Host for .gov Domain

[a2capt]

Yup, which is what makes dealing with .. "frustrating".

[Al Sayre]

Never met the guy, but it always makes me wonder if somebody read Catch 22 too many times (think Major Major Major).

[JeffDG]

Yup, which is what makes dealing with .. "frustrating".

I like the concept of making dealing with the CAP.GOV domain a PITA, then when people flee to .ORG or .US and such, turning around and asking the CSAG to make CAP.GOV mandatory.

[a2capt]

Especially given the irony that even NHQ chose to flee..

[JeffDG]

Anybody hear what happened at the CSAG meeting last month when that was discussed?

[Tim Day]

The .gov isn't that much of a PITA. The requirements do drive more expensive hosting (for example, we had to go to a virtual private server) because of changes that need to be made which would impact other users of shared hosting. However - $40 / month is well within a Wing's budget. The hosting company tech support and cap.gov domain admin participated in some back-and-forth over a few days until everything passed.

We're able to run WordPress and MYSQL, though security measures have to be taken. We've chosen to use WordPress multi-site, and the cap.gov Domain Admin provided the wildcard subdomain (pointed to our dedicated IP) so that we can run the subdomain version of wPMU, meaning we'll be able to host sites for our units like mysquadron.mywing.cap.gov.

This is somewhat experimental, so a couple of months from now it could all collapse. But so far so good.

[Eclipse]

I'm sorry, but that's $480 more then any wing should be spending on Web services.

[Spaceman3750]

I'm sorry, but that's $480 more then any wing should be spending on Web services.

I have yet to see a Google site that I actually like, especially since they plaster their stuff at the bottom of your page.

That said, it is easy and doesn't require an IT person to run, which is both good and bad.

[JeffDG]

I'm sorry, but that's $480 more then any wing should be spending on Web services.

I have yet to see a Google site that I actually like, especially since they plaster their stuff at the bottom of your page.

That said, it is easy and doesn't require an IT person to run, which is both good and bad.

You can turn off their stuff in the footer.

[Eclipse]

I think there's actually a couple things you can't, but regardless.

Get the organization, nationally, to bare minimum (i.e. every unit has a contact page and a general, current news feed)
and then talk about "fancy" or "Like" - there's thousands of businesses that use nothing but Sites
to run their whole web presence, including ecommerce back ends.

The key is the content, not the format - look at the abomination that is Drudge Report, and Reddit is essentially
just a forum engine, yet these are some of the most heavily traffic sites on the web.

[Tim Day]

I'm sorry, but that's $480 more then any wing should be spending on Web services.

Really? To provide hosting for subdomains for every squadron and group in the wing plus special sites on demand for for encampments, etc?

[JeffDG]

I'm sorry, but that's $480 more then any wing should be spending on Web services.

Really? To provide hosting for subdomains for every squadron and group in the wing plus special sites on demand for for encampments, etc?

Costs me $0 from Google.  Plus I get 30GB of storage (per member), e-mail, shared calendars, mailing lists, instant messaging, video conferencing, plus more stuff I haven't tapped yet.

[Eclipse]

^ Yep.

Unlimited users, practically unlimited space, no ads.

Turn.

Key.

[a2capt]

Click.

Done.

[Tim Day]

I'm familiar with Google Apps as I'm on my 5th instance of GApps for NP I've set up. When it comes to website content management, sites isn't really easier than wordpress and as discussed it's more limited. Google excels when it comes to email, file storage/sharing, groups, basic videoteleconferencing, and a bunch of other apps. Sites is their weak point.

That said, I've used and recommended sites to others.  It's not bad. It's just not that good. It's easy to set up sites for your squadron like mywing.cap.gov/mysquadron but a little harder to do mysquadron.mywing.cap.gov. For many organizations, the benefits you get from using wordpress aren't worth it. However, not everyone's situation is alike.

[JeffDG]

It's easy to set up sites for your squadron like mywing.cap.gov/mysquadron but a little harder to do mysquadron.mywing.cap.gov.

With a wildcard CNAME, setting up mysquadron.mywing.cap.gov is approximately 3 clicks in Sites.

Honesly, once we apply the base template for a unit, as an IT guy, I really have almost zero to do with the websites.  That's a PA function, and I provide them with the baseline, they are wholly responsible for the content.

[Tim Day]

It's easy to set up sites for your squadron like mywing.cap.gov/mysquadron but a little harder to do mysquadron.mywing.cap.gov.

With a wildcard CNAME, setting up mysquadron.mywing.cap.gov is approximately 3 clicks in Sites.

Honesly, once we apply the base template for a unit, as an IT guy, I really have almost zero to do with the websites.  That's a PA function, and I provide them with the baseline, they are wholly responsible for the content.

Same number of clicks / continuing involvement with WordPress multi-sites (though sadly we do not have a Wing PAO at this point).

[A.Member]

Google excels when it comes to email, file storage/sharing, groups, basic videoteleconferencing, and a bunch of other apps. Sites is their weak point...

...It's not bad. It's just not that good.

Strong concur.   

Google Sites (and GA as a whole) is a great choice for an intranet site.  It's not the best choice for a public facing/external site with the purpose of recruiting/increasing awareness.  It's simply not as robust and flexible with design as other solutions.   

If <$500 annually breaks a Wing level budget, then you've got bigger issues than a website.  Paying for a good host to get the right site can be money well spent in this scenario. 

[Eclipse]

When it comes to website content management, sites isn't really easier than wordpress and as discussed it's more limited.

Content management is rarely the issue - once the site is setup, people can post via login, email, or whatever has been
enabled.  It's the initial site creation, and ongoing site maintenance which is generally the problem.   Or it breaks and "Jim quit".

Sites is their weak point.

It's not bad. It's just not that good.

However it is free, which in a CAP context wins the "better" argument.

That $480 could send 2-3+ cadets to an encampment, or an NSCA scholarship, or heck a big pizza party,
vs. being flushed for no reason.

[Eclipse]

If <$500 annually breaks a Wing level budget, then you've got bigger issues than a website.  Paying for a good host to get the right site can be money well spent in this scenario.

Waste is waste.  National already has a very fancy recruiting site.  Hyperlinks to it are free.

Anyone so inclined can over-complicate Google Sites to the same level you can over-complicate any other CMS.

$500 is more then the annual budgets of a lot of squadrons.