SIMON CRAGG Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 For reasons far to complicated to explain here, our club website is no more. Nothing can be retrieved. So we have to start again, Can anybody explain the most cost effictive / efficient way of getting a club level web site up and running? Please keep it simple!. Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultymate Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 The BMFA now host club websites !! Here's the link https://bmfa.org/Clubs/Hosted-Club-Websites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil James Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 It depends on whether you have any club members competent in HTML. If not then your best bet is a blogging system such as Wordpress. This is very easy to set up and maintain and there are lots of ready made themes for you to customise it. There are lots of companies offering cheap hosting for wordpress sites too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted November 30, 2018 Author Share Posted November 30, 2018 Posted by Ultymate on 30/11/2018 18:45:52: The BMFA now host club websites !! Here's the link https://bmfa.org/Clubs/Hosted-Club-Websites These look perfect, and are Wordpress (whatever that means)!. I have added the topic to our next committee agenda. Just need somebody in the club to take it on, and we are in business. Many thx for the heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterF Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 Have you tried using the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive, **LINK**, put in the website address and see if this has been archived. I do not know how the Wayback Machine decides what sites to archive or when it checks and updates its records. It can hold many versions of a site over time, but it is not infallible. I have used it to successfully recover what was deemed to be a lost site, although I found that a couple of pages were slightly out of date and a couple of pages had never been archived, but at least I had a good start. Even if you can copy text from any archived pages, it gives you something to populate a new site with, rather than having to recreate everything from fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu knowles Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 A lot depends what you want from the site but for simple, easy and free, a Facebook Group page takes some beating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Thanks for the replies, very interesting. We tried Facebook, but hardly anybody used it. Tried Whatsapp, same again. Tried Wayback, which found the 2005 version. Has anybody used the BMFA iteration? Is it straightforward? How much does it cost? The examples looked really good, and if we could achieve what they have done it would be fantastic. I have not got enough brain cells to administer a web site myself, but am sure somebody on our Committee will have!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 I moved the club website over to the bmfa some years ago. It’s free, easy to use, easy to update and Andy Symons is a real help when you have a problem. Highly recommended Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Posted by cymaz on 01/12/2018 06:47:58: I moved the club website over to the bmfa some years ago. It’s free, easy to use, easy to update and Andy Symons is a real help when you have a problem. Highly recommended Here That site is amazing. Well done. Looks like just what we need. Think its a no-brainer!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Whisky Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 When I was asked to take on our Club's website, I trawled around a huge number of other clubs' websites to see how they looked and performed (speed of loading is important these days) and the info they contained, to come up with some idea of "best practice". I found, inevitably, that they vary tremendously. There are some excellent ones out there and some dreadful ones (no names, no packdrill). There are also large numbers that look as though they haven't been updated for a very long time. I have also found that there is a lot of work setting up and properly maintaining a decent website, so it is quite a commitment. Don't forget that in today's world websites must scale correctly because they can be viewed on everything from a small mobile phone screen to a massive full 4K TV screen. A club website has to do two things:- 1. Be a "window" on to the Club for outsiders and prospective members and 2. Be of some informational service to existing members. (I do find myself wondering how many Club members ever visit their own club website, and if so, how often). The first thing you need to do is to determine the content and develop a rough idea about how you want it to look. You can begin to do this using a Word Processor or Destop Publishing software. That will take time! Only when you've done that is the time to consider the hosting and backend issues. It is all a very interesting learning process, but quite time-consuming. You will (should) also find that it is an ongoing, somewhat iterative, process. Development should never really stop, as the internet world and its protocols etc are changing all the time, and websites that are not freshened up from time-to-time fall into disuse. Of course, like so many things, opinions are very subjective, but I'll risk putting my head over the parapet and you are welcome to see our Club site at **LINK** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Delegate it to someone who knows about such things -- but make sure the club owns it and controls it not some member who just goes away leaving the club without access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Posted by kc on 01/12/2018 12:23:45: Delegate it to someone who knows about such things -- but make sure the club owns it and controls it not some member who just goes away leaving the club without access. That is the plan. We have somebody on the Committee who is ideal.........but has got to "want" to do the job. I still work full time, and am not a great fan of sitting in front of the laptop for hours on end.....so I am a