Tech Tips

Tech Tips

Gretchen2005 Our Webweaver, Gretchen Ohmann, writes occasional tech tips for our Central Midwest District where she is the Communications Coordinator. Some of these articles are taken from her CMwD blog.

bookkeeper [at] buuf2.org

Tip: USE STRONG PASSWORDS

Yes, I intended to "yell" in the title. I'd like to pass along a link to a UU Interconnections article that talks about how to prevent having your congregation's phone system hacked (or your e-mail account or ...)

http://uua.org/interconnections/interconnections/199690.shtml This happened to a congregation in our District!

At times I think it's not a matter of whether you will get hacked, it's only a matter of when. As my partner says, "there are two kinds of sailors: those who have been seasick and those who will be." When one of the CMwD sites was hacked in 2011, it prompted us to a review of all our site passwords. We changed every single one of them to more complex combinations of letters, numbers and symbols. This is something we can't stress enough. With so many of us "living online" via our e-mail accounts, websites, blogs, and mobile devices, setting up and keeping track of strong passwords is a talent we're all going to need sooner or later.

While I was speaking with some colleagues the other day, I head someone say, "well, if you've been hacked, that means you're important." I hope that was tongue-in cheek because the reality is hackers don't need a reason or a big target. They will do things like create robots that scour the web for a particular vulnerability they can exploit, and if your site has it, you're going to get it. It's like con artists preying on the needs and concerns of the elderly: find a week spot and attack that. So, thinking you're immune because you have a small church website isn't going to keep you safe and sane.

Another password horror story: I know of a business who bought a used computer from a competitor who was having an auction. Not only did they leave accounting info on the machine, their password was, you guessed it, "password." Cute but obviously ineffective. The business wiped that hard drive prior to using it so the sensitive data went no farther than that.

In the immortal (at least on TV) words of Sheldon Cooper, "1234 is not a password!!!!"

Read more: Comm-n-Media

Websites: Content Management Strategy

While attending workshops on web Content Management Systems this week, among the things I saw emphasized again and again was something called "content strategy." It brought me back to what Laura Massey of the West Plains (MO) UU Fellowship had said about content: "You need to carefully consider the content of the Web site. It’s content, not fancy graphics or special effects, that really makes a successful site."

So what does that mean? A panel of workshop presenters had these thoughts:

Always keep the GOAL in mind. First, look at what you're trying to accomplish, then develop your strategy. What's the difference between a plan and strategy? A plan takes place in a closed system. In other words, event A, then B then C occur, with no allowance for additional factors. Strategy allows for a dynamic system -- one that responds to changes in users' needs or new situations. EXAMPLE: When social networking (like Facebook and Twitter) arrived on the scene, there had to be a way to integrate those into the strategy. Content was now appearing in multiple venues and often needed to be in different forms.

Facebook and Some Thoughts on Privacy

The UUA's "One and One" newsletter came through the other day with One Useful Tool: the UUA page on best practices for Facebook. http://www.uua.org/communications/facebook/index.shtml You can subscribe to the "One and One" newsletter by e-mailing: one&one@uua.org.

One of the things I find most frustrating about Facebook is not their frequent format changes but the apparent inability of its search engine to find pages or groups that you know are there. My first recommendation is to ask the people I'm searching for to send me a direct link. Beyond that, I've had better success just using Google to search for the name plus the word "Facebook."

Seat Time

In my other life as a web designer/builder, one of the things I often tell clients is: "practice, practice, practice." Sometimes they ignore this first rule and become frustrated when the website won't magically do what they want it to.

What I generally do is set up a website that has all its design elements in place, sort of a "set it and forget it" mode. Then the person in charge of what the website actually says ("content") can log in to the "front end" of their site with a streamlined interface and make changes to text and photos. The most successful spend a little time at it to begin with so they can learn what works and what doesn't. Then they go in and add content regularly. That's standard practice when learning a new skill, like driving for example. Many licensing procedures require a certain number of hours on the road in various driving conditions. "Seat time," or time spent actually sitting in the driver's seat using the skills, is crucial to success.

I had to laugh the other day when I heard someone say they wanted a website "now" that was going to be easy for folks to update, but didn't want to take any time to learn new skills. Sure, there are shortcuts - having a tutor lead you through step-by-step is often the fastest way to get up to speed, but it still depends on seat time. If you want success, if you want a website that has informative and timely content, you do need to take the time to get out there and drive it.

Read more: Comm-n-Media

Best Practices: Websites

Having spoken recently to West Plains UUs about their nice new website, I asked what went into the process, and got this terrific response from Laura Massey. I think she has it exactly right, especially her comments on the role of focus in communicating effectively. -- Gretchen

UU Fellowship of West Plains Hello Gretchen,

Lois forwarded to me your comments about our new Web site—thanks for the compliment! It’s gratifying to know people are looking at it and like what they see.

I can’t adequately cover in an email everything that goes into a project like this, but I think any group needs to start with 4 considerations:

You need people with the right skills. You may need to hire help, but if you get good people, the end product will be worth the expense.
You need to spend a lot of time thinking and preparing. I spent a lot more time thinking about the site than I did designing or writing.
You need to carefully consider the content of the Web site. It’s content, not fancy graphics or special effects, that really makes a successful site.
You need to decide how you will maintain the site. Our site was built with WordPress, so I can edit the text as needed.