F&G Club website ideas

[ravensfoot]

My company develops web sites and I am building a new web site for the Fish & Game club that I am a member of. I really want this to be a useful site for the members and am looking for ideas. HBC members are always full of great discussions so I thought I would open it up for any input in what you would want to see in a web site from your local gun club. (I hope I posted this in the right section)

[6616]

Go here to view web sites of other Rod and Gun Clubs:

http://www.bcwf.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116&Itemid=245

[warnniklz]

Does the FGC have a website already that we can check out?

[seatoskymiles]

can you apply and pay for your membership online, that would be usefull

[finngun]

[QUOTE=seatoskymiles;1050989]can you apply and pay for your membership online, that would be usefull
maybe-- but like some smaller f-g clubs you get own key for gate you have to pick-it up anyway ....like here in salmon-arm

[bigwhiteys]

Build it for them with Wordpress and don't look back.... Membership handling, payments/dues/automatic subscription handling, sell products, take donations, manage articles, manage social media, manage photo galleries for members and more...

Carl

[ravensfoot]

Yes 6616, I have already gone to many other F&G sites for reference. I am posting this to get the feedback from the quality HBC members on what they most like to see in a F&G site.

[ravensfoot]

Does the FGC have a website already that we can check out?
Yes they have a one page site but I would rather keep that out of this discussion right now because the site will be completely built from the ground up. I already have alot of ideas but I wanted to see what I hear from HBC group. It is currently in the planning stage so it is flexible and I want to get it just right.

[ravensfoot]

can you apply and pay for your membership online, that would be usefull

Currently they are unable to accept credit card payments online as it is a bit of an undertaking to get this ability through the banks. This is something they want to do in the future. Applications online will be accepted but final payments will need to be done offline.

[ravensfoot]

Build it for them with Wordpress and don't look back.... Membership handling, payments/dues/automatic subscription handling, sell products, take donations, manage articles, manage social media, manage photo galleries for members and more...

Carl

Yes, Carl, the site will be built with a full featured CMS back-end. The club will be able to do all their own updates etc.

[bigwhiteys]

Yes, Carl, the site will be built with a full featured CMS back-end. The club will be able to do all their own updates etc.
Are you doing this with Wordpress or your own concoction?


Currently they are unable to accept credit card payments online as it is a bit of an undertaking to get this ability through the banks. This is something they want to do in the future. Applications online will be accepted but final payments will need to be done offline.

Easy as pie!!!! All they really need is a PayPal account for the easiest and fastest or they can go with one of MANY merchant account providers in Canada, Most banks know nothing about how to process online payments or the steps that are really involved... Been through this process many times and their solutions are hugely overpriced. I currently pay $35 a month and then 1-2% per transaction through my current provider, no hold backs or reserve required. PayPal still a better option for a FG though, no monthly fees, low fees, accept credit/debit cards, direct deposit into CAD banks.

Wordpress has simple "membership plugins" available that are plug'n'play... They will handle every aspect of this from one interface. I do this for a living too :)

Carl

[Gun Dog]

Yes they have a one page site but I would rather keep that out of this discussion right now because the site will be completely built from the ground up. I already have alot of ideas but I wanted to see what I hear from HBC group. It is currently in the planning stage so it is flexible and I want to get it just right.Why do they want a Web site? The first step to designing a site is to figure out the target audience. Is it support for existing members? Is it to attract new members? How many members in the club and how many would use the web site? Who's going to maintain this site? The more complicated the longer it'll be you.

[TPK]

Feed back from our members would indicate we're going in the right direction with our website (quesnelrodandgun.ca), it's done in WordPress.

The photo gallery is well liked as is the ability to subscribe to what ever "discipline" you want (rifle, handgun, trap, blackpowder, etc.). This makes it easy to get discipline specific information out to those that care. We can post for an upcoming .22 shoot and those subscribed get the info with minimal effort on our part. The key for us has been defining the subscription list. The calendar is also very high on the "like" list. Newsletters, while few and far between, are easy to get out and those that opt for the electronic version save us postage.

We have stayed away from online membership as we want the control of meeting the people, having them listen to and acknowledge with a signature, our rules and expectations along with the consequences for not following them. We still have work to do on our site but the framework is there and it's evolving slowly.

[ravensfoot]

Are you doing this with Wordpress or your own concoction?
ExpressionEngine



Easy as pie!!!! All they really need is a PayPal account for the easiest and fastest or they can go with one of MANY merchant account providers in Canada, Most banks know nothing about how to process online payments or the steps that are really involved... Been through this process many times and their solutions are hugely overpriced. I currently pay $35 a month and then 1-2% per transaction through my current provider, no hold backs or reserve required. PayPal still a better option for a FG though, no monthly fees, low fees, accept credit/debit cards, direct deposit into CAD banks.

Wordpress has simple "membership plugins" available that are plug'n'play... They will handle every aspect of this from one interface. I do this for a living too :)

Carl
They really didn't want to use paypal for some reason so I haven't pushed the issue, it is something that can be dealt with at a later date, this is a huge leap for them right now.

