Squadron Websites

[Spaceman3750]

What needs to happen is have NHQ open a 50k Google apps for education account, publish standard Sites templates for every unit, and call it a day.  Everyone has a secure email address, plenty of space, shared documents, and it's free.

My unit has a Google site and we all find the management tools and editing interface incredibly frustrating to use (FWIW, I feel the same way about Joomla's WYSIWYG editor, and I manage wing HQ's Joomla). Then again, it's better than nothing I suppose.

[Spaceman3750]

Each squadron or group would go off that.. tx424.txwg-cap.us... thus making a clear chain of ownership.. what people don't understand.. its EASY! Takes maybe.. 5 clicks and a few key strokes to point the sub-domain to a address..

We have this already but nobody uses it because they don't want to deal with the headaches of using the cap.gov addresses (for example, my wing has ilwg.cap.gov but at the moment it doesn't appear to be doing anything useful). Squadrons in my region can get subdomains and basic web hosting (my unit used to have mccs.ilwg.cap.gov until someone forgot to pay the bill) through Great Lakes Region HQ.

[BrannG]

True, we have the domain options, if more people would use them... Texas Wing doesn't even use a cap.gov address.. for that matter, NHQ stopped using it also..

What to do.. what to do..

[ProdigalJim]

And I'd posit that a LOT more people get their information from the web today than they do from thumbing through the deep recesses of the local daily newspaper, and as a result I'd suggest that doing websites right is increasingly more important than landing an excerpt from a press release on page B6 of the local community free weekly that's distributed in pizza shops and hair salons.  It'd be well worth a shift in focus or priority for the public affairs program.

:clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

In three decades as a reporter, then editor, then editor-in-chief, then editorial director/executive editor, I've been at the receiving end of some embarrassingly bad press releases, as well as some painfully naive pitches from would-be PAOs. You're dead on, Pylon. Work the web, do it well and consistently, and use press releases judiciously, as part of an overall program of cultivating awareness, brand and relationships with local media.

[Robborsari]

In Tennessee we developed our own CMS.  It is integrated with the national database for things like owner / editor of a squadron site, has a common look and feel for all wing departments and squadron sites, uses Tiny MCE editor for the pages and allows pretty much anything that a site owner wants to do on their section of the site.   No one uses it.  Everyone calls me and says, "why don't you just buy/use [my favorite thing] then everyone can use it."  I say "Why don't you learn to use the free thing we have?"  Nope.  Everyone wants their xanga or shutterfly or sharepoint or their own domain that they already know how to use.  The result is 10 different domains that say they are Tennessee CAP sites but belong to possible future disgruntled members.  They have advertising we don't control, there is no continuity for the unit if the person who sets it up leaves and we have no way of reclaiming the domain or blocking whatever the possibly future disgruntled member wants to post up there in the possible event of actual disgruntlement.  A national backed solution would be a great relief.  If someone did create an uber site for CAP maybe we could get national to adopt it similar to what is happening with IMU.

[Stonewall]

About a year ago I was contacted by the then squadron commander and asked to delete the squadron website that I created on my own because when people searched for CAP in our area, the search engines would direct them to "my" page.

The page I created was timeless.  Timeless in that it was unlike so many out_of_date websites created by people who fail to update them, especially with calendars, etc.  Seriously, unless the unit changed meeting times/days, the site could have remained current for years and years.  It was a site that allowed non-members to learn about the unit, see some good pictures, and understand the unit's focus.

Just as I predicted, nothing replaced my site.  For one of the most active squadrons in the wing, and possibly the region, there is no website.  The site I created years ago was only out of date because it had pictures with members in BDUs that had cutouts on the left collar.  Other than that, the meeting times, location, and recurring weekly calendar (AE, ES, Leadership, Moral Leadership, etc) was still in tact. 

Guys, timeless squadron websites are what is needed.  Period.  Maybe, just maybe, if you want a separate site for internal use, go for it.  But my prediction is that it will last less than a year before the project is out of date.

[RiverAux]

Oh that is so true. 

The CG Aux's new system that basically makes it as easy as punching a few buttons to "create" a generic "timeless" website for local units is something that CAP should have done years ago.

