Guidelines for the Administration of the Parish Website

PURPOSE

The purpose of our church website is to inform the parishioners and friends of St. Basil the Great Roman Catholic Church, and newcomers to the area, of the programs, events and activities taking place at or being sponsored by the parish.

In keeping with the Northern California Diocesan Plan, the website was developed to help you to reach out to our parishioners, communicate with them effectively, and assist with their evangelization and formation.

Our St Basil the Great website is located on the Internet using the following Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Capitalization is used here for emphasis but is not required by the internet.

These guidelines are written to guide the staff, volunteers, and ministry leader in their interaction with the website. The guidelines will continue to evolve as new social networking technologies emerge.

DEFINITIONS

You may be granted access to the website consistent with your ability to post information regarding your ministry and its goals. Logins and passwords will be issued with appropriate permission to allow members of the clergy, staff, and ministry leaders to edit, update, and revise content on specific pages.

Authorscan create, edit, and delete content on assigned pages, but can't publish content, cannot make it visible on the website to the general public.
Publishersare Authors who can alsopublishcontent on assigned pages. Some training required, must have background in basic computer literacy.
Administratorsare Publishers with rights to all pages and all administrative features, issue email addresses to users and provides assistance to users of the site, and trains and assists users who wish to upload their own content.Training required on website publishing; must have background in file transfer protocol (FTP), text and image editing, internettroubleshooting, email management, and “whitehat” search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.
Publishers, Administrators, and clergy are alerted of all unpublished content in the Notification Center. Drafts can be published or reverted per page or across the entire website at once.
The webmasterensures that the website, website pages, and all links function properly. The webmaster is responsible for adding, deleting and rearranging navigation/pageson the site map, updating the website Home page theme and providing analytical reports to the Pastor.The webmaster strives to ensure the website meets the needs of visitors, members, and friends of the Church and works with the clergy to expand usage of the site. Must have comprehensive background in all aspects of website publishing, basicknowledge of Hypertext Markup Language-5 (HTML5),embedding using source code, Google Analytics, forms design and management.In addition, the webmaster must be knowledgeable on all eCatholic core modules of Text, OnLine Forms, Links, Documents, People, Events, News, Photo Albums, as well as Calendar, Mass Times, Adoration, Confession, and Payment modules. Must be willing to quickly learn and train others on new technologies as they become viable tools for the Church and its parishioners. Must demonstrate a strong desire to serve the community as a team leader and trainer.

CONTENT GUIDELINES FOR MINISTRY LEADERS

First and foremost, content should be in keeping with the mission of St Basil the Great Church and follow the teachings of the Church. Remember what you learned in your catechism classes.

Remember, also, that what you write is public; nothing posted on the internet is private. You should always assume that it will be read by your Pastor, the Deacons, church volunteers, other ministry leaders, St Basil School teachers, your children, your spouse, and the attorney for the person who doesn’t like you. Ask yourself if you are comfortable with all of these people reading what you plan to post.The best way to be interesting, stay out of trouble, and have fun is to write about what you know.

WHAT YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO

Anything you post in your role as ministry leader reflects on St Basil. Be professional at all times.Respect your audience, express your views with appropriate language, and be respectful of the Church and its teachings.
Submit your documents to clergy for approval if any doubts exist as to the propriety of your content.
Listen to comments regarding your page to maintain a clear and current understanding of what is relevant and of interest to the community.
Be timely.Be prepared to move quickly in response to new developments, announcements, or emergencies with relevant information on your page. A short amount of accurate information delivered at the time of need can sometimes be more valuable than a full report delivered well after the issue has passed.
Remember, everything you do online can and will live forever. Content is often visible to the entire world. Remember that what you write is public, and will remain public for a very long time (perhaps permanently). Be respectful to our community and our Catholic faith.
Respect the confidentiality of matters that are shared with you in confidence, or that are meant to be kept confidential by the nature of your work, ministry or volunteer mission.
Use spellcheckers and proof-read before posting anything.
Users must comply fully with copyright law when posting and uploading materials.

WHAT YOU SHOULD NEVER DO

All Capitals: Using all capitals is perceived as yelling. The recipients of the message may feel as though you are yelling at them.
Personal Use of Church Email: Using an email address for personal communications is not appropriate. Church emails are church property to be used for church business.
Ignore a Hesitation: If you hesitate before clicking the mouse, chances are it's a bad idea to share whatever you've just written and/or created.
Air Personal Grievances: Social networks are never a good place to air personal grievances with other staff members.
Disclose The Numbers: This includes strategies, budgets and most anything with a dollar-ﬁgure attached to it. If it’s not already public information, it’s not your job to make it so.
Give Out Personal Information: Never share personal information about staff, other ministry leaders without their permission, or, in the case of children under 18, written permission of their parents. Never share personal information or the identities of children under the age of 13.
Post Someone Else's Material: Post your own creations.

Ignore copywrite laws: Obtain copywriter’s permission before publishing their work.

CONCLUSION

The website belongs to you, the Catholic faith community of St Basil The Great Church.Be creative. Remember your audience. Publish often. Have fun.

St Basil The Great Website Administration

I, ______, ministry leader, staff, author, publisher, have read and agree to follow the Website Guidelines in all content I write, or have written for me, for publication on the St Basil the Great parish website. My access is limited to the following page(s) ______.

I further agree to follow all future revisions of the guidelines.

I understand that failure to comply with the guidelines will terminate my access to the website.

I have received a copy of the Website Guidelines.

Signature ______Date ______

Website Username ______Revocation Date ______

Domain Name Email ______Revocation Date ______

Author Training Completion Date ______

Publisher Training Completion Date ______

Administrator Training Completion Date ______

Notes: ______

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