Send me a PM of your work

[ncurrie]

Currently they are unable to accept credit card payments online as it is a bit of an undertaking to get this ability through the banks. This is something they want to do in the future. Applications online will be accepted but final payments will need to be done offline.

could you set up a paypal account so they could pay that way?

[ravensfoot]

Why do they want a Web site? The first step to designing a site is to figure out the target audience. Is it support for existing members? Is it to attract new members? How many members in the club and how many would use the web site? Who's going to maintain this site? The more complicated the longer it'll be you.
Site will be for both existing members to get club info and non members to find out about joining the club and drop-in info. Most of the members have shown the interest in having a web site to find info that they are looking for. Site will be maintained by club executives through a CMS. I'm just polling the HBC members to see what would interest them in a F&GC web site. This is just part of my due diligence.

[ravensfoot]

Feed back from our members would indicate we're going in the right direction with our website (quesnelrodandgun.ca), it's done in WordPress.

[QUOTE=TPK;1051658]The photo gallery is well liked as is the ability to subscribe to what ever "discipline" you want (rifle, handgun, trap, blackpowder, etc.). This makes it easy to get discipline specific information out to those that care. We can post for an upcoming .22 shoot and those subscribed get the info with minimal effort on our part. The key for us has been defining the subscription list. That's a great idea, thanks for sharing.



The calendar is also very high on the "like" list. Newsletters, while few and far between, are easy to get out and those that opt for the electronic version save us postage. Yes, this was tops on the wish list and will be very useful for all that use it.


We have stayed away from online membership as we want the control of meeting the people, having them listen to and acknowledge with a signature, our rules and expectations along with the consequences for not following them. We still have work to do on our site but the framework is there and it's evolving slowly. My club has felt the same way, they are already at the max for members and are very picky about who joins so they don't want it to be too easy. Online payments may be useful though for membership renewals and or club paraphernalia purchases.

[Mr Conservation]

Looked at a number of Fish and Game Club websites. Pretty well show who they are, what they have, and what they do.

What I would like to see is a "Conservation Tip's" corner - something that could be updated to coincide with the season. :!: Things such as how to build nest boxes and where to place them; how to build brush piles so they will be used by wildlife; native plants that can be planted to provide food and shelter for wildlife; and things along that line. I'm sure there are many ideas out there that could be included. :wink:

Hope this helps !!

Mr Conservation

[scottwh]

I think a buy and sell section is always a good thing to add to it :)

[The Dude]

Some good tips here. I like the "Buy and Sell" element, and the conservation/bush survival tips.

I would suggest also a VOLUNTEER section, for stream clean up, hatchery volunteering, gun range improvement, ungulate winter range improvement, food bank donations, etc. Really get the Club a positive community rep.

Here's our club's site, and you can pick through it to see what works and what doesn't. It's not bad,and you can find what you need fairly quickly.

http://www.pcdhfc.com/

First thing I would change on this is give it a more woodsy, natural colour scheme. It's also way too busy. I like major sections clearly defined, like UPCOMING EVENTS, MEMBERSHIP, ARCHERY, SKEET and TRAP, VOLUNTEER.
I Do like that the most FAQ's are here like Range Hours, right on the first page, contact info etc. Think what most people are clicking in to check, and I bet it's for range hours or a phone number. After that, make it easy to find whatever section they're interested in quickly.

[westwayshooter]

Our club, Squamish Valley Rod and Gun Club (http://svrgc.org), decided that we needed a new web presence last year, as our site was outdated and had a lot of misinformation on it. We contracted out the development of the new site, and feel that it was money well spent. We spent a lot of time with Jude and her staff at Goodwin Studios in Squamish, getting the layout just the way we wanted it. They made it easy getting our ideas to work properly. We wanted a clean look with each section having it's own pages. I think we have achieved what we set out to do.

The administration is done through Website Baker and is easy to do. We set up our calendar through google, anyone can link to it and import to their own calendar if they wish.

With almost half of our members coming from the Vancouver area, we had a need to provide more communication and be able to update the site as needed. I find myself adding or changing items, especially the calendar at least 3 times a week. I also send out updates via email for short notice range bookings and closures. We use MailChimp for sending emails. It's a free service, allowing up to 12000 emails a month. We have been using it for almost a year with no draw backs or complaints.

We decided to not go with online registration and payments as we must review each application for residency restrictions. Being supported by our municipality, and restricted by our charter, we are limited to 50% +1 local members and usually have a non-resident waiting list. Also, we are not a business... we do not have any employees or have any drop in public shooting.

We discussed adding a classified section at our last meeting, and I will be adding one this coming year.

I still have to go through all of our old pictures and archive and update them. Some of the kids in those pictures have kids of their own now.

It's an ongoing work. It will change with new events and direction.

Some of the ideas expressed here may just find their way onto our pages, too.

Scott

[ravensfoot]

Thank you everyone for all your great input. All really good ideas and I will be discussing these with the club executives. When it launches I will make sure to post it here so you all can see. Any other feedback is still greatly appreciated.

[ravensfoot]

Update on the Ridgedale RGC Web Site. Thank you for your input. Not everything was able to be included but I think the site addresses most of the clubs needs.

Have a look - The site is now live:

http://ridgedale.net