Unit Website Initiative Launch Date announced!

Started by Eclipse, January 18, 2019, 07:19:47 PM

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etodd

Quote from: NIN on February 19, 2019, 03:19:34 PM

Apparently 194 units have requested so far.

Yes, we are all interested to see the system and to see what its going to entail to transfer all of our existing content to the new one.
I'm not thinking clicking an "import" link will do it. ;)
"Don't try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on ..."

Paul Creed III

As a national staffer in charge of launching a new website for my AOR, I am excited to be able to get access and get started with our own home on the interwebs.
Lt Col Paul Creed III, CAP
Group 3 Ohio Wing sUAS Program Manager

etodd

Quote from: Paul Creed III on February 19, 2019, 05:14:10 PM
As a national staffer in charge of launching a new website for my AOR, I am excited to be able to get access and get started with our own home on the interwebs.

I wish I was in your shoes, "getting started".   Many of us spent many hours building out our websites with the template given to us a year or so ago, only now to be told ... "hey, you gotta start over from scratch".  Oh well, such is CAP.  We make do with what we are given.  LOL
"Don't try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on ..."

Paul Creed III

Quote from: etodd on February 19, 2019, 05:27:02 PM
Quote from: Paul Creed III on February 19, 2019, 05:14:10 PM
As a national staffer in charge of launching a new website for my AOR, I am excited to be able to get access and get started with our own home on the interwebs.

I wish I was in your shoes, "getting started".   Many of us spent many hours building out our websites with the template given to us a year or so ago, only now to be told ... "hey, you gotta start over from scratch".  Oh well, such is CAP.  We make do with what we are given.  LOL

I'm also a group commander so I have 6 units plus group HQ to get moved over too. Some of my units have limited presences and others have very large sites. Wanna trade, LOL?!

I figure the old and the new will live together for a while as the content gets moved. Without a deadline, that makes the transition a bit easier for the big sites.
Lt Col Paul Creed III, CAP
Group 3 Ohio Wing sUAS Program Manager

NIN

But honestly, do CAP units even really need a "big" site?

Some public facing stuff (when we meet, where we meet, how to get in touch with us, what we're doing (calendar) and some photos*)

Some parent/member stuff that doesn't need to be behind a veil (the calendar and such handle most of that)

Some member facing stuff (any kind of local pubs, rosters, etc, behind a veil, like a member intranet)

My site isn't "big", and honestly, most of what we were posting on the website we've actually moved to more temporal social media like MyFaceSpaceTwitGram for the "sharing is caring" aspects.  (doesn't help when your Wing PAO tells you that "you can't have content older than 6 months.." Uh, what?)
Darin Ninness, Col, CAP
I have no responsibilities whatsoever
I like to have Difficult Adult Conversations™
The contents of this post are Copyright © 2007-2024 by NIN. All rights are reserved. Specific permission is given to quote this post here on CAP-Talk only.

Eclipse

Contact information for the unit with meeting night info (not a calendar, meeting night info).

Links TO NHQ regarding membership (don't reinvent the wheel or repost docs already posted elsewhere).

Photos go elsewhere.

Calendars are for members not prospective members, so those and unit documents etc. all go into the intranet,
not accessible or needed by the general public.

Prospective members just need to know you exist, and where.  All other info will come from NHQ, or Lord help all of you,
TwitBook.

Anything else on a public-facing unit website is a waste of time.  No one is viewing it, and if they are, it's not likely because they have
a CAP-related need.

If your unit website is "big", you're wasting your time.

"That Others May Zoom"

TheSkyHornet

Just make sure you're posting those special 'weekend' cadet activities...preferably two weeks in advance.

QuoteCAPR 60-1: 4.3.2.1. Activity Calendars. Units will maintain a web-based calendar listing all cadet events the
unit plans to host or participate in during the coming year, updating the calendar throughout the year as
necessary. At a minimum, all special events (except events that are small in scope and involve only a
small portion of the unit) should be announced at least 2 weeks in advance to allow families time to plan
accordingly.


Eclipse

^ That would be an internal calendar as part of the intranet, not needed public-facing.

"That Others May Zoom"

etodd

Quote from: Eclipse on February 20, 2019, 03:09:18 PM
^ That would be an internal calendar as part of the intranet, not needed public-facing.

As a marketing & advertising guy, we put a lot of our activities on our public calendar so interested people will see how BUSY we are and see all the exciting things we do. 

(But of course most of that is on Facebook)

These Squadrons that have a public calendar, that is basically empty ... should delete the Calendar page altogether. Makes their Squadron look boring.

JMHO
"Don't try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on ..."

Luis R. Ramos

I beg to differ. Public needs to know, parents, and visitors may want to visit. If the calendar is only for the unit, and there is no meeting, Jon and Jan Doe who wanted to visit the unit for their son / daughter will visit only to find the unit is not meeting after travelling there.


