Starting a Model A Club website

rpm2831

rpm2831

Junior Member
How do I go about starting a Model A Club website? Our Redstick Chapter website is gone and I want to start a new one.I do not have any experience with this and I would appreciate any help from anyone familiar with the process of building a new club website.Thanks in advance for your help.Ray Mayers.
 
I am currently the Dallas Model A Club's webmaster. (http://www.dmafc.com)
We just underwent a full website redesign and enlisted the help of a club member's son who builds websites for a living. We also decided to use some of the more up-to-date web technology, php which is not exactly bleeding edge, but allows for dynamic content, rather than static HTML pages, allowing for club members to be able to add their own photos and content. Each person in the club has their own private log in allowing more personal ownership of what the hobbiests involved in our club want to see.

Websites have changed a lot since the internet was a baby. A big consideration to creating a website is "If this site exists, is there any reason for someone to return to it after looking at it once?" For this reason, creating static HTML pages requires that the creator spend a lot of time updating, building more, and adding to the site so that people will come back. Now, I feel that this is great for reference sites because these sites that house lots of information about a topic and having that information indexed and waiting for the reader on the web is perfect.

However, a website that talks about your club would probably only be visited once if at all by the average person. Therefore, all that work and no one looks at it. If you can create pages that update, like photos from tours, a place for your clubs news letters, or a place to post new information or get togethers, or even discussions about the hobby, then that will more likely have people using your site more.

First, map out what you think you need on a website. Then begin looking at what your physical resources are for hosting the site, the best way to build the site without it taking a team of people to keep it up to date, and maybe some quotes. If you are good at setting up web servers, visual design and coding, there are also some sites that have templates you can buy, and then customize for your own.
 
Last edited:
I do have plenty of experience in this and there are several things you need to consider. First is that there is some financial investment and ongoing cost involved and you should be prepared for that. You have to acquire the name of your domain such as ModelAfun.com or whatever, and that is a recurring charge. You have to find a host for the actual page(s) and that is a recurring cost. You have to build the site and that is daunting if you have no experience, so you may have to hire someone and that is a significant cost. You need broadband which is a significant recurring cost. DSL will work but will frustrate you. Dial-up simply can't handle it.

The time investment is considerable, several hours a day for the first couple of weeks, doing tweaks and handling bugs. Once it is running well figure one hour a day. If you decide to design and build the site yourself figure three days minimum of full time effort.

None of the above gets you a member or guest. Advertising, or acquiring visitors, if done deliberately can cost three grand a month. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is extremely expensive. You can try it on your own but it won't really have any effect. And that means you are going to have to count on people simply finding it by chance, or by your direct individual contact efforts.

Choosing your host is critical. Some are a major pain. Some only accept web pages based on html. Some have build in WYSISYG editors that are a dream for someone like you. All have different fees. All have different levels of technical support. Reliability, how often the site is down, varies a lot among the providers.

It sounds like a lot and it is - but it's also fun. If you have patience and time you can study and proceed and learn and get where you want to be. Otherwise a lot of people hire a pro to build a complete turn-key site. But even then you are stuck with maintenance, and believe me a site needs maintenance.

Don't be turned off by any of this! Go for it, scrape your knuckles a few times, and get the job done. Good luck!
 
There are a lot of hosts that provide free site hosting, but they typically carry a double whammy. First is they are not very well featured or supported, and second is they plug in advertising that you can't remove. I'm not saying Hemmings does this because I don't know, but that is the normal situation with free hosting.

Another consideration is migrating away from a particular host. On the free sites the page development will likely be proprietary and you are stuck there. So you build a nice site and a couple years later decide you need some features that aren't offered - you're stuck having to abandon your entire site and start over somewhere else. If you start your adventure with a site that accepts industry standard formats you can migrate at will.
 
I mentioned Hemmings only because my club is hosted there and I am the webmaster. I'm sure there are many other free hosts available, but Hemmings allows you to use ftp to update your site so you don't have to use their proprietary tools. For simple static pages with a few links this works fine. I typically update it a couple of times a month for event announcements and our latest newsletter.
 
I've been using Yahoo Webhosting for our club website www.foxvalleymarc.com It has a downloadable program that once learned can turn out a pretty decent website. It does cost, but you have lots of bandwidth and storage space, it is a continuously growing repository for the club, so far it has 3 years worth of newsletters, pictures, etc.

The free websites are fine if you keep your site size small. No matter which way you go, follow the other advice here and try to keep it relevant and up to date. The Fox Valley Regions homepage, has links to keep people up to date with a webcalendar, meeting notices, it's also used for putting the word out on upcoming events, etc.

Best of luck and don't be afraid to ask folks for advice. Once you're rolling, its fun. Harry K webmaster Fox Valley Region -- Model A Restorers Club :D
 
Thanks to all of you for your replies. I set up the website yesterday using www.webs.com. and it was pretty easy. Now comes the work in posting all the information, pictures,etc. I see that there are upgrades for the site, but for now I'll keep it as a free site.Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top