Website Hosting/Development?

[golfgal]

Has anyone used a good do it yourself website development/hosting site? We need to put together a website for our golf booster club but there are so many options out there I am looking for suggestions. We are a non-profit organization so if there is anything specifically for non-profits that is great too.

 

[taximomfor4]

I don't know anything about web hosting specifically for non-profits, but I do the website for a non-profit, and use godaddy.com. It's very inexpensive, and I volunteer my time to set up and maintain the website. I just get a new check from the non-profit every year to renew the website's name and for 12 more months of hosting on godaddy.

 

[bicker]

I think a little more detail might be helpful in steering you in the correct direction. Is this a website for the club, to help keep members in touch with each other, or as a promotion of the club?

If you're really looking to support collaboration among members of a club, the best resource right now, imho, is Windows Live. They let you create groups, with a lot of great collaborative tools and services. Yahoo and Google also offer similar services, but I just had to review them for a group I was putting together and at this point Windows Live is the best of them.

If you're looking for hosting for a promotional website, I personally use Yahoo Small Business hosting, but I can't say if what they offer is significantly better or worse than alternatives. I've been using them for ten years, and at this point I'm leaving well-enough alone, rather than seeking alternatives.

 

[golfgal]

We would like a spot to post a calendar of upcoming events/tournaments, etc., a place for parents to get updated information about practice changes, etc. as well as a place to post team photos, results, etc. A message board may or may not be of use but might be handy.

Right now there is a website on the school website for the team but the coach is the only one that can add information, etc. because he is a school employee (teacher/coach). We want something similar but one where the booster club officers can post information.

 

[bicker]

Okay you definitely want to go with a collaboration platform, rather than a promotional platform.

Windows Live is at www.live.com. Live accounts are free (of course), and integrate with Hotmail, Windows Messenger, and MSN. Before you even get into the collaboration features, you also have Office Live, where you can create, edit and manage Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents, storing them on SkyDrive, so you can access them from anywhere. Most folks won't even need to buy Microsoft Office anymore; practically all the features you need are available, free, through Live. There is also a photo album feature; again before you even get into the collaboration features that you're aiming for.

What you want is a Live Group. The address is groups.live.com. You've got a group calendar (which can be integrated, by each member, into their own Hotmail calendar), group conversations in Messenger, shared documents and file storage for your group, and a shared photo album.

Again, there are similar services available through Yahoo and Google, but they're limited in ways that were critical for us. For example, Live allows you to send email to the group (i.e., to everyone in the group) instead of just posting messages. A lot of people far prefer to deal with group discussions in their own email client. The other two services rely more on discussions posted online.

Live is going through an upgrade today, so today might not be a good day to check it out, but check into it tomorrow if it sounds interesting.

 

[undertheradar]

What is your district policy on this? Is there a computer club at the hs that could assist and maintain? There should be a department that handles computers and technology for your district and I would begin there.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I use godaddy.com for my website, it is template based and very easy to do! Not too expensive either! $8.99 a month for 10 webpages website.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I've used www.webs.com (formerly freewebs.com) in the past -- it's very easy and intuitive.

The problem with that (and you'll want to check it out!) is that if you go to another hosting site (or hire your own host), you can't transfer it and take it with you. You'd have to start from scratch with the new platform.

A number of non-profit organizations I know who use their sites as a collaborative tool swear by www.basecamphq.com. It's more collaborative, as Bicker suggested, but I think it's rather pricey (home page says it starts at $49/month).

 

[golfgal]

What is your district policy on this? Is there a computer club at the hs that could assist and maintain? There should be a department that handles computers and technology for your district and I would begin there.

The booster clubs are officially outside of the school district authority and we need to develop our own websites if we chose (which is why we can't use the team one). Our golf coach is a math/computer science teacher at the school and administers the school website so if we need help, he is there to help.

 

[undertheradar]

Here the booster clubs are under district rules and are audited every year. Many of the club/sport websites are maintained by the hs computer club.

 

[golfgal]

I use godaddy.com for my website, it is template based and very easy to do! Not too expensive either! $8.99 a month for 10 webpages website.

I looked into GoDaddy. With all the ads there, do you earn money off the ads?

 

[loveysbydesign]

I looked into GoDaddy. With all the ads there, do you earn money off the ads?

There are no ads on my website, I pay for their "Website Tonight" 10 page package. I also bought my domain name through them. If you google "godaddy coupon code" you can find discount codes to get up tp 20% off your order when you check out. That's what I do.
Here is my website in case you'd like to see what it looks like without the ads
http://www.alburtissoapworks.com
It only says godaddy at the bottom of the pages.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Another vote for GoDaddy. They are very easy to use and have great customer support!

 

[golfgal]

I've used www.webs.com (formerly freewebs.com) in the past -- it's very easy and intuitive.

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I set up our website using this, thanks. They have a free option so I thought if we don't like it, we aren't out anything. The free option doesn't give you much for bandwidth but most of the year we won't need much, in season we will see if we need more and if we do, we can always upgrade.

 

[disneymarie]

Has anyone used a good do it yourself website development/hosting site? We need to put together a website for our golf booster club but there are so many options out there I am looking for suggestions. We are a non-profit organization so if there is anything specifically for non-profits that is great too.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned 1and 1 .com i use that and it was less then the go Daddy.com I did not need any help in the set up, had links that could go to other pagers, the backgrounds, letter styles ability to upload our photos. This is my second year with them and love it.