1. Passing Along Traditions of Learning

3. Welcome to 622 Websites & Newsletters
Presented by:
Jim Graney

4. Course Description
Learn the nuts and bolts to creating your unit newsletters that are not only informative, but fun to look at as well.
Learn the tricks of the trade for creating and deploying a unit web site.

5. Why do we want a newsletter or website?
To communicate information with or about our Unit.
To be effective communication, the idea must be clearly sent and clearly received.

6. Common Elements of Good Newsletter / Website Design
Clear
The information needs to be easily received.
Accurate
The information needs to be true and correct.
Timely
The information needs to be received while it is still usable.

7. Consider your Audience
Are you trying to communicate to the members of your Unit?
Are you trying to communicate to others ABOUT your Unit?

8. Tailor your information to your audience
If you are trying to convey a message to non-Scouts, remember that most people don’t know what a Blue & Gold Banquet or Camporee may be.
Avoid specific acronyms such as BALOO or CSBLT or YPT, unless your specific audience regularly uses them.

9. What is News?
News is any new information or information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.
Wikipedia

10. Newsletters
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers.
Wikipedia
Usually, Units publish newsletters to pass information to their Unit members.

11. How do I create a newsletter?
The simplest way is to use a computer program such as Word or Publisher.
You can also type or handwrite the information and cut & paste the pieces, then make copies.

12. Content
The single most important factor for your newsletter should be the content.
You can get your content from many different sources, then compile it into your newsletter.
Have each Den or Patrol submit some information or an article.

13. What should I include in my newsletter?
Upcoming events
Meetings
Camps
Unit Events
Council Events
Committee news
Reviews of recent events
Stories
Calendar
Polls
Sign-up information
Anything that your audience may enjoy, that is in line with Scouting ideals.

14. How often do I need to make a newsletter?
That is determined by your Unit’s needs.
1 newsletter detailing the exact yearly schedule is likely to be inaccurate in a short time.
Consider:
Quarterly
Monthly
Weekly
Factor in the effort and time to make then distribute your newsletter.
Don’t spend 2 months to make a newsletter that only serves a purpose for 1 month.

15. Layout
Think of a newspaper. The articles are arranged in a manner to make them easy to read.
Use short headlines to capture attention.
Use ‘full justification’ to neatly align the sides of the text.
Use whitespace to emphasize the text within it.
Use columns and organize them so that they keep your ideas together.
Consider a table of contents if your newsletter is more than a couple pages.

16. Columns Short Headlines
Whitespace
FULL
Justified
Text

17. Graphics / Photos
Use pictures to get people’s attention and draw them into the text.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but are they the correct words that you want to convey.
Use your picture along with the text to tell the story.

18. OR What does this say? Brave Scout climbs his way to the top.
Scared boy clings on for dear life. OR

19. abc abc abc abc abc abc abc
Fonts
Fonts or Typefaces can come in many shapes and forms.
abc abc abc abc abc abc abc
Make your text large enough to read.
Use fonts that are easily readable and use the same font consistently within each article.
Limit the number of different fonts that you use throughout your newsletter.

20. Do I need color?
Remember that content is the most important part of your newsletter.
Color may be useful, but it should not be necessary. Color can add considerable cost to reproduction.
Consider using colored paper for your newsletter if you want the whole thing to stand out.

21. Proofread
Your information will be less well-received if there are misspellings, grammatical errors, or inaccurate information.
Errors may make it difficult to understand.
Have at least one other person, preferably two or more, proofread the information before you publish it. Tell them to be critical.

