Land Trusts & Web Technology Damon Hearne Connecticut Forest & Park Association

Overview Basic website tools Photo hosting Membership Data Sales Social Networking Mapping and locations

Some basic terms Domain (ie ctwoodlands.org)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 C ontent M anagement S ystem (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

C ontent M anagement S ystems Three examples 1.TypePad WordPress Drupal -

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.

C ontent M anagement S ystems 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

C ontent M anagement S ystems WordPress 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.

C ontent M anagement S ystems 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 - –More professional/artistic options Picasa/Web Album –Great for easy sharing without the social connection Flickr - –Great for tagging pictures as part of a larger community.

Membership Data/Join on Line civiCRM - 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 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 $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 Takes a cut Very basic Creates Google account in process

Membership Data/Join on Line PayPal – 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 - Fairly complicated to set up Open source – FREE Can stand along or be module of CMS See Highly customizable. Tracks stock and many details There are other open source options.

Social Netoworking Facebook – 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 - 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 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

Damon Hearne Connecticut Forest & Park Association