Web Sites

As information on web development is plentiful online, this section won’t waste time detailing how to perform the actual work of building a web site. There is, however, other basic information regarding web sites that all activists should know. For more on the design principles that factor into web development, see the "Desktop Publishing" section of this module.

 

Domain Names

 

Choosing a Name

The first step in getting a web site online (even if all the files have been developed and just need to be hosted somewhere), is deciding what domain name(s) to use. Start by coming up with the part that goes between the “www.” and the “.com” or “.org”, or whatever you’re using. This part is critical. Choose a name that is:

 

• Short (The shorter, the better.)
• Distinct (Avoid names that are similar to those of existing sites.)
• Easy to type (Avoid numbers and symbols.)
• Memorable
• Consistent (If the URL of your site is meant to coincide even partially with the name of your organization, make sure that all the shared elements are spelled the same way. If your organization’s name is too long, has an ampersand (&) or other unusable symbol, or if someone else has already registered the most obvious domain name for your group, try to come up with a creative alternative. Examples include Barnes & Noble (bn.com) and Network Solutions (netsol.com).
• Relevant (For example, let’s say your organization specializes in distributing films from or about Palestine, and conducts its work under the name “Palestine Film Distribution Committee”. What domain name will you choose? The full name is too long, and the acronym ‘PFDC’ is not memorable. Try a name that describes what you are instead of what you’re called, like palestinefilms.org.) See this site for additional suggestions: http://visibility.tv/tips/domain_names.html

 

Domain Name Registration

Once you have determined the name you want for your web site, you’ll need to register it. Once obtained, a registration typically lasts one to two years before it must be renewed. Always remember to renew your registration on time, or you may risk losing it. The many companies that offer domain registration services are known as registrars, and their services vary significantly in both price and security features. Such features are an important consideration if there is a reasonable fear that an unauthorized person may attempt to wrest control of the domain away from you; this has happened to several Palestine-related activist groups.

Additionally, many registrars now offer a privacy feature (generally at additional cost) that prevents others from accessing the personal contact information that you are required to provide during the registration process. Essentially, your registration is publicly listed in the name of a third party in order to protect your private information. This is a worthwhile investment to protect the person who registers your domain name from harassment on the part of opposition members who might obtain the publicly available registration information.

For added security, register the most common variations on your chosen name that might be typed in error. For example, if you are registering “lutheransforpalestine.org”, you should also register the “.com” and “.net” variations. Also note that the words “Palestine” and “Palestinian” are often confused by people trying to remember web addresses – so a group registering “palestineculture.org” should also register “palestinianculture.org” (plus the “.com” and “.net” variations). This not only prevents your site from losing traffic as a result of a mistyped address; but also prevents others from deliberately registering names similar to your own in order to redirect that lost traffic to their own sites.

Companies constantly compete to offer the lowest pricing for domain registration, which currently starts around $8.00 USD per year. Some of the more notable registrars are:

 

• Go Daddy (www.godaddy.com): An increasingly popular, low-cost choice, which also offers the ability to register many foreign domains such as .de, .jp, .uk, and many others.

• Network Solutions (www.netsol.com) This is one of the most expensive registrars, at up to US$35.00 at present. It’s also the most secure; it’s very difficult for an unauthorized person to gain control of a domain registered here.

• Yahoo Small Business (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains): Yahoo used to have the cheapest service around – not anymore, but it’s still close at about US$9.00 per year. It also has a solid reputation for ease of use.

 

 

Hosting

In order to be accessible on the internet, the files that make up your web site must be hosted on a web server. Many hosts also provide tools for creating your site. Types of hosts include:

• Shared: A service that stores your site on the same server as many other sites

• Virtual Dedicated Server: This type of hosting divides a single server into multiple “virtual” servers, so that each user has full control over their own virtual server while sharing the physical machine on which it exists.

• Dedicated Server: Users are given full control over a physical web server owned by the host.

• Colocation: Users are given full control over a server that they own, but is physically stored and maintained by the hosting provider. This is the most secure form of hosting, and also the most expensive.

• Advertising-Supported: A form of free (usually shared) hosting that forces sites to display pop-up or banner advertisements. Examples include AngelFire, Tripod, and Yahoo Geocities. For activist sites, the substantial annoyance to your site’s visitors isn’t worth the savings.

A number of organizations offer free or discounted (usually shared or virtual dedicated server) web hosting to activist groups, without forcing the display of advertisements. Many also offer email and mailing list services. These include the following:

InterActivist: www.interactivist.net/web
MutualAid: http://mutualaid.org
RiseUp: http://hosting.riseup.net

 

 

Creating Your Site

Essentially, there are four ways to go about creating your site:

 

Template-Based

Many hosting providers offer online template-based tools to construct your web site. This is certainly the easiest method. However, you will be limited to specific layouts and options, and the number of pages in your site may be restricted.

 

CMS

A CMS (Content Management System) is a software application, installed on a web server, that automates the backend work of creating and updating a web site. Sites that use a CMS are extremely easy to update – users essentially just plug in text and graphics, set a few parameters pertaining to layout, and the software does the rest. A CMS can be rather difficult to set up initially, and requires a person with significant computer experience. If you have access to such a person, however, this may be your best bet, as CMS-based sites offer far more options than their template-based counterparts, and are easier to maintain than any other type of site.

Examples (both are open-source):

Joomla (www.joomla.org)
Drupal (www.drupal.org)

 

DIY

You can also opt to take a completely do-it-yourself approach to developing your site, using an application like Macromedia Dreamweaver or NVU (a cross-platform, open source program) to create it from scratch. This allows you a great deal of flexibility in designing your site, but can also be extremely time consuming. For a good comparison of popular web development applications, see this article: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/software/page4746.cfm

 

Hiring a Pro

Finally, you can enlist a professional web developer. For a fee, the developer will create your site from scratch, install an existing or custom-made CMS, or perform any number of other tasks related to developing your web site. Hiring a professional can be very costly, although many offer discounts to nonprofit and activist organizations.

 

 

Maintaining Your Site

 

Staying Current

Once your site has been created, it must be maintained. Update it as frequently as possible, even if the update is as superfluous as a peripherally-relevant news blurb. Frequently updated sites help create the impression of a more active organization. Many people will use your web site as their primary source of information about your group, so it’s critical to make sure that it stays up-to-date with all of the latest information. If your organization moves its site to a new address, you should both announce the move in advance and continue to renew the registration of the old one, setting it to redirect to your new page.

 

URL Redirection

The term “URL Redirection” refers to the technique of making web pages accessible via more than one URL, or web address. Some web hosts offer this as a service (usually for free) when you register multiple URLs with them. If you’ve registered multiple variations of your web address, you could easily set www.lawstudentsforpalestine.net to redirect to www.lawstudentsforpalestine.org. Besides handling variant addresses, redirection is also useful for redirecting traffic from an outdated address. A number of URL redirection techniques are described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_redirection