A Church Voice

Issue #2: Setting Things Up

October 29, 2000 - 20th Sunday after Pentecost

http://www.AChurchVoice.com/
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From Barbara’s Keyboard

Thank you for your interest in A Church Voice; I'm delighted that we have 117 subscribers. We can share information and challenges, and help each other in our work with church newsletters and Web sites. Please email me your tips, favorite resources, and questions, for possible publication!

Also, please pass this newsletter along to friends, colleagues, church staff, pastors, whoever you think would enjoy it, and invite them to subscribe.

A Church Voice now has a Web home, with an archive and other resources for you: http://www.AChurchVoice.com/ .

After the last issue, on beginnings, let's focus on setting things up for your newsletter or Web site.

blessings,
Barbara Laufersweiler
mailto:cveditor@laufers.com

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You are receiving this newsletter because you requested it. Thank you!

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C o n t e n t s

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Domain names for Web sites (saint-john.org, episcopalnorman.org, stdave.org) can be purchased for as little as $13.50 per year nowadays, down from $70 for two years not long ago. Now that they're inexpensive, you should get one! But think about it first: what do you want your domain name to say about your Web site?

There are only so many domain name combinations for St. John's, St. Mary's, First Baptist, Christ the Redeemer, etc., and -- trust me -- the good, simple ones are taken! You could include your location. Your denomination. Something distinctive about your church. Do you feel it’s a requirement that you include your church's name? What else would you like visitors to see about you when they find your church site by search engine, or a link on the denomination's Web site, or scrawled on a scrap paper by a member?

I haven't seen it yet, but a church could certainly choose under-the-arch.org, singtohisglory.org or something else distinctive and memorable about their church. I bet john316.org is taken…

Perhaps your town's churches could cooperatively buy a domain? For instance, the Episcopal churches in Gadsden, Alabama, USA, could buy and administer ecusa-gadsden-al.org, and set up subdomains for each church's Web site: redeemer.ecusa-gadsden-al.org, stluke.ecusa-gadsden-al.org, jamesthelesser.ecusa-gadsden-al.org. (I'm completely inventing these names, except Gadsden, Alabama, which does exist!)

Or, rather than setting up subdomains, go with subdirectories: catholic-canberra.org.au/maryandmartha, catholic-canberra.org.au/stmichaels, catholic-canberra.org.au/ourladyofvictory.

Another cooperative possibility is to check with your denominational headquarters about domain names. Some dioceses, synods, and regional divisions offer subdomain or other domain name assistance to their churches or parishes, with redirection to the actual Internet location of your Web site. The administrators of anglican.org offer this very interesting service to dioceses, provinces, and national church organizations, e.g., the (Anglican) Church in Wales. Information on what they offer and how it works is here: http://www.anglican.org/domain/ChooseName.html

It would be too complicated and perhaps expensive for Anglican.org to offer this service to every Anglican parish on earth, but your denomination's regional authority might do this in your area. Or you could encourage them to take that step!

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Make sure someone working with your Web site is familiar with HTML, even if you're using software such as FrontPage 2000. It is a tremendous help if someone is able to troubleshoot the actual code if a puzzling problem comes up.

View your site -- more than just the first page -- in both Netscape and Internet Explorer. Netscape is less forgiving of coding errors and may not display the page at all in some cases. Find and fix any such problems so the 10 to 30 percent of your visitors who use Netscape don't receive a blank page when they arrive at your site.

Run your pages through an online error checking site such as WebSiteGarage, or NetMechanic. Then check for accessibility and cross-browser compatibility with Bobby.

Optimize your graphics. Your goal should probably be a site with a page weight (how much information the browser needs to load to display the entire page) of less than 30 kb. Visitors will not wait for a 150kb graphic on the first page with no warning and nothing to look at while it loads. Try graphics software, or online optimizers such as GifWizard, or Adobe's free service.

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A newsletter can still be laid out by printing out little blocks of text and pasting them into place on a blueline... but most of us are using computers now, with a word processing program or a page layout/desktop publishing program. Learn or brush up on your program's features, refresh or learn good design and layout techniques and ideas, and take a good look at how you're handling art.

Ideally you are using electronic art, from CD or disk or the Web, and that art is 300 dpi so it looks good printed and reproduced. You should not be using Web art, which is at a much lower resolution and looks bad because it's not right for print uses. Find a good collection or source of electronic art, and combine that with good basic skills with a computer program that will let you edit, resize, and otherwise change the art.

You'll be ready for many issues of your newsletter if you are fairly comfortable with your layout software and some graphic handling tools (possibly integrated into the program you're using for layout), and have a collection of electronic art that is a good match for your church's identity.

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"The Newsletter Newsletter" -- dare I say, it’s a newsletter?! -- is specifically for church newsletters, with critiques of church newsletters, layout tips, and other helpful ideas.

Ideabook.com offers ideas and tips in many different areas of design and layout, as well as marketing.

desktopPublishing.com is a powerhouse of information, inspiration, answers to puzzling questions, and resources for people of every expertise level.

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For clip art and Web graphics with an informal feel and a broad selection of styles and topics, take a look at ChurchArt Online. For years they've offered a monthly mailing of clip art on disk, by subscription. At the Web site, subscribers have access to their entire catalog of Web-ready and print-ready graphics.

Clip art with themes that are important for liturgical churches (the church year, the sacraments, saints, etc.) can be harder to find. Consider Gertrud Mueller Nelson, whose collections of her woodcut-style liturgical art are available on CD and in books.

CD: "Clip Art for Feasts and Seasons, Celebrations and Service" CD-ROM Edition (The Liturgical Press).
Books: "Clip Art for Feast and Seasons" and "Clip Art for Celebration and Service" (both, The Liturgical Press).

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Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[The Book of Common Prayer, 1979, ECUSA]

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If you find this information of value, please pass the newsletter on in its entirety.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome! If you’d like to submit a tip, question, or Web site, send me an email at

mailto:cvoice@laufers.com

For more resources, visit

http://www.AChurchVoice.com/

See you in two weeks!

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Copyright © 2001-2002 Barbara Laufersweiler.
All rights reserved.

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