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Guidelines -Tips - Tutorials
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Website Guidelines
(as provided by Moose International)
Required Information
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This must appear
on the main (index or default) page of your website, but ideally
it could be placed in small print on the footer of all pages.
(Small print so as not to be so intrusive).
Important Notice:
The Loyal Order of Moose is a private
organization. All activities and events referred to on this
website and in the Moose News newsletter are available to
members in good standing and their qualified guests only.
This website is for informational purposes with proprietary
information intended for members only. General information
is available to the public at large, but should not be construed
to be a solicitation for membership. This website is an initiative
of the (Yourtown) Moose Lodge No. XXXX, and is not sanctioned
by the Loyal Order of Moose, Moose International or any subsidiary
thereof. All logos, trademarks and servicemarks pertaining
to the Loyal Order of Moose and/or its programs or degrees
are copyrighted © by Moose International, Inc., Mooseheart,
Illinois. |
Members Only Pages
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You may display
(in public view) information about the Loyal Order of Moose,
your lodge and/or WOTM Chapter, its history, officers, community
service information, etc. If you reproduce any portion of
your newsletter, or any information that is intended for members
in good standing only, this must be clearly marked on every
such page as "Members Only" or similar verbiage.
We have received conflicting information
whether or not member pages need to be in a separate, password
protected directory. For now we will go out on a limb and
say that this is optional. As long as you follow the guidelines
above you should be ok. We all can agree that it can be a
pain in the butt to request a password to view another lodge's
website. Most visitors don't bother and just move on to other
sites.
Click
here for a subtle background image that you can use on
your member pages. |
Social Quarters Information
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If you are displaying social quarters
information, you must include the following information predominantly
on the page:
Private Policy:
Either you are a member of a Lodge or
Chapter, or you are a guest. Only qualified guests are entitled
to admittance. All guests must be signed in, cannot make purchases,
and must leave when the member leaves. All adult guests shall
be identified in some manner to distinguish them as non-members.
If the guest is a prospective member, their third visit must
be for the purpose of attending an orientation session or
an enrollment ceremony. |
Website Tips
Keep It Concise and Avoid the Fancy
Stuff!
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When creating your
website, you will discover a lot of cool and fancy things
you can do with your website:
- Trailing Cursors
- Javascript Alerts
- Flashy Animated Graphics
- Page Transitions (wiping in and out,
fading, etc)
- Animated title bars and status bars
Here's the tip: Easy on the fancy
stuff. A simple animation here and there is ok, but don't
go overboard.
Although it looks fancy and seems "cool"
to you, the majority of web surfers are annoyed more than
amused by such unnecessary additions. Users on dial-up modems
have to wait that much longer for the page to load all these
features. Combine a slow computer with a slow connection,
and you have a disappearing visitor. Keep it simple. Simple
does not mean plain.
Use complimenting colors.
Keep the information precise and pertinent.
One more thing... unless you really
really really have to have it (which you don't), NO MUSIC!
Those embedded midi files are "cute", but not necessary.
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Resize Your Photos!
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If you are displaying photos, use a photo editor to reduce
the file size and actual size. If you want to display an 800x600
image in a 320x240 space, please reduce the image to the proper
size. Never squeeze the image into a smaller space. It will
get pixilated, especially if it is a digital image. Loading
times will be unecessarily long too. See
an example here.
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Check your Website in Multiple Browsers
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Different web browsers display elements and features
in different ways. If you can, view your website in a variety
of web browsers: Internet Explorer, Mozilla, AOL Browser.
You might find that what looks great in one browser does not
look so great in another browser. If you notice a problem,
you can either try to fix it so it will display properly in
most browsers. If you cannot fix it, at least let your visitors
know that the page will only look right in such and such browser,
version XXX and above. This is not fixing the problem but
it's a start.
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Tutorials
We have provided the following links
to help you build your website
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Images
Right-Click on the images to save, or click on the image for
a larger version.
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