The AASC provides links to club, class, or affinity group websites. By linking your organization's page to the Alumnae Association website, you can make your organization available to current students, faculty and fellow alumnae all around the world.

This guide offers helpful information on:

• Setting up a website for your group
• Obtaining host space
• Linking your site to the Alumnae Association website
• Privacy and policy issues

Planning Your Site

A web page can provide lots of information and be updated without costly printing. However, the information must be well organized and frequently updated to be useful to other alumnae. In your planning process, consider the following questions:

• How will the online information complement newsletters or other print publications?
• What content (information) do you want to have on the site?
• Who will write and edit the information and prepare it for conversion to web files?
• Who will design the web pages?
• Who will maintain the pages and update them?
• What links would be useful for your volunteers? (For example, if your group volunteers at a school, consider a link to that school. If your class is having a mini-reunion at the top of Seattle's Space Needle, consider a link to their website.)
• How can you share information and safeguard the privacy of your classmates?

Be aware that your pages will appear differently on different browsers, as well as different platforms (PC versus Mac), both because of the browser software itself and the specific preferences established by different users. Check your pages on different types of browsers to see how the pages will appear to different users.

The equipment your viewers use will vary widely. A page that relies heavily on graphics may frustrate viewers who must download over a slower modem. The download time can be lengthy, and some visitors will not be able to view the graphics at all. Crop images to retain the key information and keep photos to approximately 2 x 2 inches. Use "thumbnail" images that can be expanded if the viewer wishes to take the time.

With the exception of password-protected sites, your web pages can be viewed by anyone with a web connection. Please review the privacy and policy section below for requirements and suggestions on dealing with online information sharing.

Creating Your Site

You will need the following to create your website:

A volunteer who will serve as website manager. This person must be willing to create and update your pages by using HTML code language or software that converts word processing to HTML, or website creation software (such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Adobe GoLive, for example). The website will need to be updated frequently - at least monthly. Once your page is established, it should require about four hours of work to update monthly. Choose a volunteer who has enough time to invest in the project and can stay with it. The website is useless if it is neglected.

A writer/editor who will prepare text for conversion to HTML files. It's hard to read long pages of text on a screen, so this person should have skills in choosing, consolidating, and organizing information in a logical manner so it can be placed in different locations on the site.

Server space for your files. Once your copy is converted to HTML format, they need to be placed on a server (a dedicated computer) that can respond to requests for the files from anyone, anywhere, with an Internet connection. By agreement with a vendor, the Alumnae Association of Smith College is able to provide 2 MB of free server space to authorized classes, clubs, affinity groups, and alumnae.

Content

Content includes all the text, images, photos, graphics, and charts that you place on your pages.

Suggested content includes:

• Your club, class or affinity group news
• A schedule of upcoming events
• Volunteer opportunities within the club, class, or affinity group
• Information on how to pay club, class, or affinity group dues
• A link to the Smith College home page, which links to the AASC and other key Smith pages

For detailed explanations or extensive text, create a short version and a separate page for the long version. Viewers can then read a short summary and make a choice to look at the extended version.

If you include any content, including text, graphics, and sound that you did not create, you must have the legal right (copyright) to use the material.

The photographs, graphics, and text found on the Alumnae Association web page and the Smith College web pages are copyrighted material. Please do not:

• Use the official seal of the Grécourt Gates
• Use the seal of Smith College which depicts the goddess Sophia
• Refer to your information as a publication of Smith College
• Refer to your information as a publication of the Alumnae Association of Smith College
• Use the Alumnae Association seal

Smith organizations may use the following:

• Original images of the Grécourt Gates (i.e. an interpretation of the gates designed by a club member, or a photograph)
• Photographs taken of campus for which the organization has received written copyright permission from the photographer
• Smith College school colors (the official school colors are white and gold, although the Pioneers, Smith's athletic teams, compete wearing blue and gold)
• The Smith College diamond logo
• Logos that belong to their class, club, or affinity group
• Images which belong in the public domain
• Information from Smith College press releases

There are additional guidelines for logo usage here: http://alumnae.smith.edu/volunteer/logo_usage.php

Downloadable images of the Smith logo and rules for use may be found online at http://www.smith.edu/vid.

Design

All the pages you create should share the same visual framework; each page should resemble the rest of the site "family." Keep the pages simple. Sound and moving object files take time to load, and what was charming the first time may become annoying on the second or third visit.

Keep images fairly small to reduce page loading time.

Required Elements

The home page must clearly identify the group and its relationship to Smith College and the Alumnae Association. The home page should carry the following text:

Welcome to the official web page of the [organization name]. The [organization name] is a regional alumnae organization or class independent of, but affiliated with, the Alumnae Association of Smith College.

Please include the following disclaimer:
This page was created by and for the Class/Club/Affinity Group X of Smith College. Information on this page is intended for individual communication of a personal nature among Smith alumnae. Use of this information for any other purpose is strictly prohibited. Accuracy of the information on this page cannot be guaranteed.

Smith College and the Alumnae Association of Smith College are not responsible for the content of this page. Responsibility for the page and its content belongs solely to Class/Club/Affinity Group of Smith College. This page is maintained by [insert page manager name and address].

Every page must have a link to the homepage. Identify the website manager and provide an e-mail address on each page. State the date of the last update of the page.

Web Privacy and Policy Issues

Unless it is password-protected, your web page is accessible by anyone with an Internet connection. Any names, addresses, telephone numbers, or photographs produced on your web page are available to the world. Consider carefully the security issues that may be involved. The Alumnae
Association advises all clubs, classes, and affinity groups not to place personal information on the web page.

To provide an e-mail address for users, please create an alias, such as webmanagerGreenwich@geocities.com. Your service provider can set up the alias to forward messages to your account without revealing your name online.

Smith College does not release personal information to anyone other than class/club officers or approved volunteers working on specific projects.

Server Space for Your Site

The Alumnae Association has arranged for free limited space for clubs, classes, and groups approved by the Association. Please contact Meri Hoverman (clubs/affinity groups) or Amy Holich (classes) to request space. The Alumnae Association will assist alumnae by:

• Reveiwing pages and providing helpful suggestions
• Checking pages for required elements
• Creating links from the Alumnae Association website to club/class/group websites.

Free server access also can be found at the following sites:
http://www.geocities.com
http://www.tripod.com
http://www.angelfire.com
http://www.focus-asia.com
http://home.onestop.net

The Alumnae Association reserves the right to deny or remove any link to the Alumnae Association web page.

Steps To Success

Complete the following checklist to be linked to the Alumnae Association web page.

• Review the Alumnae Association Web Guide and determine the purpose, content, and design of page
• Determine the amount of server space where the page can reside
• Write and design the page, and/or convert copy to HTML files
• Check to confirm that your page meets the requirements in The Alumnae Association Web Guide
• Inform the Alumnae Association of your organization's web page and request a link be created to the AASC website by e-mailing Mike Yargeau (AASC Web Specialist).
• Assure on-going maintenance of the website