Michigan
Web Site Faq
Welcome to our website FAQ.  Being a web designer I know the the importance of having a proper layout for your web site.  These are a few of the question that I am asked most often.  I have tried to create an area to assist you in getting started. Please remember these questions have answers for people who are inquiring to have a web sites created by me.  I will continue to work on getting these answered in a way to help you build your own sites.
What is a web presents? What types of sites are there? What is a web site?
What is a web page? How fancy does it have to be? What information should be include?
How do I use my pictures? How Do I get my website on-line? What is a web host?
Do I need a domain or Sub Domain? How much is it? What is the advantage of cost/ free?
What will my web site address be? How do people find me? Is email available?
Are there other services available? Can you help with my page? How do I get you my info?
What is a web presence?
• A web presence is a way to show the information you have to offer.  Your web presence is created when you begin work on your web site or web page.  The type of presence you choose is very important, because each visitor to the page or site will be evaluating your presence by the way your information is presented.
 

What types of sites/pages are there?
• Personal, family sites, hobby sites, soapbox sites...... there are a million reasons Business -  as a billboard or advertisement, to sell something, give  product information, a place for employees to look up information, to get feedback from customers 
Non-Profit - churches, service sites: Lions Clubs & Districts, local government, Tourist associations, etc.
Within this FAQ we will discuss the uses of a web site/page for the sole purpose of promoting our Lions Distinct, or club.
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What is a web site?
• A web site is a collection of several pages used to present your subject to the world.
LionNet International and LionNet Michigan are two different (2) types of web sites.
LionNet International uses a flat page system.  LionNet Michigan uses a frame system.
Each of these sites uses several pages to give you an idea about what they are doing.
 

What is  a web page?
· A web page is a single page of information.  all the information is gather on to one page.
  If you have visited a Lions Club Site hosted by lionWap like Empire Lions then you have
  seen a web page.
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How fancy does it have to be?
•  The complexity of your site depends on your tastes and desires.  Many should avoid the fancy stuff and get right to presenting the information.  I myself  prefer what is call a frame site as it allows for better navigation and easy location of needed information, without the use of plug-ins.  This way the page loads much faster and is less apt to be discarded by those who don't want to wait.  If you take a look at the Manistee Lions web site http://lions.silverthorn.biz/manistee, you will see that I used graphics (pictures) to draw the visitors attention, without the need for special plug-ins.  Remember the fancier you get the great the possibility that some of your visitors may not be able to view your page. 
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What information should I include?
• Always include the important information.  Since this FAQ is structured for Lions, be sure to include your clubs name, the meeting location, the time you meet, officers, activities/events, any announcements, and the most important thing of all contact information.  A website/page has no value to the visitor if there is no contact information, or it is hard to find.
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How do I use my pictures?
• Pictures are used to give a visual presentation of what you are trying to promote.  Please remember use the best pictures you have, this way you show them a full visual display of the subject.  Picture can be scanned, or developed and put on disk.  In order to use these picture on the web, they must be made into .gif or .jpg format, and should also be optimized to keep file sizes small.
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How do I get my web site on-line?
•  You will need to find a web host for your web site.  A Web Host is nothing more then a home for your web site.  Just as each of us has a home in which we live a web site must have a home for it reside. 
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What is a web host?
• All web sites are hosted by a server.  a server is a computer tied to a vast network of other computers, much like the different towns we live in are tied together by roads.  Every website has an address  or url which is very similar to our street address at home.  A web site must have a server and address in order for other in the internet community to find it  much like how our mail is delivered.  A hosting service also keeps your site assessable and deals with any technical problems that come up.
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Do I need a domain, or sub domain?
• That's always a matter for debate.  If your business or organization expects many visitors or your product is heavily associated with your name you may want to invest in a domain name, otherwise you might want to consider a sub domain as it is less expensive. 
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How much is it?
• Depending on how you decide to host your site, the cost can range from free to $30 per month and have up to 150 Mb of space. the average cost if we setup the hosting is:

• Hosting with LionWap.
There is no hosting fee and the site is created in a simple to use form. 
All you need to do is enter the information,
• Hosting with a free service.
there is no fee, and some of these services even provide a simple page builder.  Many of these free service sites require you to have ads and return links to the service main page, in return for your free hosting 
• host your website lions.silverthorn.biz as a sub domain site, the cost will be $5 for ftp access setup, no hosting fee. 
If you choose to go with a domain LionNet Michigan hosts your site and the cost will be $48 per year, with  10 Mb of space, and a one time setup fee of $15. 
links for full details of free and cost hosted sites are on a hosting links page shown above
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What is the advantage of cost/free?
• For a sub domain hosted on one of our domain the cost is inexpensive and there are is advertising or pop ups on your page(s), however a link back to the domain site would be appreciated (but is totally optional). We hate, illegal or sex sites, are they will not be hosted.  Our Domains are Child safe Sites.
• for the domain site there can be many advantages. Less down time if you have a popular site, several added services for the domain such as chat room and guest books (with no ads or pop ups), and the best one is you can keep the length of you web site address short. these are just a few of the advantages to a domain.
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What will my web address be?
• For a sub domain site your web address would be http://www.(domain chosen).com/yourname
   Ex. http://www.byrdcountry.com/gregssite
• For a domain site your web address would be http://www.(domain chosen).com
   Ex.: http://www.gregssite.info
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How do people find me?
•  There are three (3) ways to be found.
    1).  It is a good Idea to have your website address and email on all printed advertisement you distribute.
    2).  Have others with web sites link to yours.  If they like your site they will link to you and tell others.
    3).  Have your web site listed in the  search engines.  In order to be listed in search engines you must register with them.  Please remember that METATAGS, Description, page title and more are necessary for the engines to catalogue your site properly.
    4). Get Linked at LionNet Michigan and LionNet.com.   LionNet.com is
checked by many search engines regularly, so your website will eventually be
added to other search engines and directories
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Is email available?
• Yes, the email cost varies with the hosting you choose.
   • If you choose to host on this sites as a sub domain
     you may have one email address for $2 a month.
     YOURNAME@(domain).com   Ex: gregsemail@silverthorn.biz
  • If you have a domain site, the number of email address you can have
     will vary but your email will be yourname@(domain).com
     Ex: gregsemail@Gregssite.info
  • If you host your site on LionWap there is no email you will need to use one of the free service.
  • or you may choose from many places where you can get FREE lifetime email address.
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Are chat rooms & other services available?
• Yes, Silverthorn Enterprise has the ability to support Chat Rooms and other added services, with out pop up ads.  Our domain host servers do support these services as well
• If the pop up adds do not bother you,  Beenseen will host those services
  for you for free.
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Can you you help with my page?
Sure can, I am a web designer and will do what I can to help you, your club or district get your site online as soon as possible.  Please continue to read our FAQ page it will help you in some choices you'll need to make in order to get prepared for a web site.
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How do I get you my info?
• If we are to do your site you can deliver information and pictures through US mail, FTP access, or drop it off which is the preferred method so we can discuss what you want your web site to look like.
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