However, traditional websites are now a bit of a dinosaur and I'm not even sure its worth the trouble to do that anymore. 

[Eclipse]

However, traditional websites are now a bit of a dinosaur and I'm not even sure its worth the trouble to do that anymore.

Certainly not with a home-brew CMS.  This isn't 2004.  Any template-based service, Wordpress, Blogger, etc., etc. is more then adequate and
is not "personality dependent".

[West MI-CAP-Ret]

The Air Force has standards that all units have to adhere to.  Makes things simple and professional.  CAP could do the same thing.  Set standards nationwide for an overall professional image.

[Eclipse]

The Air Force has standards that all units have to adhere to.  Makes things simple and professional.

The Air Force has paid professionals and their websites are far from simple.

[A.Member]

Has anyone here ever looked into www.dotlinked.net as a file share/colloboration tool?  It looks to be a free open source alternative to SharePoint (at least that's their claim).   The on-line demo looks like SharePoint although I haven't really given it a test run. 

I haven't had a chance to vet it much but on the surface this could be a nice integration utility for a members only portion of a website.  Kind find much about it (ie. reviews, etc) on the interweb either.

[Eclipse]

It looks like a hosted SharePoint with less features.  Their TOS is somewhat concerning in regards to reuse of anything submitted, and if you are not satisfied, your only recourse is to quit using the service.

[JeffDG]

It looks like a hosted SharePoint with less features.  Their TOS is somewhat concerning in regards to reuse of anything submitted, and if you are not satisfied, your only recourse is to quit using the service.

You mean this:

2.4 You hereby grant to dotLinked.NET. a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, distribute and sublicense any and all material or information submitted by you to dotLinked.NET and/or to incorporate it in other works regardless of form, medium or technology.

Also, be aware that the forum selection clause is a "Loser Pays" jurisdiction...

Any disputes arising hereunder shall be governed exclusively by the laws of the province of Alberta and the laws of Canada applicable therein, without giving effect to their conflict of laws principles. You expressly consent to the exclusive forum, jurisdiction, and venue of the courts of Alberta and/or the Federal Court of Canada in Alberta, or any other judicial district or jurisdiction as dotLinked.NET. may determine in any and all actions, disputes, or controversies relating hereto.

I always like unilateral amendment rights in a contract:

dotLinked.NET may from time to time change its Privacy Policy as new dotLinked.NET are added or old ones changed. Changes will be effective when notice of such change is posted at a dotLinked.NET Site. Please check this Privacy Policy regularly for updates by checking the date of "Last Update" at the top of this document.

So, they can post a change in some obscure part of their website, and Voila, their privacy policy has changed, yet you have no option at that point to remove content, because you've given them a perpetual, irrevocable, license to use any content posted...nice.

[A.Member]

^ Interesting.   As I said, I have yet to vet it and came across it late last night.  I'll have to dig some more and see what else I can find about it.

Also came across another free workspace solution, called Kerio (www.kerio.com/workspace).  A prefer their file share solution much more than Google Apps.  The most significant knock I have against it is the lack of a true calendaring function.

[RickRutledge]

The two best squadron websites I've seen thus far:
www.oswegocap.org
and
www.dentoncap.org

Both are on the WordPress CMS platfom, which isn't a breeze for a novice, but it can be customized to look great. Our wing purchased the templates used by both of these squadrons for our site and it's been great. If I were more in tune with CSS and HTML (specifically HTML 5) coding, it would look better, but the plug-and-play style of the Page Lines template is great.

www.okwgcap.org

Our Wing IT guy has been a great help in dealing with some of the more complicated issues, there's a place for those guys trust me. But it means getting your PAO and IT guy on the same page for aesthetics.

For the template:
www.pagelines.com

[Pylon]

The two best squadron websites I've seen thus far:
www.oswegocap.org

I sincerely appreciate that compliment!  A lot of work went into that site, between design, photography, technical work, and copywriting pretty much everything about CAP from scratch.  We're happy with it so far, but have plans to expand the content on the site further in 2013.

[RickRutledge]

PYLON-- I have a million questions. Can you PM me and we will exchange email addys? I need some help on a couple of things.