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What is InfoWebPage? InfoWebPage can be used as the primary website of a small group (such as a club, chapter, scout troop, church, etc) for displaying basic info, news, events, and related links. It is a content Information Page (one web page) with a simple management tool for the admin of the information on the page. So it also can be used as the news and events page for an organization with an existing website. Why is InfoWebPage useful? The customary purpose of a club, group, or small organization is to serve its members and organize people and activities around a common interest. Communication is essential in this process. The Internet, and specifically the web, is such a perfect medium for providing a real time communication network between affiliation groups and their members (as well as to attract new members or gather support for the organization). Therefore, it is essential that a group has a website that is up to date with the latest news, events, and resources. InfoWebPage is useful because it is simple to create and maintain. InfoWebPage uses one page of information, which is sufficient for a small organization and is easy for users to read and print out everything that is pertinent to the organization. An organization may have many other static pages as part of their website but they still need to have dynamic components for current news and events which are time sensitive and ever changing. Even though a small organization may not have a lot of timely information to convey, that information is still very essential to the life blood of the organization and its members. What problems does InfoWebPage solve? When a webpage is not kept up-to-date, it reflects poorly on the organization. Here are the problems that exist when a website is not kept up to date. 1. The attendance of members in group activities tends to drop if they are unable to find information easily about news and events. Conversely, attendance tends to rise when members can easily get the latest information whenever they want. 2. Members will not visit the website more than once if it is too static with no current information, as opposed to a dynamic site that people are more likely to bookmark and visit often to get the latest information. 3. Potential members will choose not to join when they have trouble finding information about the group or if the group appears inactive or defunct because the information they find on the webpage is outdated. Why do these problems exist? 1. Many small organizations don't have members with knowledge of HTML, FTP, basic website design, and other skills necessary to create and maintain an information webpage. 2. There can be a long response time when working with a web developer who is a volunteer. Constantly gathering information, writing the HTML, then using FTP to get the updated site onto the Internet can be a hassle for the web developer. The website is rarely a first priority to the volunteer, and valuable time may be lost. 3. The person who is providing the webserver may not always keep the website running. All websites are stored on a computer, and if that computer is shut off or disconnected from the internet, then the page is no longer viewable. InfoWebPage can provide a reliable webserver that volunteers are usually unable to do. 4. There tends to be a high turnover of webmasters when dealing with small groups and organizations. Many webmasters will create a page for the organization, but if they are no longer members, the website is doomed to become outdated because nobody can update the page, or they no longer have the passwords and other necessary information to make the updates. How does InfoWebPage solve these Problems? With InfoWebPage, the organizers of a group will have access to a password protected webpage where they can simply fill out a form and save it to the webserver with a click of the mouse, and thereby update the website. So anyone who has access to the web, with a simple web browser, can do the job. Therefore the people who make decisions, and formulate events or news, can be the ones updating the site directly, rather than trying to get the information to a webmaster, if there is one, who will update the website, when they get around to it. A committee, for example, could actually update the website during a committee meeting. Client Needs: All small organizations have common need to inform its members by providing information about news, events, and other resources. The administration of this information must be extremely simple so that anyone who can use the web can manage it. The information on the site must not get outdated or members and potential members will think the organization is defunct. It must look professional but need not be totally unique because getting the information is the primary purpose for coming to the website. AIT is providing InfoWebPage free of charge to a limited number of organizations partly as a community service, and partly as a demonstration of AIT's technology to help promote AIT. AIT will have 1 small link at the bottom of your page, and absolutely no advertisements or pop-up messages at any time. |
