LMGregorakis wrote: As for general issues we have come across:
-Formatting photos of officers and getting the bios to "look pretty"
The bio text is inserted into a highly formatted page generated by the server. Thus, I really do not want to allow for much formatting there, to prevent an overly "busy" looking page. I have considered allowing for some very basic "character only" formatting in bios (like for the banner and floater text), but I have not yet committed to implementing that.
LMGregorakis wrote: -When officers give their bio to the VPPR to input to our website the formatting is challenging. Everyone seems to submit a different font or color or size so copy and pasting can throw everything off.
What I have told others: create a simple form in MS Word or others that provides leading questions and guides people on the information needed for a good bio. I recommend limiting people to two things: general personal information about themselves (and/or career) and Toastmasters related information (what they have accomplished in Toastmasters). These two things tend to have the most promotional value in my opinion--they encourage website visitors to see that club members are just like them and they see that Toastmasters club members get real results from their membership.
LMGregorakis wrote: -The Toastmasters podcast section leads to what seems to be a dead link.
www.dowellwebtools.com/tools/bg/Bo
Maybe that is something we are supposed to update. We focus on the basics and as you said, use it more of a landing page than a sign up and interactive website. If I could get people to use it as an interactive website, I would because I see how powerful FTH is for a meeting! Amazing!
my issue to fix
LMGregorakis wrote: -Pro and con, homepage is set up as a box to add a photo and text. Seems simple, especially for those who may use word. The edit box is so small. I feel like I cannot get a good idea of how it may look once changes are saved. I felt like I was constantly hitting save and seeing how it look, then going back in and making a tweak. Then repeating the same process. Maybe a preview change.
Click the zoom full page icon for the editor.
LMGregorakis wrote: -Not easy to showcase weekly meetings or updates. We do this on facebook but it would be awesome if that could show up on our website as well. It feels like it requires more effort than it is worth to update things on a regular basis.
Other clubs do this. Look at other clubs websites, and use the forums to make inquiries on how to improve your website. (e.g. Evaluate our Website! section of forums)
LMGregorakis wrote: -I understand you are volunteers and I am so grateful for the time you have put into this. Not for the purpose of adding more to your plate but, I suggest tutorials. I know you have extensive documents explaining things but sometimes it is hard to understand what you are saying without a visual follow along. It seems like that is how most people are learning these days and I think it would empower people to navigate FTH with more confidence.
We are aware of this. It is just a case of video approaches needing a lot of someone's time to produce and maintain.
LMGregorakis wrote: Pros:
-The google maps feature makes the location look very professional.
-Looks very professional. I have had comments from guests stating that our website looks very professional. Seamless transition between TI website and club website. You wouldn't even know they are different hosts or websites.
-Easily gives visitors to the website information about the club, officers, TI. Very easy to navigate.
-As you mentioned the support. I was nervous about writing into this forum because I don't have all of the tech lingo. Thank you for breaking things down for me and working with me to figure things out. FTH is an incredible platform but it is different that what I am familiar with so thank you for being patient with me.
Again, just a few suggestions. I really enjoy the platform and I hope people continue to realize all it is capable of.
Don't worry about not being as tech-savvy. FTH is really more geared to people like you than the really "techie" people. In fact, it is really the techie people that tend to run into more issues with the system. (They expect things that the system is not really designed to support.)
