Transcript WOW! Websites Without Webmasters

WOW!
Pushbutton Websites
Steve Johnson
DSO-CS
What You Will Hear Today
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Unit Website rationale
The WOW project: “pushbutton” websites
A WOW walkthrough
Caveats/Restrictions/Limitations
What to do next
WOW Target Audience
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Units without FSO-CS/SO-CS
Units with no Website
Units with neglected Websites
FSO-CS/SO-CS without Web experience
Experienced Website designers with no time
Reasons to Have a Unit Website?
• Attract new members  a “touchstone” for
candidates.
• Attract students to Public Education events
• Share information among unit members
• Unit pride
• Many more…
Reasons to Not Have a Unit Website?
• Programming is arcane, difficult to do well
• Easy to do a bad job; hard to do a good one
• Bad website is worse than none
– Makes the unit look bad; discourages visitors
– Makes the Auxiliary look bad
• Neglected website worse than a bad one
– Tells the world “you don’t care”
D11S Website Status in January 2012
• 9 Divisions
– All have websites (100%)
• 72 Flotillas
– 55 have known websites (76%)
– 17 do not (24%)
– Over 27 of the 55 are neglected…
44+ units – 61% – need a “pushbutton” solution!
The WOW Project
“PUSHBUTTON”
WEBSITES
The WOW Project:
“Pushbutton” Websites
• Any unit: an instant site
• Personalized to your unit
– Staff Listing
– Contact and meeting info
– Public Education Course
• Calendar
• Zip Code Course Finder
• Instant “Flyer”
• Stop now, add later…
How “Instant”?
1. Open a web browser
2. Type
wow.uscgaux.info
3. Enter your Aux
credentials
4. Enter your unit
5. Press “Log In”
Elapsed time: 15 seconds
Very “Instant”…
6. Click “Configure Site”
7. Click “Enable Site”
And were done…
UNIT’S STAFF LIST
HOME PAGE: About the Auxiliary
CONTACT & MEETING INFO
PE COURSE LIST BY ZIP CODE
Elapsed time: 25 seconds
But wait! There’s more…
1st 25 Seconds:
• Home page
• Flotilla meeting &
contact info
• Current staff list
• Public Education
Course Finder
• Links to
– Division Site
– District Site
– National Site
• Log on for staff
contact info
Every 5 Minutes:
• Unit calendars
• Rolling announcements
• Members Only (passwd)
• Unlimited Custom Pages
• External links
• Feeds
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AIS
Weather
Twitter
Anything else
• Prospective Member
Program Form (coming)
• Much, much more…
Bottom line – WOW Websites
• Basic site in 25 seconds
• No excuse for any flotilla or division to not have
a basic, always up-to-date Web presence.
• Trivial to expand site with no computer skills
• So easy, unit’s elected officers can do 
• Help fill your PE classes, attract members
Aux-04 Website C-School being streamlined;
students want only WOW. CHDIRAUX has
approved.
The WOW Project
ONLINE PE CALENDAR
DATABASE
National PE Calendar Database
What is it?
• Central database with (potentially) all PE
courses in the country
• Maintained by PE officers at the flotilla level
• Entered courses show up on all WOW
websites (unit or Zip Code searches)
• Entered courses may show up on other sites
• “Instant” Course flyer with time, date, details
• Entry generates an electronic “Notice of Intent
to Teach” form (7023), emails to District
How does it work?
A WOW Website is not required to participate
The “Online” 7023 Form…
DSO-PE
Zip Code Class Search – Any WOW Site
“Instant”
Printable
Color Flyer
Meeting
Details and
Contact Info
Course Syllabus
Zoomable
location map
Bottom Line – National PE Course
Database – Flotilla Perspective
• Fill out your 7023 Form online, and you’re in.
• Generates the District paperwork and sends
via email. You’re done.
• If you don’t use it, nearby flotillas who do will
siphon away some of your students due to the
Zip code search.
• Paper 7023’s can be entered for you by an SO
or DSO, but…how last Century…
WOW Takeaway
• It’s to your advantage for your unit to have a
modern Website that is current.
• Those without can have one in less than a
minute.
• WOW sites are important as public portals into
your PE course offerings
The WOW “PE Webkit”
• A software tool for FSOs-CS and SOs-CS
• Purpose: Add PE Database + Zip Code Course
finder to any Website!
• Takes 10-15 minutes, tops!
The WOW Project:
“Pushbutton” Websites
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NOT a template…
A true, data-driven (content-driven) site
The website is already built –
The unit just puts in the content (words,
occasional images)
Demo (to follow)
• Logging onto the WOW website
• “Enabling” the site
• Reviewing your default site
– Logged in versus logged out
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Adding a public education page
Adding a PE course
Viewing a PE flyer
Customizing a home page, add photograph
Link to another site
More…
Live Demo Site
What Else Can You Do?
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Links to other Websites
Custom Pages (unlimited)
Re-order the menu items
Announcements/items that expire
Upload photographs/artwork (within reason)
Upload documents to link/serve
What about images?
• Images are uploaded to WOW
• Stored on WOW server “in the cloud”
– Folder for each unit is supported
– Photos are “bit reduced” when uploaded
• Be prudent: Use images to sweeten web
pages only.
• Put “photo galleries” on commercial sites
– Embed with an iframe tag
National reserves the right to limit photos
at any time.
What if You Know HTML?
• Use it on any page
• Accomplish any fine-grained task
Except for workarounds, not recommended,
because you will not always be the CS officer
Public Access to Your WOW Site
http://axxxyyzz.wow.uscgaux.info
http://a1141204.wow.uscgaux.info
Under the Hood
WOW
DASHBOARD
VIRTUAL
SERVER
wow.uscgaux.info
WOW
WOWIIApplication
Application
UNIT
TABLES
DOCUMENTS
&
IMAGES
http://axxxyyyzz.wow.uscgaux.info
Early returns…
“You enabled me to create a website for my flotilla... Thank you
so much. I am truly grateful….”
Marti Bright-Jordan, Flotilla Commander
Flotilla 11-10 11SR Palm Desert
"As SO-CS for the San Diego Division, I gained sufficient
knowledge during a single WOW seminar to quickly create and
customize websites for three flotillas that have never had one.”
Randy Houk, SO-CS
Division 1 11SR San Diego
Summary
• WOW-II offers an immediate Web presence to
units without Websites or webmasters;
• WOW sites are built around content, not
around computer coding; Ordinary mortals
such as Flotilla Commanders can maintain;
• WOW sites can be tailored easily by such
mortals to the unit’s specific needs.
Questions?
Access to District 085 WOW Site