Remarkable Squadron Website (GA-045)

Stonewall · August 30, 2007, 06:08:26 AM

I know there was a "best" or "worst" squadron website thread, but I think this one calls for its own thread so I can "praise in public".

http://gawg.cap.gov/GA045/

Most impressive is the professionalism they displayed during a 2 1/2 minute news segment on a major affiliate: http://gawg.cap.gov/GA045/Videos/11Alive%20Story%202007.wmv

Hats off to you Lt Col Berry!

JC004 · August 30, 2007, 06:24:57 AM

Need some image optimization to get those file sizes down, but a good effort overall. We need more outstanding unit web sites.

Stonewall · August 30, 2007, 06:27:46 AM

I am far from any technical guru, but from where I'm sitting, something about the site just motivates me. Professionally done and just captured me.

And that news feed. You couldn't ask for better looking uniforms and more professional members. You didn't see a bunch unruly cadets walking around with some sleeves up, some down, 3 different hats, BBDUs mixed in with BDUs, boonies, or anything. I don't know, maybe I'm easily impressed, but I wish all squadrons could look that squared away.

BBerry · August 30, 2007, 08:39:23 AM

Thanks for the plug, Stonewall!

Our website is the product of an active unit and a motivated PAO/Webmaster, MAJ Mike Reed. The site's been very useful for recruiting and public information, by highlighting (especially in our "PHOTOS" section) our activities.

One thing our unit members have learned by now: Document everything with photos! From unit social activities to actual missions, we keep a running "Snoopy Log" of each event throughout the year, which we immediately post on the website, and roll into a year-end video. We then use the site, the "Snoopy Log", and the videos to show to recruits and visitors, as well as to our cadets and their parents. It's amazing to see how busy we've been as the year draws to a close!

As to the professional look of our folks, let's just say we know when the camera's are out, and that unprofessional photos won't make the cut! And of course we knew the local news station was going to film, so we ensured that we looked our best for them.

I hope these points help other units think about ways they can improve their own websites -- they're often the first look many get of your squadron.

afgeo4 · August 30, 2007, 02:19:12 PM

I'm going to hold this to a high standard, not because these members didn't do a good job, but precisely because they did.

I think the website colors are too random with many primary colors that don't reflect on other pages or on other sections of same page.

I think there are waaaaaay too many logos and a person not familiar with CAP would be overwhelmed by the site and go back to surfing. From the main page I got the picture that the squadron or organization is sponsored by a newschannel... are they?

From the front page I got the impression that the unit received a lifesaving award. Did it or did a member of the unit receive one? If it was a member, that needs to be specifically stated. Also... what's the grey ribbon with clasps on it talking about Search and Rescue?

I think the best CAP website is done by MD wing at:
http://www.mdcap.org

The only problem is that they should be at http://www.mdwg.cap.gov and they're not.

I think the 2nd best website I've seen is done by one of our own at: http://www.syracusecap.org

Again, I think it should become http://www.135.nywg.cap.gov, but those are just my opinions.

AlphaSigOU · August 30, 2007, 05:38:46 PM

SSCS never disappoints in the uniform wear and military bearing department. I've known Lt Col Berry off and on since way back in the days WIWAC. (Well, I was a member of the cross-town rival Peachtree-Dekalb Cadet Squadron (GA-065), but it was a friendly rivalry!)

Capt Rivera · August 03, 2010, 02:16:26 PM

Lt Col Berry,

Looks like you guys have a new URL: http://www.ga045.org/

I was hoping to see this example of a great CAP squadron site but the new page only loads a background image in firefox and chrome...

Can you let us know when the page is back up?

If stonewall praised in public such as he did.... I want to see it for myself...

Video still works... and yes its worth the watch...

Thom · August 03, 2010, 03:38:01 PM

Well, since this thread has already been revived...

This website is up and working perfectly...provided that you view it using Internet Explorer.

I realize that the person who designed and maintains it does so in their spare time, volunteer effort, etc., etc., but failing to make sure that half the people out there can even see your site is a pretty huge oversight.

In fact, I tried and failed to get the page to render on Firefox, Chrome, and, the cardinal sin these days, Safari on my iPhone. If your site isn't viewable on an iPhone/iPad device, you might as well not put it up.

Hopefully the squadron's IT folks just need a little prod to take care of this, since the website is very nice and should be viewable by as many folks as possible.

Thom

Майор Хаткевич · August 03, 2010, 03:59:10 PM

Thanks for the IE tip...as sad as that is.

I took a look at the site, and it might have been great by 2000 standards, but...

No Firefox support
Each link opens a new browser window. Not directly go there, not in a tab, a new window.
.Gif animation, and the quality...

I'm not ripping on it, since it's more than most units have, but to be honest, that set up will NOT impress someone my age, or younger.

DakRadz · August 03, 2010, 04:02:54 PM

In my IE, the links opened up a new tab. But I'd say if they fixed the linkage properly and provided support for all popular browsers, the site would be good to go for a volunteer-run production.

Lancer · August 03, 2010, 05:01:10 PM

Coming from a strictly constructive viewpoint as someone who builds website for a living.

1 ) The fact that the site is only viewable in IE is a *huge* problem that should be dealt with immediately. Sure, IE maintains market share simply because that's what the 'sheeple' use. Cross browser platform accessibility is a must. I wouln't worry about making sure the site is viewable on an iPad, iPod, iPhone. It might be nice, but not necessary.

2 ) We do not fly military fighter aircraft, so why do we put these in our graphics? Sorry...major pet peeve of mine. People seem to be embarrassed by the fact that we fly small single engine aircraft, not cool enough for you?

3 ) Center your page elements and allow them to scale with the browser window.

