Interested?
Please email us, stating your interest and special needs. Email US
We will tally these requests and when we have enough accounts, we will begin the process of building your site,
transferring
your URL, and finalizing your account. If you have a more urgent need to transfer, we may host you at TravelMasterWeb.net
till we get a Server for UnionMuscle.com
When Do We Do It?
We are not going to do any hosting until we have a clear market to serve. Hosting your web site is a process to
do properly
and with deliberation. It is possible to build your new site and test it before the old site is taken down. No
interruption to your
service is needed. The one factor that is hard to predict is Network Solutions and the time that it will take to
transfer. But if
you setup your new site before transfer request is made, then when the actual transfer is complete, it will point
to a fully
functional site.
After 100 accounts have been finalized, we will begin to contacting 50 locals that need a make-over of their web
site. We will
offer free hosting to these locals. If they decline, we will move to the next local, till we have 50 free hosting
plans.
UnionMuscle Dot Com will continue to provide 50 for 100 paying customers. Until the time that all locals are online
and no
one requires free sites.
What if I need more than a basic
configuration?
If your site requires a more robust configuration and storage, you should write the needs in an email to us. We
will be able to
allocate more resources to your site. Prices will be quoted at that time. You may be sure that we will be very
reasonable in
our pricing structure.
Web Design Fees - We bill web design at $30/ hour with an average of 10 hours of work for the
standard web site with 10 pages, No major programming, or Java scripts involved.
Soon, we will produce standard template web sites , that you may adapt for your use. We will
publish
links to resources for Java scripts and other add-ons for your review and trial.
Web Design Basics
We have done our fair share of surfing and researching the Internet. The most common mistake is the long loading
web site.
Flash and other presentations are eye catching, but once you have seen it, it just loses appeal. In our opinion
the best union
web sites can be found in the New York Teachers Unions, or UFT on the UnionList. The sites load fast, are organized well, contain a wealth of information, about history,
where they are now, and they do not use offensive wording. Lots of good news and positive reinforcement. A clean
site that does not scroll forever. And some clean looking graphics can add greatly to your site.
Rule #1: Load quickly
Load home page in 10-15 seconds on a dailup connection. All pages should load quick but not as fast as the home page, but if the info requires it you are allowed a long load time, but you should warn the users. This means you will have to limit your graphic content. The largest image should be only 30-40 K in size, but may be 75-100 if it is the only one.
Rule #2: Break it up
Don't put everything on your home page. Put Links to additional pages.
Home Page is where you have links to jump to other pages. This makes the home page load quickly. Some suggestions for links would come from other web sites. Mostly the basics would be:
ABOUT US Medical/Forms Info News Links to other Locals and MainHQ Links Local Leadership Organizing Contract Neg Links to other sites Programs of the Local Bulletin Board Acknowledgments and Thank You We hope to do Local is Doing
Rule #3: Organize and Navigate
Organize the site so users may easily find the part that they are looking for, then click the link and they are there.
So you still want the glitz of a flash opening screen, then put a bail out link easily visible in the left top area. This
will stop the cursing of the impatient users. Their only care is that they find what they are looking for and quickly, without a lot of garbage. Keep this user in mind, they are a majority on the web.
Rule #4: Don't go too deep
Try to make all things accessible with 2-4 mouse clicks, or 2 to 4 pages deep.
Rule #5: Fundamental Information needed
This is your organization's resume. Include all fundamental info that a resume would have. Name of Organization,
address, City, State, Zip, Phone#, Email addresses, and something about yourself( the Local), such as a biography of the Local, the leaders, new things you have done, things you want to do. All this could be in a link "About US" and organize the info in a logical format, possibility of using anchors to jump straight to the main categories.
Rule #6: The Look is Important
A) The home page is your greeting room of your house. Put a good face forward here, make this page your brand or label. That is to say this page is your identity, your mark. Colors and style play a major role here. If your national web site uses blue and yellow as primary colors, then as a local your site should carry the look of the national site. This helps users in identifying the union which your local belongs to. It is not necessary to become a clone of the national site, but if you can carry some identifying elements over to your site, you have the feeling of identification and branding.
B) No whining, No Clutter, No argumentative language or statements, A clean and presentable area that you may bring anyone into without offending them.
C) There is thing called page properties. This is the label of the page. Your home page property should be the name of your Local and Union. The property of other pages should be the label/title of the page content. Never, ever, name the property as "Home Page". You will be lost in the search engines Twilight Zone, a page without an identity. Also, you should put meta tags on your pages to make your site more easier to fund.
Rule #7: Clean Graphics
Simply, take some extra time to make your graphics clean looking. Free of errors or misalignment. Do this carefully.
More pointers later!