Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: What is the simplest way to create a Web Site for a forming community?

[Elizabeth Stevenson (tamgoddess]

The first thing that you need to do when designing in any medium is to
decide who your audience is. If this is a site for members to get
information, it will be completely different from a site to attract new
members. Without this information, I couldn't give you any advice. It's hard
to tell from your post, because a Yahoo site would imply members-only, but a
forming group implies marketing.

What do you want the site to do? I'd suggest a brainstorming session at a
general meeting, then narrowing your focus to what specifics you can agree
to. If it turns out that you want to market to people, I suggest getting a
professional to design your site, since you don't seem to have anyone in the
group with expertise. Creating a site is so simple a child could do it, but
designing a site is best left to someone who understands the principles of
design and can maximize your efforts to attract the kind of community-minded
people you want to your group.

As a designer and a cohouser, I have looked at many groups' websites, and I
can tell you that a good 50% of them are a complete waste of time. Bad
design, poor navigation, and too little or too much information make me
annoyed, not ready to join a community. A good site, OTOH, makes me want to
get to know the people and join the community, at least for dinner!

BTW, this is not an ad for design services. I'm too busy. But I know there
are people out there who do design websites for cohousing. Look for ads in
the Cohousing Journal.

IMO, it's money well spent to get the job done by a professional. And with
the economy the way it is, it's likely you could find a bargain. If money is
super-tight, you could get a local community college student to do it for
free as a class project. I'm also a Service Learning coordinator at the
local college where I teach computer design software, and some of the sites
my students have designed are way out of my league, creatively. I'm decent
at design, but I'm really more of a problem-solver for software. (I work in
the computer lab). Call your local college and see if they have a Service
Learning or internship program. It would probably be best to just look up
the fall schedule and see who is teaching web design, get their number, and
call them directly.

-- 
Liz Stevenson
Southside Park Cohousing
Sacramento, California
tamgoddess [at] comcast.net
> 
> Seeking opinions and recommendations on the simplest way to create a website
> for a forming cohousing group.
> 
> No members of the group I am working with have come forward as web gurus.
> I have created and can handled yahoo groups, and want to be able to maintain
> the site myself, but have never created one.
> 
> Any opinions welcome.  ( Professionals and consultants may backchannel me if
> promoting businesses violates the rules or spirit of this list.)
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> PM
> Michigan

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