NAR Section Websites

[Neil]

OK... This is just a thought, and there is proabably some perfectly logical explanation as to why its impossible... But heres a thought...


I have been looking at NAR and TRA clubs websites, and they range from absolute crap (Pinetree. Great club, horrible web-site. We need to work on that. ) to works of art... But some of the reason for that range might be financing the website...

I was thinking that if each section got a section of the NAR website to call thier own, they would all have better websites with better information. Such as this sample URL:

WWW.NAR.org/section=pinetree

or something like that. That way, all the clubs would have thier website under the same domain name (is that what its called? I am no computer geek... Just a rocket geek. ), so all the clubs could have a fair shot at attracting new members... A newbie would take one look at the Pinetree website, see the "new" pics from 2000, or worse, the 90s, and turn away in disgust...


It would be much cheaper and easier for a new club like S.I.R.S (for example) to start up a website to attract new members, if the NAR provided a spot for them, IMHO...

What are your thoughts on the issue?

 

[Neil]

Wow I didnt know that sample URL would make a link... sorry...

 

[BlueNinja]

sounds very good, sorry if any other KCAR members are browsing this, but the site really needs to be updated. Also, it's angelfire (yucky yuck YECCH) so anytime I go my search bar pops up and i get like 3 popups, which is REALLY annoying.

 

[Justin Horne]

I think it would be nice, but if a club already has a site, is getting NAR webspace going to help them make a better site? probably not...

Here's my club link:
SPARC

Is it the best? no.. Is it good, I think so...

 

[Stymye]

I believe NAR should not foot the bill or the energy

I see the oppurtunity for clubs to pay forward by doing the work themselves

I hope that makes sense

 

[Justin Horne]

Originally posted by stymye
I believe NAR should not foot the bill

we should all do our part to Pay Forward

It could get VERY expensive.. There are hundreds of sections... Even if nar got a big discount, you can bet on cuts in other areas...

 

[JStarStar]

I voted "Undecided," because I think it's a very, very good idea for each section to have a website, but I don't know if doing it through the NAR is the way to go.

I think maintaining a web site is something each section should take it upon itself to do. Certainly to make sure each club has a Web presence of some sort is an important objective.

To have the NAR assume the whole burden could get into a big commitment in both money and time. I think individual sections would be better equipped to do it.

I'd suggest that the NAR make it, I hate to say, a requirement, that active sections maintain at least some kind of operating web page with schedule info and e-mail contact info.

Heck, even if all you have is "Acme Rocket Club, Roadrunner Valley AZ, 555-555-1234, e-mail [email protected]," and a picture of a rocket taking off, at least that tells people where they can contact somebody.

Yeah, it can cost money, but it doesn't have to - if worse comes to worse you can use a Tripod or Angelfire page (ech), at least those are better than nothing. There are tons of other web hosting companies, some are expensive and some are cheap.

The idea is to spread the word and let people know the sport is still functioning and how they can get involved in activities.

At the very least, the NAR should provide web links to individual section pages on its sections listing page - which I see they do on the ZIP code listing page. so that's a start.

EDIT: Hey, Neil, I clicked on the Pinetree section website - it's actually not too bad! It tells people what the club is up to and how to get in touch with them - that's all you really need. Plus the linked pic pages look pretty good. If every section had a web site at least this good, things would be in great shape!

 

[Austin]

No to the website. Most sections have their own and each should be maintained and paid by the section...that is what some of the dues should be used for imho. If you don't have dues, which you should, I know some sites are even paid by one person out of their own kindness and promotion of the hobby. I know of several sites that are done this way, including the Tripoli Mid Ohio site that I have been paying for and maintaining the last few years. Whatever it takes to keep our hobby going!

Carl

 

[Neil]

Really? Did they update it or something? I havent looked at the site for about half a year out of embarrasment... (mostly kidding...) Ill go check it...

The Pinetree site does pretty much just that... Contact info (not sure if even that is up to date...), and a few old pictures... But yea, at least it tells people we exist.

With 20-40 members toatal, its a little hard to finance a really nice website without raising the dues to obscene levels...

Yea, good points... Several hundred web pages within one big one would be hard to manage...

How about this? For smaller clubs like Pinetree (cant think of any other examples off the top of my head), TRA or NAR could kind of "chip in" to help get the website off the ground...

This would proabably be a suggestion that should be made once NAR is doing a little better financially...

 

[Sirius Rocketry]

Scott Hansen and many volunteers makes for a great website.

Check out https://www.wooshrocketry.org.

I do not know where they get all their webspace, but every day it grows.....

