|
Website Announcement from Cabinet Secretary McClellan |
|
|
|
This report was read at the Pahrump Convention by Cabinet Secretary McClellan, prepared by Lion John White of the Reno Host and Cigar Lions.
Late last fall, Governor Ray asked the Cigar Lions branch of the Reno Host Lions Club to revise the District's web site. His charge to them included:
1. Bringing the site within the overall and permanent control of District 46.
2. Making the site attractive and useful.
3. Developing the site with inexpensive and reliable software.
4. Developing a site which could be maintained and kept timely by District 46 volunteers.
5. Making the site reliable by having at least weekly backups.
6. Allowing easy user input to the photo gallery and the forum.
7. Allowing easy update of the site's calendar.
8. Creating a site which can be modified as needed for the District's future needs.
Most, if not all, of these features can now be found on the district's revised web site.
For example, the site was created with an open source software program called Joomla. Much information about joomla can be found at joomla.com. You will note first, that joomla is free. Second that it is specifically designed, among other things, for use by non-profits. Third, Joomla is powerful. It is used by businesses and governments world-wide. And finally, Joomla runs on all major operating systems, Windows, Mac and Linux.
46lion.org is divided into several sections, which are accessed by way of pull-down menus at the top.
The first pull-down menu is NEWS. Under News you will find District News, the Mountain Lion, the District Calendar, a Lions Blog and Cabinet Meeting Minutes.
Under the pull-down menu CLUBS, you will find information about each Club in the District, including Leo Clubs, Discussion Forums, where Lions in the District can talk with one another or with everyone, District Awards and Contests, such as the Pride Award, and a Photo Gallery. Any Lion can post to the Forums and the Photo Gallery. If you take a look, you will see lots of photos have already been posted, such as photos taken at last summer's Dat So La Lee camp.
Under DISTRICT PROJECTS will be found a description of all the District 46 projects. Dat So La Lee, Lions Quest and many others.
Under FORMS, are the District Forms, such as the Officer's Manual, and the Governor's Expense Form. We still need to post Regional, Zone and Club forms
Under ABOUT is found information about your current Cabinet, Frequently Asked Questions, Links to other Lions sites, and contact information.
The SEARCH pull-down menu is self explanatory and very powerful. It is a good way to find stuff in the site.
The last pull-down menu is the Login Menu. If you are new to the site, just go there and login. It will guide you through the first-time login process, after which you will be able to post in the forums and the photo gallery.
Though the site is designed to be edited by lay persons, we expect the site will continue to be maintained for at least the next few weeks by Jennifer Starley, as temporary Web Master. We are hoping that we will someday get her to join us and become a Lion in her own right.
Maintaining any web site .....keeping it up to date, takes a lot work. We expect to continue as in the past with a Southern and a Northern Web Master. These Lions will be able to post or delete information from the site at will. Miss Starley is expected to stay on long enough to train these folks in how to maintain the web site. It is not complicated, though the gathering of information necessary to keep the site up to date can be time-consuming.
Martin McClellan, Cabinet Secretary
Report by: Lion John White |
