Bellringing Websites have been around for a while now, and most if not all Associations/Guilds/Societies have some sort of site. However the quality is extremely variable. Some are excellent but some are dreadful. In this series of blogs I am going to assess and analyse the content of them main territorial websites. But first, in order to assess them, we have to decide what we actually want from a guild website. Who is it designed for and what information should it contain? It is obvious, from a quick look at some of them, that the various Webmasters have very different ideas as to what their members want or need. As there is no general consensus on what should be on a website, I have decided what the criteria should be. This is purely subjective and entirely my own opinion as to what I expect to find on an association website. Others may disagree! I shall be 'marking' each website according to these criteria. I shan't hold back; if I think the website is rubbish, I shall say so!
So firstly, what do I look for? I should guess that most people, when visiting a guild website, are looking for details of towers - number of bells, practice night etc, and contact details -name, address, phone number and email.Most websites provide good details of towers but contact details vary enormously. Some give full details, others none at all and some use 'generic'email addresses. Sometimes these work, sometimes they don't. I shall try to use most of them to see if any reply is forthcoming. a Calendar of events is also a 'must'. Maps of the branches are useful, as is some way of finding a particular tower is you do not know which branch it is in. It is also useful to have a list of officers of the Association. This should be the minimum amount of information. Some also have the Guild Rules, reports, external links, peal details, quarter peals -the list is almost endless. So I shall analyse each website under the following headings:
1. First Impressions -what the Home Page is like
2. Guild Information -what it is, the area covered including branches, objectives, Officers
3. Tower details -number/weight of bells, practice/service ringing, optional extras such as founders and peal details, and particularly how easy it is to find towers (including maps)
4. Contact details -how much is given? If they are 'generic' emails, do they work?
5. Overall appearance -including how easy it is to use.
6. Is it up-to-date?
7 Optional extras -rules, reports, news, etc
8. Bonus marks for anything not covered above, including penalty marks for anything really dire and/or annoying.
So there you are. If you are a webmaster of a guild website and are bothered about league tables, have a look at your website and see how it measures up. I shall be doing them alphbetically (mainly) so you will know roughly how long you will have until I reach your site as I am hoping to do a minimum of one a week.
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