non-starter. At the GO membership meeting the other night, several clubs mentioned how important a club website is, now that a lot (all in our case) LHS have gone. Our plan is to have an up to date, easy to navigate site, coupled to the new GO membership portal and club finder. We are not desperate for new members, but a few would be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 To be honest , you don’t need to ( I’m no computer wizard) sit at the computer for hours on end using the BMFA hosting. Just add pages when you need to. Once up and running it’s only a few minutes of updating. I’ve now been assigned to run the Cornwall Area site. Hopefully the front page and passwords will arrive next week from the BMFA. I will let you know what happens. It’s no harder than writing on this thread, Edited By cymaz on 01/12/2018 16:53:24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Sharples Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Anyone know how long it takes for the BMFA to sort a web site hosted by the BMFA obviously. The reason is I emailed the BMFA web master all the necessary info to start the process on the 26th and heard nothing back yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Posted by cymaz on 01/12/2018 16:52:46: To be honest , you don’t need to ( I’m no computer wizard) sit at the computer for hours on end using the BMFA hosting. Just add pages when you need to. Once up and running it’s only a few minutes of updating. I’ve now been assigned to run the Cornwall Area site. Hopefully the front page and passwords will arrive next week from the BMFA. I will let you know what happens. It’s no harder than writing on this thread, Edited By cymaz on 01/12/2018 16:53:24 Look forward to your update fella. Its probably not that difficult, but as we have eight committee members, and I am already the club sec and general dogsbody.........................its good to share the workload!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Symons - BMFA Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Posted by Keith Sharples on 01/12/2018 17:05:00: Anyone know how long it takes for the BMFA to sort a web site hosted by the BMFA obviously. The reason is I emailed the BMFA web master all the necessary info to start the process on the 26th and heard nothing back yet. Hi keith Its on the list and I do have a bit of a backlog, hopwfully will have any outstanding ones sorted this coming week, Cheers Simon ping me an email and we will eb able to get you up and running reasonably quickly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Sharples Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Posted by Andy Symons - BMFA on 01/12/2018 18:44:27: Posted by Keith Sharples on 01/12/2018 17:05:00: Anyone know how long it takes for the BMFA to sort a web site hosted by the BMFA obviously. The reason is I emailed the BMFA web master all the necessary info to start the process on the 26th and heard nothing back yet. Hi keith Its on the list and I do have a bit of a backlog, hopwfully will have any outstanding ones sorted this coming week, Cheers Simon ping me an email and we will eb able to get you up and running reasonably quickly Hi Andy. Thanks for the update, I wasn't complaining just wondering if anyone knew how long it took Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Lomax Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 Posted by Tom Sharp 2 on 01/12/2018 00:19:47: Using HTML you can create your website on your computer and load it up to your server as and when you need to. Any alterations are recorded on your home site, then load them up to your server. Keep a copy of your site on a memory stick, update the copy on the stick as you update the site and bobs your uncle. Never lose your site in the future. Edited By Tom Sharp 2 on 01/12/2018 00:22:22 Edited By Tom Sharp 2 on 01/12/2018 00:26:14 Better still, make two memory stick copies, and give the second one to another committee member to store. This protects the club against both you leaving (for any reason) or something unfortunate such as a fire at your house. Buy a third memory stick so when you update you put the copy on there and swap it with the other committee member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 2, 2018 Share Posted December 2, 2018 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted December 4, 2018 Author Share Posted December 4, 2018 Well, we are well on the way to getting our Website! Our new "Webmaster", has been in touch with Andy at the BMFA and so far so good. Looking forward to adding content, and keeping the whole thing alive and fresh. More to follow.................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted December 5, 2018 Share Posted December 5, 2018 Hi I can provide club websites / email / hosting for a reasonable cost. More than a website is a full club management application. Details here with sites that are already using the system. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 Thanks to the BMFA and Andys help, we now have a web site up and running. Early days yet, but our new "Webmaster" is on the case as we speak. Thanks to the forum member who advised me of this excellent facility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgwlm Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 i too am trying to take the BMFA option for our club website, emailed the required information in December, not heard anything back beginning January, emailed again, still no reply, i then sent an email to ask, just for confirmation that my request was received, still nothing back, and yes i do realise xmas/new year, maybe a backlog, it does make me wonder if the email was received, i deal with a few other companies that use an automated service, to say that the email has been received, maybe something BMFA could look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I have sent the BMFA Webmaster 2-3 emails asking for a domain as we are trying to set up a page to promote the Cornwall Area Group. Nothing, no reply, if anyone reads this from the BMFA could they look into it please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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