Squadron Safety Officer
Squadron Communication Officer
Squadron Emergency Services Officer

NIN

Nevermind the provisions of CAPR 60-2, para 2.4.2  and Attachment One, Entry 2

EDIT: I should have looked up further in the thread, SkyHornet beat me to it!
Darin Ninness, Col, CAP
I have no responsibilities whatsoever
I like to have Difficult Adult Conversations™
The contents of this post are Copyright © 2007-2024 by NIN. All rights are reserved. Specific permission is given to quote this post here on CAP-Talk only.

Eclipse

#111
The information the general public needs is basic.

The information the unit members need is detailed (internal).

Randos and prospective members should not be wandering into ES training, AE days, O-rides or similar activities not open to the public.

An internal calendar for members only clearly meets the 2.4.2 requirement.

"That Others May Zoom"

TheSkyHornet

The calendar does not need to be made publicly available; however, it needs to be web-based so it can be accessed remotely and expediently to see the most current updated version. Paper gets lost and doesn't change once printed. A web login would suffice, but then you risk who's looking at it.

There's nothing in Cadet Programs that is OPSEC as far as posting activities online, whether it's a unit website or social media. But it needs to be available. Anything secretive regarding cadet activities is a red flag to me that you're busting Cadet Protection Program policy. It may not be the case, but it's sketchy. That said, if it's accessible to parents, I'd say it's fine.

I would consider a "calendar" to be either a date map with listed events, or an actual list of key dates. You can include "We meet every Monday from 7-9pm" on there or list each individual meeting (like we do, since we may shift locations due to PT in the winter, or meet at the park in the summer).

This is a relatively easy compliance item that can become forgotten, or inaccurate, if not managed. But it's a fairly easy item to manage.

Eclipse

There's a difference between "secretive" and "not public", I think we're on the same page here.

Ex: There is no need for any non-members to know about an overnight bivouac at a local forest preserve.  Obviously all members would know,
parents, Wing approvals, Form 32, etc., etc., however it's not open to the public, isn't an orientation opportunity, and does pose
risk to the participants for randos to be made easily aware of it.

That doesn't mean you don't tell people standing in front of you what you are doing, there's just no need to make it public.
An entry marked "weekend activity" on the public-facing calendar works, too.

Also, a properly managed calendar could show details to members and judt free-busy to non-members.

"That Others May Zoom"

TheSkyHornet

We're on the same page.

There is a marketing benefit to advertising that you have a full schedule, but that's also something that helps when it comes to a lack of private access or public photos (i.e., public affairs).

The difficulties I come across---being a unit that does not have a members-only web portal---is that information doesn't always make it from unit > cadet > parent; which, I could do the "it is what it is" method (which I do on occasion). But the easiest method for me, as someone who's performing a half a dozen roles in the unit with twenty times the workload I need, it's just going up on the website. Date, times, location, point of contact for questions.

There's a number of different ways to gain compliance. Really, the only wrong way, is to not make the information electronically accessible via the web.

etodd

Quote from: Eclipse on February 20, 2019, 03:58:53 PM

The information the general public needs is basic.



The more I think about this, I'm probably going to wind up agreeing.  Most of our "outreach" internet wise is FB anyway.

Instead of spending many hours trying to transfer our existing website to the new one, I'll probably take a very minimalistic approach, and just put the most basic of contact information there. And be done with it.

Too many other more pressing matters on the to-do list.

"Don't try to explain it, just bow your head
Breathe in, breathe out, move on ..."

TheSkyHornet

Quote from: etodd on February 20, 2019, 09:11:33 PM
Quote from: Eclipse on February 20, 2019, 03:58:53 PM

The information the general public needs is basic.



The more I think about this, I'm probably going to wind up agreeing.  Most of our "outreach" internet wise is FB anyway.

Instead of spending many hours trying to transfer our existing website to the new one, I'll probably take a very minimalistic approach, and just put the most basic of contact information there. And be done with it.

Too many other more pressing matters on the to-do list.

What I would suggest is, when looking at the new website setup, you do a thorough review of your existing site and mark items as "Do I really need this (Y/N)?"

It's amazing on a redesign how much you realize either is missing or blatantly useless/outdated.

PhoenixRisen

Just submitted the request for my unit and it made me wonder... would it be feasible to request matching e-mail addresses with the same newly-created squadron domain?  I'm in a wing that issues e-mail addresses to everyone, but they're using our .org wing domain.  Even if it's just for a select handful of staff members, such as command, recruiting, etc., to limit usage of .gov e-mail... that would go a long way with uniformity in the public eye.

PhoenixRisen

Quote from: PhoenixRisen on March 06, 2019, 06:02:34 PM
Just submitted the request for my unit and it made me wonder... would it be feasible to request matching e-mail addresses with the same newly-created squadron domain?  I'm in a wing that issues e-mail addresses to everyone, but they're using our .org wing domain.  Even if it's just for a select handful of staff members, such as command, recruiting, etc., to limit usage of .gov e-mail... that would go a long way with uniformity in the public eye.

Disregard -- got an answer.  Not available yet, but something's in the works.

Eclipse


"That Others May Zoom"