Squadron Websites

[Stonewall]

I am a non-IT computer nerd type guy.  I know nothing about code or html or whatever the other website lingo is.  I can type faster than most people and I'm [darn] good at MS Office stuff. But that's it!

With all that out of the way, I do know one thing, and that is 90% of squadron websites out there suck. 

Squadrons need to have one of two things, or both.

1.  A low maintenance website for non-squadron members that can learn about your squadron to include meeting location and times, who to call for questions, and a little something about the squadron's focus.  I think a handful (maybe 10) pictures of the squadron involved in something hands-on is a good idea too.  But that's it!!!

Everyone has grand ideas of news feeds, videos, posting pics of the chain of command, calendars, etc.  But guess what?  I think more than 90% of squadron websites fail to get updated.  I've followed my squadron's website for 6+ years now and it has come and gone, but has always been out of date.  Right now, it's nothing.

2.  A Facebook page for the squadron members that can post questions about upcoming meetings, their pics of bivouacs or color guard competitions.  One caveat, I don't think FB should be used in lieu of teaching the importance of communications up and down the chain of command.  "But I posted on FB that you werer supposed to lead the safety discussion this week".

Note:   As for my current squadron and that of a previous one I commanded in DCWG, I created very basic squadron websites that never went out of date.  Unless we changed meeting locations or meeting times, the page could have lasted (and did) for years without information ever expiring.  In fact, in one case, the only way you could tell the page was more than a year old was when they switched from CAP cutouts on the left collar to both collars having rank.  Even when we had "my" website at my current squadron, the unit wanted one that was more high speed and interactive so they asked me to take mine down.  Guess what?  It still doesn't exist.  I had the website looking clean, specific info on the squadron meeting, what we do, and a few pictures.  Most importantly it was a simple and easy to remember address:  localsquadron.org (no, that's not the real name, just using an anonymous example).

/squadron website rant

[Eclipse]

With all that out of the way, I do know one thing, and that is 90% of squadron websites out there suck. 

I can't disagree, the problem, as I see it, is they are generally initiated by IT people, may times in the vacuum of anything else, but intended to be maintained by people who have no idea what most of Pylon's website recent thread was even asking.

Low maintenance, template-based is the way to go, and it has to be informed by the information you are trying to convey.

[C/2d Lt]

The only problem that I have with Facebook squadron websites is that some people do not have a Facebook and for security reasons they are blocked and people that do not have a Facebook do not have access to them. I live in-between two squadron one is 50 minutes away and the other is 45 I went on to each of there web sights and I decided to go to a meeting with my current squadron only because there website was friendlier and seamed more welcoming. Granted the other website was through Facebook and I didn't have access to it but I would rather drive the extra five minutes to a squadron who updates there web-sight regularly and I actually had access to it.

[Eclipse]

Facebook should never, ever, be the primary or only web presence for a unit, nor should anything of importantance be
announced, posted, or requested via Facebook as the only source of that information.

Facebook and the other social sites should be secondary / complimentary sources of information posted elsewhere - preferably as a feed or similar.

In addition to those who don't use the service, or are blocked by their employers, etc., from these types of sites, FB's minimum age is 13, while ours is 12.
So for at least a year, you're posting info that our youngest members are not supposed to be able to access.

[Pylon]

I can't disagree, the problem, as I see it, is they are generally initiated by IT people, may times in the vacuum of anything else, but intended to be maintained by people who have no idea what most of Pylon's website recent thread was even asking.

Low maintenance, template-based is the way to go, and it has to be informed by the information you are trying to convey.

I disagree with the underlying sentiment I find in general that "Welp... we dun know hows to do its, so we's not gonna do any of thats there high falootin' website stuffs."

CAP doesn't generally attract lots of experienced public relations and media relations professionals either, but guess what -- we have a decently successful public affairs specialty track.  How do we do it?  We train volunteers, often from "scratch".  Imagine that.

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.