 

[shockwaveriderz]

The NAR already provides both a map and a text file listing of the various NAR sections..... Our section decided to foot the bill ourselves so we can have complete control over it....and its content......

 

[Bill]

Originally posted by Neil
I was thinking that if each section got a section of the NAR website to call thier own, they would all have better websites with better information.

What are your thoughts on the issue?

There are two costs for a club web site: the hosting of the site and the creation of the content.

Hosting can be found fairly cheaply unless the club insists of large amounts of storage space and bandwidth for pictures and videos. Ours does, but we are fortunate to have someone donating the use of his server.

The more difficult part is the effort needed for someone to create and maintain the content on the site. Some clubs do not have anyone who can do this well and who is willing to do it for free.

It will be beneficial if information can be found online for every section, but I am not convinced that the NAR should be doing it. NAR is strictly a volunteer organization; the only paid employee is Marie who runs headquarters operations.

Perhaps a useful solution is for NAR to provide a single informational page for those few sections which are unable to have their own page. The problem is who is going to be doing the work to create and maintain it. We already have a problem with the limited information that the NAR does provide going stale because sections renew once a year and things change in between.


Bill

 

[scadaman29325]

I think it could be used as a revenue source for NAR...

We are in the process now of finding a host for our website, it looks like $40 for setup and $10/month. I'm not knowledgeable in this matter, but to me that's pretty cheap, unless someone is hosting it for free...

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

I'm working with 1and1,com

$4.99 a month, free domain name registration, and no setup charge. Plus it has a nifty instant web site deginer that can get you up and going in about 20 minutes.

A

 

[DynaSoar]

Originally posted by Neil
OK... This is just a thought, and there is proabably some perfectly logical explanation as to why its impossible... But heres a thought...
.....
What are your thoughts on the issue?

Where a web site is, and its quality, have nothing at all to do with each other. The quality of the site/pages, in terms of both appearance and functionality, have only to do with the amount of work put into the design and implimentation.

If NAR and/or TRA provided space for sections, the amount of storage it would require wouldn't actually be that great or cost that much. But that wouldn't prevent the people who maintain the specific pages from still doing a poor job.

Web sites are typically hard to maintain because it takes someone a significant amount of time to do so. If they used a simpler design and didn't try to make it flashy, like a glossy magazine equivalent, it wouldn't take so much effort.

I looked over the DARS site, because I'm moving there. It's simple and straightforward. I can find everything very easily. It's not loaded down with flashy junk making it (a) slow and (b) gaudy. It does the job it was intended for. It does not serve as someone's idea of how things should look to impress people but rather how things should work to inform people. Frankly, I think the clean look is *better* than the alternative.

So, yes, your suggestion is doable, but it has almost zero to do with why some web sites are good and others are not. UNLESS, of course, you're suggesting that NAR/TRA maintain the pages/sites themselves, and that's impossible for money and time reasons. Even if they provided the storage space, people from those clubs would have to maintain them, and the problems would remain because they'd do the same sort of job, regardless of the actual physical location of a hard drive.

 

[Bill]

Originally posted by DynaSoar

I looked over the DARS site, because I'm moving there. It's simple and straightforward. I can find everything very easily. It's not loaded down with flashy junk making it (a) slow and (b) gaudy. It does the job it was intended for. It does not serve as someone's idea of how things should look to impress people but rather how things should work to inform people. Frankly, I think the clean look is *better* than the alternative.

Thanks for validating our design decisions when we rebuilt the site several years ago. We felt it was very important for the site to express who we are, what we do and where to find us. It was not to be an online resume for the webmasters or a showcase of leading-edge Internet technologies.

We're looking forward to you flying with us when you make the move and you are welcome to join the web site committee if you wish to contribute.


Bill

 

[DynaSoar]

Originally posted by Bill
Thanks for validating our design decisions when we rebuilt the site several years ago. We felt it was very important for the site to express who we are, what we do and where to find us. It was not to be an online resume for the webmasters or a showcase of leading-edge Internet technologies.

We're looking forward to you flying with us when you make the move and you are welcome to join the web site committee if you wish to contribute.


Bill

Thanks, Bill. I'm looking forward to flying out on the big flat with you all.

As far as helping, I'm a scientist; I can make keen observations and good judgements, but I really can't do much useful at all. Onew of my best friends was the programmer for the publishing company that carried Jane's and several aerospare company subscription e-newsletters. I learned a lot about proper page and site design from him. Except about how. I never learned HTML.

My wife, now, she's the web hacker of the family. Once we're back in TX and she realizes she doesnn't have to work 7 days a week to forget the fact that she's in CT, we can get her involved with something like that.