In the 21st Century, a website has become an essential tool for schools and districts to communicate with stakeholders. Websites have become the first stop for staff, students, parents, and the community at large who are looking for news, contact information, forms and reports, events, and more. With the incorporation of Web 2.0 technologies, school and district websites can become fresh, interactive learning communities.
Here at Fox Run Technologies, we have over 10 years of experience designing and building school and district websites. With a strong understanding of the specialized needs of schools and school districts, we can work with you in both designing and then installing school or district websites or locally hosted Web 2.0 sites (online learning sites, blog sites, etc.).
Our school and district sites are built around the Joomla content management system (CMS). The content on a Joomla based CMS is added and modified through the use of a simple, WYSIWYG editor, so that anyone (with the appropriate permissions) can work on the site's content. This lets you maintain fresh, current, relevant content on your site without the need to learn HTML or use complex programs such as Microsoft's FrontPage. Additionally, Joomla sites are customized by the installation of specialized components that let you add event calendars, document download repositories, blogs, help desks, and more to your site.
In addition to the Joomla CMS, we are experienced with and can help you design, install, and configure:
- Moodle Learning Management System sites
- WordPress blogging sites
- MediaWiki based wiki sites
- Elgg and Ning social networking sites
- and more . . .
Design
A well designed website is necessary not only for a pleasing appearance but to make it easy for your visitors to quickly locate the content they need and want. Cluttered and disorganized design and confusing menus and navigation elements frustrate and annoy visitors to a site. You want your website to attract and engage visitors and keep them coming back.
Our design process follows a proven sequence of steps that results in a design that is right for your school or district.
- We begin with an initial meeting at your site with key decision makers. In this initial meeting, the group clearly identifies the purpose and goals of the website; why are we building this website?
- At this first meeting, we will also clearly identify members of your project team, including the project manager, assign responsibilities for various project tasks, and prepare the project timeline.
- The next key step in the process is to identify the stakeholders, the users and creators of the content of your website.
- Once the goals and stakeholders are identified, we begin listing all of the possible content that could be on your site. During this step, Fox Run Technologies will use our experience to ensure that every important content element is identified.
- With the content and stakeholders identified, we build our content matrix. In this step, for each stakeholder group, we indicate if the group is primarily a consumer of the content or a creator of the content. In a CMS website, you can delegate responsibility for creating and maintaining content to many individuals and groups. For example, the secretary of the PTA/PTO will write articles and maintain the website information about the organization.
- At this point, Fox Run Technologies will begin prototyping the site online. This will enable you to see how the site will actually look and let us easily and interactively adjust the design to meet your needs.
- At this point, the design is effectively complete. Fox Run Technologies will prepare a final design document for you. If you are going to then build the site yourself, we are done with the project. However, even if you are building the site yourself, your purchase of our design services will include consultation and design modification (sometimes necessary as the site creation proceeds) services for six months after the delivery of the design document.
- If you choose to have us build the site, we will immediately move into the Build phase of the project.
Build
Regardless of whether you are hosting your own school or district site, or you are using a hosting company, we can help you install and configure the software and components necessary to get your site up and running. With a design in hand, we will work with your district's Information Technologies department, for locally hosted sites, or your hosting company to ensure that the website will work as designed on the particular web server platform that is being used and that it will not cause problems with other web based services in the district.
Fox Run Technologies will then build your site online on our server. This will enable you to see how the site will actually look online and let us quickly and easily modify the design as needed. During this process we will involve key stakeholders that you identify to access and test the site and provide feedback to refine the installation. Once you are satisfied that the site meets your needs, we will work with your local technical staff or your web hosting company to move the site to its final location.
The final part of the Build service will be to train your technicians and website administrators in using the software to maintain and modify your site. Depending on your needs, we can also train or develop user manuals for those end users who will be adding and maintaining content on your site.
Included in the Build service is six months of support and maintenance. We will be available by phone or email to answer questions about your installation. Also, as patches and updates to your site's software are released, we will work with you to install these at a time that causes the least disruption of your district's site. After the first six months, you might want to consider subscribing to our Maintenance services.
Cost
Every project is different. Because of this, we do not have a single price for any of our services as some web design firms do. A simple, single school, information only website will cost less than a complex, interactive, large district site. Because of this variance, we will develop a unique proposal for your project. This proposal will include a detailed scope of work and a "not to exceed" cost for the project. The project will be billed at the completion of the project for actual time spent, but will never be more than the "not to exceed" cost.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss your needs in these areas. Contact us by phone or email and let us develop a proposal for you.