[Eclipse]

Getting info from the web doesn't make you an expert.  Count how many people on the average CAP mailing list have AOL and Juno email addresses.

Too many CAP websites start off with specific coding expertise by an individual instead of a mission-driven need to provide information.  CAP units should not be using custom CSS, or anything else more complex then the average Blogger site because the focus is not supposed to be on the tools, but on the info.

And "simple" doesn't have to mean "ugly" or "non-functional" - but when I need to know the meeting time for a unit, who the CC is, or want to
take a look at the schedule, I want that info, not a fancy custom backend.

SEO for a CAP unit-level website?  Seriously?

[Walkman]

SEO for a CAP unit-level website?  Seriously?

I'll disagree with you a little on this. SEO should be SOP (heh!) for all websites. It just doesn't make sense to build something that can't be found properly. I think where you might be going, and I agree, is the thought that there are hundreds of locals constantly Googling "How can serve my community in a military fashion as a volunteer" and if the unit website isn't full of top-level SEO magic, we'll miss out on this huge recruiting opportunity.

The reality of the web is that with so much there, even huge brands with gobs of fans & marketing money put together massive media campaigns to promote their web sites. As I mentioned in the poster/video thread, a good PAO makes all the difference.

I think Stonewall hit it just right.

[BrannG]

As my squadrons IT Officer I deal with a lot. Examples include :

Basic Communications to include email, radio (assist the Comm guys..), Squadron network, 15 PCs, various laptops, a huge server that assists our Group, Software Licenses, AV, Hardware and more.. which takes about 3-4 hours a week.. not that pressing for someone that does it for a living also.

But the most time consuming and yet fun, is the management of our Facebook and Website. Yes, it is mostly the PAO and PA Staff that should be managing the website after creation and the FB accounts.. But most of our squadrons lack PAO, dedicated IT, and many other key positions. A member can easily have to work in several areas. In that view, the website and facebook tends to be left behind. It is a sad reality.

I agree whole heartily that CAP needs a UNIFORM WEBSITE PLATFORM !! If National IT put together a website based on a Joomla, with all the key elements, a FB tie in, gallery, etc.. a style template.. it would make the website easy to manage by ANYONE and make a uniform picture of CAP to everyone.

One thing that would help - dedicated web addresses.. Each Wing should have server space for their units sites, say.. 500 Megs each. Easy and cheap. Each wing should have a standardized address - ie. for Texas, --> *** THIS IS NOT A REAL ADDRESS! *** http://www.txwg-cap.us

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..

Personally, I like Florida Wing's web design.. the majority of their sites follow a single template and flow.

Example : http://www.flcadet.com/

It's uniform with the US Air Force, CLEARLY states the site as a Civil Air Patrol site, a great layout, informative and professional looking.. Best of all - it runs on Joomla.. like most of out sites.. so its a template and insider know how on code, etc isn't required.

Sadly.. I contacted the Florida Wing ITO about sharing the awesome template.. with no reply.

The website for our squadron (Lackland Cadet Squadron) is also Joomla, took about a week to design, the content took longer, but it ties in to our Facebook Page, Clearly shows chain of command to Group, Region and National. Could be better, but its clean. Still a work in progress.

How hard would it be for National IT to offer a Joomla template and proper content with a dedicated address layout? We have .com, .org, .us, .gov... after so many mis-matched addresses showing up in google.. I'd be turned off of CAP if I didn't join pre-internet days. The sad sad truth is that we lose more prospected members due to the very very poor looking web design of our sites.. the lack of information, and the feel of "THIS is the US Air Force Auxiliary! FOR SHAME!" feeling you get as you browse some of these sites..

Just my 2 cents BTW - if anyone is interested in the layout I use for our squadron's website, just email me.

Lackland Cadet Squadron -> http://www.captx007.org

[Eclipse]

I agree whole heartily that CAP needs a UNIFORM WEBSITE PLATFORM !! If National IT put together a website based on a Joomla, with all the key elements, a FB tie in, gallery, etc.. a style template.. it would make the website easy to manage by ANYONE and make a uniform picture of CAP to everyone.

