy, the most amazing thing about this service is that there is no advertising! This service is also WAP compatible (Wireless Application Protocol) so that it can be viewed on certain cell phones (if you're into hi tech toys.) To find out about this service and to see an example page go to: http://www.lionnet.com/lionwap.html It doesn't get any easier, or cheaper, than this. On the Other Hand...Perhaps you would like a little more freedom of design than lionnet.com can offer. If so, consider the free webspace that most Internet service providers give their members. Most providers give members 2-5 or more MB of free space, and many (ie. AOL) provide free tutorials and even free web authoring programs to get you started. Other sources to consider are:
If you feel the urge to become a Web-nerd and do some no-holds-barred Web creating, then get a book (local library) on HTML (Hypertext Markup Language, the language of the Web). It's not difficult to learn (at least the basics) and armed with that and a simple text editing program you can create very sophisticated web pages. You can learn a lot just by downloading (save to your hard drive as HTML files) and studying Web pages that you think are good (or bad). Why reinvent the wheel? A more productive approach is to invest in a good Web authoring program ($100-$400). Using a Web authoring program to write HTML vs. writing HTML using a text editor is like comparing a word processor to a pencil. Some experts will say that you can write better code with a text editor, but writing HTML isn't really writing code (as in a computer programing language) and most modern Web authoring programs allow you to write raw HTML whenever you feel the urge to tighten things up a bit. By far the best piece of advice that I could give anyone interested in Web site design and creation is to go to http://tlc-systems.com. There you will find:
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