Alright so you have setup your website, you have setup roles, moderation, security, password policy, calendar, blog, and announcements, now your ready for Baby Step 2. Baby Step 2, is designed to provide information about your church.  These are going to be static pages, not change very often.  I recommend you make them as dynamic as possible, so that when something does need to be editted it’s easy. However these should be their own seperate page, not part of the announcements.

• Staff Page – This page should give information on every staff position and the person filling that role.  It should consist of the responsibilities and the rights that position holds.  The more prominent the position the more detailed history needs to be given. This should include a photo of the individual.
• History – Give the history of the church, from the day it was first formed to present day. Remember after significant events this page should be updated. Historic photos would great to include here, and a way to help preserve those photos.
• Outreach – A description of the kinds of outreach the church performs. Cetainly add links to the websites for any organization supported, if they have one.
• Groups – This should include Sunday School classes, youth groups, adult groups, and group that is NOT part of the “business” portion of the church like commitees, and/or departments. Photos of the group would be good to include.
• Handbook – This needs to be something that you can update frequently.  This should include a list of the church board, cabinet, elders, deacons, commitees, and departments.  The responsibilities of each these should be provided as well.  This information should be made public.  This should NOT include the directory of the church members. The constitution, and bylaws, should be included in this section, however you may wish to make this for “Members Only”.

Setup links to these from your home page of your website.  Now it’s time to start thinking about your menu and how it will take shape.  Menus need to be organized in such a way that I know what’s under any particular menu item before clicking on it.  For instance if I see “Handbook”  listed, I would expect to find details on the board, and committees under this. So if I clicked Handbook, and a submenu appeared I would expect to see these items.  Or if I clicked on Media Gallery then I would expect to see Videos, Photos, and Audio under this. Take your time choosing the menu system you will use, and make sure your satisfied with it.

I will be writing a series of posts discussing things to do, and consider on a website for a church over the next few posts.  I’m not here to tell you step by step how to do it, but I will provide you with a guide on what to consider and help point you in the direction, and point you in the direction of well documented tools to guide you.