4 ) Only external links should open in a new tab or window, internal links should stay in the same window

5 ) Either change the link for 'CAP History' to a page about the unit's history or remove it all together. Remember, this website is about your unit, not CAP as a whole.

6 ) Be sure to make sure you're properly naming your page title's, 'New Page 1' is not what I would call an effective name for your 'Officer Staff' page. Some pages don't seem to even have a 'Title' attribute. For example, the name for the home page is 'SSCS Index' Don't be afraid to spell it out; i.e. 'Sandy Springs Cadet Squadron - Home', and follow this logic for the rest of the pages.

7 ) If you are going to use links to PDF files as site pages, make sure you remove the spaces from the file name. Either capitalize each word for clarity or use an '_' underscore instead of a space. Some browsers don't know how to handle spaces in filenames.

8 ) There is no META data. If you want to get indexed by search engines and be able to be found when people search for you, you need meta keywords and a meta description. That way, when you come up in the search results, people can read a short paragraph about your site.

9 ) While including CSS style data in your site's is ok, it's best configured as an externally referenced/linked file. Also, don't be afraid to name the 'styles' for what they're actually linked to. It makes it far easier later on down the road to know what each CSS element is meant for.

10 ) Track your visitors. Use a service like Statcounter or Google Analytics to see who's visiting, how long they're visiting, etc. this will also help you tweak your site regarding possible improvements.

Overall, not bad, certainly a better attempt than many other unit's I've seen.

Майор Хаткевич · August 03, 2010, 05:12:13 PM

As expected, someone with more than one web-development class under their belt chimed in with some great input.

DBlair · August 03, 2010, 05:16:27 PM

Great looking unit website, certainly beats most I've seen! I also applaud them for going into such detail and keeping it updated. I've found that many unit sites have information that was current as of a couple years ago.

Sidenote to praise: Great news piece, showcased so many aspects of CAP in a great report.
Sidenote to nitpick: the C/CMS instead of C/CMSgt bothers me.

Майор Хаткевич · August 03, 2010, 05:23:09 PM

Quote from: DBlair on August 03, 2010, 05:16:27 PM
Sidenote to nitpick: the C/CMS instead of C/CMSgt bothers me.

It should, since that's not the correct abbreviation.

Thom · August 03, 2010, 05:47:10 PM

Quote from: Lancer on August 03, 2010, 05:01:10 PM
Coming from a strictly constructive viewpoint as someone who builds website for a living.

1 ) The fact that the site is only viewable in IE is a *huge* problem that should be dealt with immediately. Sure, IE maintains market share simply because that's what the 'sheeple' use. Cross browser platform accessibility is a must. I wouln't worry about making sure the site is viewable on an iPad, iPod, iPhone. It might be nice, but not necessary.

<snip>

I have to disagree on this point. I'm slightly surprised to hear a full-time webmaster say that, given the explosive growth of the iPad, iPhone, iP*** devices.

I agree that I wouldn't generate a whole separate site just to support those devices, but I would certainly take the very minor steps needed to ensure that my primary site renders and functions on those devices. They just represent too large a part of the community (and growing!) to ignore.

If that limits the ability to use Flash, I see that as a trade-off worth making. (NB: I'm neither an Apple Fanboy nor a fan of Flash. I hate everyone equally!)

Thom

Майор Хаткевич · August 03, 2010, 05:54:30 PM

Most people making a decision to join CAP won't be doing it on their phone browser though...

For cadets, it will be a talk with the parents and showing them the site on a computer.
For SMs, probably the same. As much as I enjoy phone browsers, they aren't the best or fastest way to get information.

Lancer · August 03, 2010, 05:57:56 PM

Quote from: Thom on August 03, 2010, 05:47:10 PM

I have to disagree on this point. I'm slightly surprised to hear a full-time webmaster say that, given the explosive growth of the iPad, iPhone, iP*** devices.

I agree that I wouldn't generate a whole separate site just to support those devices, but I would certainly take the very minor steps needed to ensure that my primary site renders and functions on those devices. They just represent too large a part of the community (and growing!) to ignore.

If that limits the ability to use Flash, I see that as a trade-off worth making. (NB: I'm neither an Apple Fanboy nor a fan of Flash. I hate everyone equally!)

Thom

At this stage in the game for them, Apple device compatibility is a 'nice to have', not a 'need to have'. At best, they'd be better off to ensure browser compatibility on the Macintosh platform before anything else.

Once, and if they ever get the points I brought up addressed, then, and only then should the begin to consider usability on extraneous mobile devices.

This is by no means a slam, but the fact that most of the content is an image generated in some brand of photo manipulation software and/or PDF documents, the person who created this site seems to not have much experience. Which is not a bad thing per`se, but certainly not what I would call 'standards compliant.'

Again, I'm not trying to nit pick. Just trying to offer some constructive advice.

JC004 · August 03, 2010, 06:02:50 PM

Use WordPress with a good theme and fix all these display issues. Done.

You can even very easily do a mobile site in WordPress. There are plugins (although I use my own).

Майор Хаткевич · August 03, 2010, 06:05:37 PM

I don't consider this a complete site, and the unit is new at this point, but this is the type of style I'm accustomed to these days. Obviously not everyone will agree. http://chicagosquadron.com/

Lancer · August 03, 2010, 06:13:42 PM

Quote from: USAFaux2004 on August 03, 2010, 06:05:37 PM
I don't consider this a complete site, and the unit is new at this point, but this is the type of style I'm accustomed to these days. Obviously not everyone will agree. http://chicagosquadron.com/

Yeah, pretty brand spanking new. I know the leadership at that unit, they're doing great things there and all together is one of the best upstart CAP unit's I've seen lately.

Here's one of my favorite CAP unit sites.

http://www.cachevalleysquadron.org

It could use some little tweaks here and there, but the over look is gorgeous and and is rather functional.