Difference between revisions of "Web Site"

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(Content and Organization: multiple vhost considerations)
(Layout and Appearance: staffing considerations for look and feel)
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If your web page has different sections, it is common practice to provide a navigation bar either across the top or down one side of the page.  The navigation bar is consistent from page to page and provides the visitor with easy access to all the areas of the site.
 
If your web page has different sections, it is common practice to provide a navigation bar either across the top or down one side of the page.  The navigation bar is consistent from page to page and provides the visitor with easy access to all the areas of the site.
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For clarity of layout and appearance it is best to have a single person responsible for defining the look and feel of the site, even if many people are generating content.
  
 
==Content and Organization==
 
==Content and Organization==

Revision as of 13:07, 29 September 2006

A convention's web site is an opportune location for people to find up-to-date information about the convention. It is relatively easy to update and is therefore an important communication tool.

Tools

A content management system (such as Drupal, which can seamlessly integrate public, semi-public and private information) transforms your web site from a publication whose owner has to pester the other staff members for information into a collaborative tool which the entire concom can use to communicate with each other and the world.

Layout and Appearance

The appearance of your website should reflect the theme or style of your convention. It should be attractive and laid out in a manner that makes it easy to read and to locate important information.

The front page should prominently feature the name, dates, and location of the event, as well as the names of any Featured Guests. This information may also appear in other places, but it should be very easy to find on the front page.

If your web page has different sections, it is common practice to provide a navigation bar either across the top or down one side of the page. The navigation bar is consistent from page to page and provides the visitor with easy access to all the areas of the site.

For clarity of layout and appearance it is best to have a single person responsible for defining the look and feel of the site, even if many people are generating content.

Content and Organization

Convention web sites range in complexity from a one-page site that basically serves as a convention flyer to a developed community portal.

Organizations with multiple activities may wish to have separate sites for each activity. You may wish to have a site for your convention, a site for the other business, charitable, or scholarly activities of your parent organization, a site for the specific use of your staff, and/or a site or sites for historical information about past conventions or organizational activities. Consider the use of vhosts as an organizational tool.

Similar to designing a flyer, when you design your web site you should consider how you are presenting your convention. Do you say up front that it is a science fiction convention and invite people to sign up for the writer's workshop, or do you advertize the dance, the concert and the beer? The information you present and the way you present it will affect who you attract to your convention.

Web sites are not just to attract newcomers, however. They also serve as an information resource for people who have already decided to attend your event, or who are familiar with it but need information specific to this year. Visitors may be there to register, to make hotel reservations or request Party Suites, to get directions so they can make travel plans, to sign up for Babysitting, the Masquerade, the Art Show, or a Dealers table, to volunteer to be on programming or to work in another department, to find out the program schedule and participants so they can plan for their time at the convention, or to contact the chair or other committee members about some other topic. The web site should support all of these functions as much as possible.

Changes to convention plans (or to the website itself) can be highlighted in a News section. If you are making a dramatic change to the way a convention is run, it is advisable to inform your members of this change in advance. The web site is one place to do this.

Publicity

Once the site has been established, it is important to make it widely known. Print advertisements should definitely include the web site address. There are professional and amateur Portals that will list links to your site, as well as the popular web search engines. In addition, many other conventions will link to your site in return for you linking to them. This forms what is known as a Web Ring, not to be confused with the organization of the same name), and is a powerful means of finding and being found by other conventions.

Timeline

Immediately after previous convention 
Update web site with new Guests of Honor, hotel, and registration info. You may wish to have a new page ready to switch over.
At registration deadlines 
Update registration pricing information and any related forms.
At final registration deadline 
Remove any remaining pre-registration forms