land trusts & web technology damon hearne connecticut forest & park association
TRANSCRIPT
Land Trusts & Web Technology
Damon HearneConnecticut Forest & Park Association
Overview
• Basic website tools• Photo hosting • Membership Data• Sales• Social Networking• Mapping and
locations
Some basic terms
• Domain (ie ctwoodlands.org) – Routes traffic to the Host– Managed by domin registrar - $15 per year
• ISP – Internet Service Provider – Provides your connection to the Web– IE – AT&T, Comcast, Localhost
• Host (website host) – Hosts your website files on a server
Software
• Is all on line – NO software installed on your hard drive.
• Can be updated and maintained you or by the host.
• Flexible and scalable• Open source, free or at least very cheap. • “Web 2.0” -a perceived second generation of web development
and design, that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.
Basic Website Management
• Look for a Content Management System (CMS)
• Such as Drupal, Wordpress, TypePad• Easy to manage content. • Free to install software (you only pay for
hosting• High search engine profile• Multiple users • Customizable by you or designer
Content Management Systems
• Three examples
1. TypePad - http://www.typepad.com/
1. WordPress - http://wordpress.org/
2. Drupal - http://drupal.org/
CMS terms
• Theme – is the “skin” of your website – this is the design.
• Module – an additional ‘plug and play’ applet that can be added to your site.
• PHP/mySQL – terms for the behind the scenes code that make things work but you don’t need to know.
Content Management Systems
TypePad
• Easy to set up – zero technical skills needed.
• $5-15 per month
• Many ‘themes’
• Customize options good but not unlimited
• You have no hosting, maintenance, security or “bug” responsibility
Content Management SystemsWordPress
• Easy install if host has ‘cpanel’/‘Fantasico’
• Easy to configure/customize
• Basic FTP skills to upload themes
• Can be very basic or highly customized.
• Runs on common coding
• Good for multiple users.
• Responsible for own host.
Content Management Systems
Drupal
• Fantasico can make easy to install
• Great for community building and additional functions/’modules’
• Many many modules available.
• OK out of box themes – probably need designer to help set up.
• Great w/ multiple users
Photo Hosting
• Zenfolio - http://www.zenfolio.com/– More professional/artistic options
• Picasa/Web Album http://picasa.google.com– Great for easy sharing without the social
connection
• Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/– Great for tagging pictures as part of a larger
community.
Membership Data/Join on Line
civiCRM - http://civicrm.org/
• Open source - FREE
• Highly customizable
• Does membership/groups, contacts, relationships, events, online joining, etc.
• Can be module to drupal or other CMS.
• While not overly technical, is complicated to set up.
Membership Data/Join on Line
SalesForce - http://www.salesforcefoundation.org/product
Huge company – FREE account, pay to convert data etc.
• Customizable – is a serious setup process• Does membership/groups, contacts,
relationships, events, etc etc. • Stands alone, can interface with
accounting software etc. • Seems like a very good high end option at
a good price
Membership Data/Join on Line
Network For Good/Groundspring - http://www.groundspring.org/
• $30 per month
• Limited customization
• Highly secure, recognized and accepted.
• Somewhat inflexible
• You don’t have to worry about upgrading, bugs, security issues etc.
Membership Data/Join on Line
Google Checkout for Non-profits - http://checkout.google.com/seller/npo/
• Takes a cut
• Very basic
• Creates Google account in process
Membership Data/Join on Line
PayPal – https://www.paypal-portal.com/charity/
• Takes a cut
• Very basic
• No account needed but sneaky
Sales
Google Checkout & PayPal buttons
• Make custom button code that you insert into your website.
• Not overly technical but can be clunky and inflexible.
• Good solution for selling only a few items.
Sales
Ubercart - http://www.ubercart.org/• Fairly complicated to set up• Open source – FREE• Can stand along or be module of CMS• See www.ctwoodlands.org/bookstore• Highly customizable. Tracks stock and
many details• There are other open source options.
Social Netoworking
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com
• The place to be. TNC has 20,000 fans and raises money there
• Requires someone to have a FB account – but does NOT require/promote sharing of personal FB pages or info.
• Easy to set up and administer. Nice way to track “fans” and get messages out.
Socail Networking
Twitter - http://twitter.com/• The even newer thing than Facebook• 140 character updates. • This is how younger genrations inteface
with each other and organizations. • Twitter and Facebook are making email
obsolete, not to mention text messages. • Al Gore Twitters (what more do you
need?!)
Maps
• Google Earth and Google Maps– EightmileRiver.org example of mashup– Request my 2007 presentation for details
• maps.live.com
• ArcView is now available from TechSoup for less than $200