That's the issue - for eveyr person with too much time on their hands, their personal CMS will be the "bestest one".  I think Joomla's a nightmare and
wouldn't even consider it.

Why fly a home-built experimental when there's plenty of commercial stuff, available for free.

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.

[Eclipse]

Lackland Cadet Squadron -> http://www.captx007.org

Why are you quoting the entire article from NHQ on your home page?  Just publish the RSS of the headlines.

And not only is this disclaimer 100% unenforceable ever (you send me something by accident?  I can do whatever I want with it), 

"...Warning: The information you are receiving is protected from interception or disclosure. Any person who intentionally distributes, reproduces or discloses its contents is subject to the penalties set forth in 18 United States Code Section 2511 and/or related state and federal laws of the United States...

but it doesn't even make sense on a public web page.  So I'm not allowed to tell anyone about your Ground Team training?
(Also, you're not supposed to wear faddish sunglasses in uniform).

And do you have a section for "Junior Officers" (Hint: The term "officers" is Not the generic for senior members, never was.)

You've got a few other issues with regs, etc., dotted in various places, mostly because you're reposting content that isn't necessary -
uniforms, cadet decorations, all sorts of things better left to NHQ or the requisite document.

[BrannG]

Why are you quoting the entire article from NHQ on your home page?  Just publish the RSS of the headlines.

And not only is this disclaimer 100% unenforceable ever (you send me something by accident?  I can do whatever I want with it), 

"...Warning: The information you are receiving is protected from interception or disclosure. Any person who intentionally distributes, reproduces or discloses its contents is subject to the penalties set forth in 18 United States Code Section 2511 and/or related state and federal laws of the United States...

but it doesn't even make sense on a public web page.  So I'm not allowed to tell anyone about your Ground Team training?
(Also, you're not supposed to wear faddish sunglasses in uniform).

And do you have a section for "Junior Officers" (Hint: The term "officers" is Not the generic for senior members, never was.)

Can I remind you "Work in Progress", also the disclaimer is correct per CAPR 100-1. The site is hosted on a server located on Lackland AFB, Texas, however public - the disclaimer is required.

I never said our website was perfect - nor was I saying it SHOULD be used as the CAP standard.. it was a sample. I actually pointed out Florida's website as what I would like to see a national template to be like.

Can you do better? Your welcome to try and please share it and be as open as I am about it.. so we can dis you on your design and layout. The template is just that - an editable template.  Now less of pointing out errors in the website, and stay on topic?

Or actually.. lets use your criticism as an prime example of why a uniform website design is in dire need.... if we had a national website template, then wording wouldn't be an issue!

[Eclipse]

How about CAPR 110-1?

And it's only applicable and required for websites which contain personal information of CAP members or employees, which a squadron website, by design, should not.

There are no other disclaimers required, except the one about "no endorsement" in regards to links to products or companies.

[BrannG]

Opps.. mistype CAPR 110-1 not 100-1

Missed a 1.. my bad.

Since people are all about the errors on OUR site vs the topic....

So.. per CAPR 110-1

When this information is placed on  a web server as part of a CAP internet operation, reasonable security, such as password access, should be implemented to protect the information. Such information when included in a CAP internet operation shall be accompanied by the following notice: 

Warning: The information you  are receiving is protected from interception or disclosure.  Any person who intentionally distributes, reproduces or discloses its contents is subject to the penalties set forth in 18 United States Code  Section 2511 and/or related state and federal laws of the United States.

That said.. the server used is also used by Group and Squadron.. as I said before, and is located on an Air Force Installation... on US Air Force network... so since that network has content other then the squadron website and does also have active directory server which has login information for various members of our squadron and group into our network, means that that disclaimer is VALID...

"Copyright 2012 Lackland Cadet Squadron SWR-TX-007, Texas Wing, Southwest Region, CAP. All rights reserved." - Standard disclaimer on copyright... issues here? Good.. lets move on...

