Website software suggestion
 

I'm to be the new "webmistress" for my chapter and want to redo my sorority's website. I want it to look professional, give flash and cool grapics and sister's only section. Does anyone know of a *free* program I can download that will allow me to do this?? I need a program that lets those who don't know html code to still design. Any suggestions??

i like tripod- i think it gives ou 20 megs of space- so its sufficient...

it is super easy- you can up grade if you need to (esp with lots of pictures- i can't fit any more on mine- i have to upgrade soon) and there are lots of templates and stuff my site is

http://nusigmachi.tripod.com

hope it helps- i think there are other posts on this too- a search might help

An alternative
 

I use Flash FXP to create my webpages. It costs $25, but it is very worth it - it is so easy.

No matter what you use to create your files, I would suggest copying the code onto a school-hosted page. Your college probably would give your organization a free website like www.collegename.edu/clubs/sororityname . It would be easier for PNMs to find the site, and it would be ad-free.

You might be able to create it with a free program (I have even used livejournal.com), view the source in internet explorer, and copy and paste it to notepad to upload to your school site.

However, I can definitely recommend FXP - it's a little pricey, and you have to use HTML, but it's worth it. The HTML is not that difficult, and there are many online resources. If you want help getting started, feel free to PM me.

Lindsey,

I'm going to PM you.

Chapter Website
 

Lindsey,
I have built a website for AGR at UC-Davis and it can be updated by anyone who can use microsoft word. The site does cost about $30-$40 per month. But if you think about it per member it is worth it, especially as a long term investment. The website is www.phiagr.com and offers the private site for actives and also alumni. Please let me know if you have any questions.


Jeremy

Re: An alternative
 

This appears to be just an FTP program...how do you use it to create pages?

I'm a die-hard Dreamweaver user, which is definitely not free, but I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on a copy.

website
 

Although I'm sure you are great at using Flaxh to create your webpages, using the template that I used is so that you don't need to recruit someone into your fraternity/sorority that knows how to use flash to keep up the website. I hope that makes sense.

Jeremy

Re: Chapter Website
 

$30-$40 a month? Are you friggin' insane? Gigantic chapters may able to afford that, but smaller chapters probably won't be able to.

I know of servers out there who charge HALF of what YOU paid for your site, and they're very reliable.

I'm sorry, I can think of other ways to spend $30-$40 a month...recruitment, philanthropy, programming, etc. That's just way too much to spend for a website, especially if campuses are willing to host your pages for free. :rolleyes:

Let's see, you just registered yesterday...and all of you 7 posts so far have been promoting your site. Methinks someone's trying to make some bucks offa GreekChat, people. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: That's a violation of TOS.

SPAM (the unwanted crap, not the luncheon meat) is also a violation of TOS.

Just FYI.

Re: Chapter Website
 

Whoa, hold up. Your chapter has had a web site since 1992??? Space on a text-only BBS system, maybe. An actual web site - no way.

Your site appears to be based on CSS. That's nice, and it does make for easy editing, but it's still not worth $30/$40 a month.

Whatever. He designed a system and if people want it, they'll get it. I have heard of chapters spending over a thousand on a website with full animation, movies, and all. For some it's a good deal.

-Rudey

not intended to be spam
 

For what its worth, I wasn't trying to sell anything. I intended on posting the message so that people would have the option to look at my active chapters website. And if they were interested in looking more into it, they could contact me through e-mail. I've seen people place their website address on all of their posts. I purposely left out the company name and their information, so that it would not be looked upon as spam. I have looked in the different forums and seen multiple advertisements for other website services, but never anything about them being SPAM. What would be the ruling if I found that a silk screen company was making rush shirts for $2.00 a piece and wanted to share that with the group? Would that also be spam? A great opportunity for Greeks to save some money? Or just a screen printing company trying to make money?

Re: not intended to be spam
 

There's a place for everything. GC's not a place for free advertising. If you want to advertise something, contact John Hammell and he could possibly set something up with you.

You have 9 posts. All deal with your website. Fine, put it in Cool Sites and if it's as fabulous as you say it is, then it'll catch on. Till then, making multiple posts about the same thing/product/item is considered SPAM, a violation of TOS and will most likely be deleted.

Just telling you the truth. That's how things are run here on GC.

downloading Frontpage or Dreamweaver from Kazaa doesn't cost anything...except your ethics

Re: Re: An alternative
 

You make the pages as .txt files (using Notepad) then transfer them using Flash FXP and rename the file to a .html file.

Check out:

www.chaptercommunications.com

Good company :D

This thread really reeks of SPAM!

As a current webmaster, I recommend looking into learning HTML and CSS. It's an extremely valuable skill, and will look good on your resume, etc.

If you'd like some ideas on where to start, feel free to pm me.

Another option is dreamweaver (there is a student discount, though it's still expensive) which you use like a word document, dragging/dropping pictures, etc.

Are there any alumni who have any knowledge in html? Contacting them would be a good place to start, and they can help nudge you in the right direction.

Don't feel pressured into paying someone to do your site. You want something that someone in the house clearly understands how to maintain.

As our chapter's current webmaster, I haven't spent a dime on the site--mostly from an already great site design and HTML knowledge, which I recommend knowing at least the basic stuff like tables and basic writing stuff (bolds, italics, spaces, etc.) to edit a design well. Another piece of advice: befriend computer science kids. The info on your site's supposed to be public (unless you add a "sisters only" area, in which case, maybe get them to teach you how to make it if they're not in your GLO), so there's not too much of a problem seeing if they can do the code for the website. Draw an idea out on paper and see if anyone could make it happen. I think one of the boyfriends of one of the girls in our chapter was the one to originally redesign our current site, anyway.

But seriously, folks keep mentioning expensive programs like Dreamweaver, which is the program ours was made with, and it's a good one to try that doesn't require HTML knowledge at all (and, if you want to get technical, I think there's a code view in it to use as well). Anyway, it's installed on some of our campus computers. Check around and see if you can use it (or something similar) for free. I know it's installed in the business school's computer lab for student use, so just ask around. Even if it's not your department, see if they could let you use it to redesign your site anyway.

Just make sure recruitment counselors aren't in pics and make sure it's an easy-enough site design for future website chairs to update. Good luck!

I'm the webmaster for Miss Louisiana (Miss America--come visit us! www.misslouisiana.org), and I use Macromedia Contribute and HoTMetaL Pro for my site maintenance. Sadly, the latter is no longer available since Softquad was taken over by Corel.

Contribute, however, requires no HTML knowledge other than the basics. It runs ~$75 or so...much cheaper than Dreamweaver, but it's good for site maintenance and can be learned easily.

Hope this helps. Let us know how your search and site design go.