Community Websites
The web is one of the most revolutionary invention in modern times, and one that effects almost every person in the western world. As such, it is also one of the best means for communities/churches to publicise themselves outside of their four walls. A well designed website can:
- Promote your community or organisation
- Help you communicate more effectively
- Help your Church or organisation reach out to the local community
Despite these advantages, however, many communities fail to take advantage of the medium, choosing instead to stick any design on the web with no prior thought to design, content or structure. All to often, the website gets delegated to a 'helpful member' of the congregation with little or no backing from community leaders, just because they are cheap. Such a move is missing the potential of the web by miles. This series of articles aim to give helpful hints and pointers to rectify it. I hope that it will be a resource to web designers and church leaders alike, and that it will be valuable.
Planning
Before anyone is enlisted to help with the website, the leaders of the church/community, and maybe the church/community as a whole, should get together and discuss the purpose of the site. This is possibly the most important section of the whole system; a website rushed through planning will not be an asset to anyone. Things to think about include:
- Purpose – what is the purpose of the website: is it to inform members of what is going on around the church? Is it as a tool for evangelism?
- Audience – who will be reading your site? Will it be mainly teenagers or young adults, or families or older people?
- Content – What will appear on your site? Will it include a statement of faith? Will it have an evangelistic plea to it?
Only when you have fully considered all of this can you draw up a design brief and begin to look for help to create it
Enlisting Help
You must now consider what sort of help you wish to enlist. All have their advantages and disadvantages.
- Someone in the congregation 'helping out.' A good choice for a church on a budget providing that you have someone with competence. Before you say yes, ask to see some examples of their past work – if you don't think it looks good, say no gently. Many such volunteers often only have a basic knowledge of webpage creation, and results often look amateur. Better to wait a while than have a half-good website
- A content-driven website. Solutions such as Church123 that offer a control panel by which you can build your website. They usually come with web-hosting for an annual fee of £100-£300 ($185-$550 US). The disadvantage is that you must use a template, so church websites all look the same.
Secondly, you have no real control over the structure of the site. As such, such a system is outside the scope of these articles.
- A web-design agency. The most expensive solution, but saying that, it is generally fairly easy to find a Christian-sympathetic business who will offer cheaper prices. This will result in a well-designed, technologically great and aesthetically pleasing website. An added benefit is that most designers know what is good content and structure it as such. Check their website first to look for examples of past work. Finally, make sure that they know that ultimately, you are in charge of the website; this helps avoid religiously-insensitive design etc.
Whatever choice you pick, this is a important choice, and it is essential that you liase together.
NEXT WEEK – we shall discuss site structure, menu stucture and design. This Tutorial was written by Bunced, a moderator of webmastersdatabase.com
Getting Your Community Websites Started! 
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