22. Websites
A website is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or more web servers, usually accessible via the Internet.
A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP, a protocol that transfers information from the Web server to display in the user's Web browser.
Wikipedia

23. In Layman’s Terms
A website is a group of related computer newsletters found in the same location.

24. How do I create a website?
You need a domain name
You need a web host
A web host provides you with the space, tools and support to create your web pages
You need to design the webpages
MS Front Page or some other HTML editor
HyperText Markup Language

25. Sound complicated?? It can be You have a few options:
Hire someone to do it for you
Find a parent who knows how to do it
Learn how to do it yourself
Or find a happy medium

26. Sound complicated??
There are a number of online webhosts that offer a domain name, site hosting, and web design in one simple package.
$20 set up fee
$4.99 per month
No set up fee
$29.95 per year

27. WEBSITE
BASICS

28. Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms

29. BANNER

30. BANNERS
Steve Ayers
Cubmaster
phone (607)
pack webpage
Banners can be found on many websites, usually in the form of advertising.
They are usually in a format that is wide and short, or narrow and tall, hence the name ‘banner’.
This can be an integral part of your Unit’s visual identification to tie together all of your self-promotion.

31. Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms

32. NAVIGATION TREE

33. NAVIGATION TREE
A visual aid to help navigate through the many different pages of a website.
An easy reference to show where you have been and where you may want to go.
Can be thought of as a table of contents.

34. Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms

35. LINKS

36. LINK / HYPERLINK
It is a visual representation of a pointer whereby someone can navigate to that other linked file or document by simply clicking on it.
Frequently depicted in blocks of text by the font color being blue.

37. Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms

38. GRAPHICS

39. GRAPHICS/PHOTOS
Help stimulate the mind and make a webpage more interesting.
Graphics & photos are larger files, taking up more space and they may load slower.
Don’t forget to Hyperlink your pictures too!

40. Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms

41. CALENDARS

42. CALENDARS
Online calendars are the easiest way to show upcoming events to a lot of people.
These MUST, MUST, MUST be accurate and up to date or they do more harm than good.

43. Some useful website features
Banners
Navigation Trees
Links/hyperlinks
Graphics/photos
Calendars
Forms

44. FORMS

45. FORMS
Allow your Unit members to access common forms they may want to print.
Keep the forms current and accurate.
Use file formats that almost everyone can view. The 2 most common are:
.pdf , Adobe’s Portable Document File
.doc , Microsoft Word
It is easier to link to a form already at another site, rather than add the form to your site.

46. National Council Guidelines
While units and members act as private individuals when communicating with the public, the National Council provides the following advice for those who use the Internet to promote and support their units or to communicate to the public about Scouting:

47. National Council Guidelines
Decorum
Scouters should exercise propriety and good taste. Remember that the Internet (including Web sites, chat rooms, bulletin boards, and even messages) is a public medium. Your conduct reflects not only on yourself and your unit, but also on the entire Scouting movement whenever the audience knows you are a Scouter.

48. National Council Guidelines
Personal Safety
While most Internet users are honest, there is a criminal element that seeks information as a way to gain access to victims. For that reason, be especially careful about providing any personal information—names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Always get written permission before posting personal information about adult volunteers, and never publish personal information about youth members. If you display or post images of adult and youth members involved in Scouting activities on your Web site, you should first obtain written permissions from the adults and the parents or guardians of any youth members.

49. National Council Guidelines
Legal Issues
Myriad federal and state laws govern publishing in any medium, including the Internet—copyright infringement, privacy of information, defamation, etc. You should familiarize yourself with these laws so you can ensure that the information you publish doesn't create any legal problems for you or your chartered organization. Key among these legal issues are that (1) you should never collect personal information about youth members over the Internet, and (2) you should never reproduce or display on your Web sites content from some other source without written permission.

50. National Council Guidelines
BSA Policies and Procedures
All policies and procedures that apply to any activity are still in effect when that activity is conducted on the Internet. For example, any online recruiting must be done in accordance with policies and procedures that govern offline recruiting.

51. Basic Ethics
Create your website with the best interests of Scouting in mind.
Protect your Scouters. Don’t display their full names and/or personal information.
Be mindful of Copyright issues.

52. Advertise your Website
Tell everyone where to find your website.
Print your website address on all your literature.
Remind your Scouters to check the website and suggest improvements.

53. Absolutely necessary Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise
Do NOT let your site become Static.
Good websites change & evolve.

54. Passing Along Traditions of Learning