"All stock photos used on this site are property of Civil Air Patrol. " - Standard disclaimer of ownership of photos...

"LINKS OR REFERENCES TO INDIVIDUALS OR COMPANIES DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT OF ANY INFORMATION, PRODUCT OR SERVICE YOU MAY RECEIVE FROM SUCH SOURCES." - Standard CAPR 110-1 disclaimer...

"THIS WEBSITE CONFORMS WITH CAPR 110-1 AND IS NON-SENSITIVE, OF GENERAL INTEREST TO THE PUBLIC, CLEARED AND AUTHORIZED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE FOR WHICH WORLDWIDE DISSEMINATION POSES LIMITED TO NO RISK" -- Disclaimer stating clear and authorized website for public release according to CAPR 110-1..

There you go.. all our disclaimers... CAN WE GO BACK ON TOPIC or are you stuck on our website and how it is a prime example of my entire point... that we need a national CAP website template.. I know our site isn't perfect.. because one man (me) does all the work on it without any reference other then text content from national or other cap websites.. once again.. NATIONAL TEMPLATE PLEASE!

Next!

[SarDragon]

The only problem that I have with Facebook squadron websites is that some people do not have a Facebook and for security reasons they are blocked and people that do not have a Facebook do not have access to them. I live in-between two squadron one is 50 minutes away and the other is 45 I went on to each of there web sights sites and I decided to go to a meeting with my current squadron only because there their website was friendlier and seamed seemed more welcoming. Granted the other website was through Facebook and I didn't have access to it but I would rather drive the extra five minutes to a squadron who updates there their web-sight web-site regularly and I actually had access to it.

Fixed that for you.

[Extremepredjudice]

Instead of quibbling over what NHQ SHOULD do, why don't you do it? Create a website that hosts CAP websites? I can help if you need help

[BrannG]

That would be nice.. I may PM you about it when I have a minute to breath.. (on the phone for over an hour with AT&T about certain charges we don't recognize....) Gotta love that little SOB company

[Extremepredjudice]

Yup, send me a message.

[BrannG]

That's the issue - for eveyr person with too much time on their hands, their personal CMS will be the "bestest one".  I think Joomla's a nightmare and
wouldn't even consider it.

Why fly a home-built experimental when there's plenty of commercial stuff, available for free.

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.

Hey Eclipse! Something we agree on! (actually, we tend to agree a lot... but yeah) I only said Joomla since most squadrons use it.. I picked it for our squadron since it is easy for a non-tech person to quickly pick it up and that most of the CAP sites out there use it, so if I ever leave the squadron or whatever its easily supported. But the 50K Google Apps Education account thing.. that would be PERFECT on so many levels.. now how would be get this word up to NHQ... hmmm...

[Extremepredjudice]

That's the issue - for eveyr person with too much time on their hands, their personal CMS will be the "bestest one".  I think Joomla's a nightmare and
wouldn't even consider it.

Why fly a home-built experimental when there's plenty of commercial stuff, available for free.

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.

Hey Eclipse! Something we agree on! (actually, we tend to agree a lot... but yeah) I only said Joomla since most squadrons use it.. I picked it for our squadron since it is easy for a non-tech person to quickly pick it up and that most of the CAP sites out there use it, so if I ever leave the squadron or whatever its easily supported. But the 50K Google Apps Education account thing.. that would be PERFECT on so many levels.. now how would be get this word up to NHQ... hmmm...

Uh-huh. Nice try Joomla marketing team.

[BrannG]

Uh-huh. Nice try Joomla marketing team.

huh? lol I just started using Joomla as of our current site.. I didn't prefer it at first, but the more I looked around the more sites I saw used it. Look me up sometime.. I do NOT work for Joomla! lol

Or did I take that out of context ? lol

oh! btw.. pm sent but i'm looking up this Google Apps thing.. they have a non-profit option for under 30k users that is free for non-profits.. that seems nearly perfect.

[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.