click on the Online Documents button, then Handbook for Trail Design (presently one large document)		NCT Chapter Web Page Standards & Guidelines
		OVERVIEW Our web site, northcountrytrail.org, offers a tremendous opportunity for us to promote the trail, our Chapters, and the Association itself to a broad and rapidly growing audience. However, many people will be involved with maintaining different pages on the site, which will lead to a great diversity in information and ideas. While diversity and creativity certainly are good things, it's also important that we set some basic ground rules to keep the site from getting too chaotic, disjointed, or jumbled. The following standards and guidelines are meant to accomplish these goals: Ensure that users of the site have the feeling that they are exploring a single community rather than bouncing around between unrelated pages. Make linking between pages and to files consistent and easy for those of us who are building and maintaining pages on the site. Provide some degree of protection so we don't muck up each other's work. MAIN GOALS of northcountrytrail.org This probably goes without saying, but as you're working on your pages, it might help to keep these goals in mind. Generate new interest in the trail, the Chapters, and the Association as a whole. Provide fresh and ongoing services to our members and the general public. LOGGING ON You will need to use an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program to move files to the North Country Trail server. And you will need the ID and password in order to do this. Authorized webmasters from chapters should contact the NCTA webmaster to find out how to proceed. Please note that only one authorized user can be logged on at any one time. Even with authorized users from many chapters, this has only occasionally caused problems with people trying to log on at the same time. However, you should be aware that if you are being "shut out" when trying to log on it may be because another authorized user is connected to the server. Just try again in a few minutes. Conversely, try to get files correctly coded before uploading to minimize the time you spend on the server. REQUIREMENTS Chapters have a great deal of latitude in what they can do on their own pages. But a couple of requirements are: Include a link back to the northcountrytrail.org home page somewhere at the top of (at least) your chapter home page. We suggest using the image /graphics/nctahome.gif or /graphics/NCTAwhite.gif as a link. The NCTAwhite image may change occasionally as it is a default name for whatever image appears in the top left of the NCTA home page. For example, we customized it for the 25th Anniversary year. Try to keep your total web site size to around 10 MB. This is not going to be enforced with an iron rod, but it's a guideline. Keep the NCTA web site manager informed if you retire from your "job." There are often tech issues which need to be attended to on all pages. I don't want to butt into your pages, but do need to know who to inform of site-wide things which need attention. Please do not scan NCTA official maps and place them on your web site for free. This is in direct competition to the Trail Shop sales. If you would like some maps but don't feel capable of producing them, please contact the cartographer, Tiffany Stram. That's it... hope it's not too onerus! STATS FOR YOUR CHAPTER You can find out just how many visitors your chapter's page is receiving. Go to http://www.northcountrytrail.org/wusage. This page looks like a calendar. The server compiles certain statistics on a daily basis (but only retained for a month). So you would then need to choose the day you are interested in. Click on that date. Then, from the right-hand menu, choose Documents by Directory. This will open a new window, and when you scroll down, any directory which has received hits on the selected date will appear. This gives you total statistics for this directory. For example, on November 15, 2000, the Peter Wolfe Chapter (/pwf) had 11 hits and 51 accesses. The 11 hits is the number of visits. The access count is the total number of files retrieved, which includes graphics. For example, a page visited with text and two pictures would be counted as 3 accesses for each hit. This doesn't always add up to anything sensible, because people returning on the same visit may have pictures already in their cache which are not re-loaded from the server. If none of this makes sense, just remember that the column labeled VISITS is the count you probably want, not ACCESSES. To find out exactly which pages received hits, just click on the folder name and you will then see a directory of all the files in that folder, with visits and accesses listed again. The daily statistics are available for a month. DESIGN STANDARDS BACKGROUND AND COLORS We suggest you use the chapter template as a guide. GRAPHICS Custom graphics to match ones found elsewhere on the NCTA pages can probably be created for you. Contact the webmaster. FILE MANAGEMENT FILE SIZE (GRAPHICS) As you build and edit your pages, please remember that some of our site visitors may still need to dial long distance numbers to access their internet service providers. Large graphic files or numerous medium-sized ones may frustrate them and discourage them from waiting or revisiting the site. So, try to keep the size of your graphic files as reasonably small as posible. If you really want to include large files (big photos, etc.), stick them on another page with a link from your main page. Alternately, you could build two versions of your pages, with an initial page that allows the user to select a version that is either heavy in graphics or minimal in graphics. (With faster modems and more local connections, this becomes less and less of an issue. Still, it's good to keep it in mind....) FILE LOCATIONS AND NAMES Web page directories tend to clutter up with lots of files really quickly. With 30 Chapters and various national sections, we could quickly end up with an un-navigable spaghetti bowl of files and directories. Once a creature like that takes on a life of its own, it becomes almost impossible to tame. So, we're setting some standards at square one regarding file names and locations in order keep things as simple as possible for all of us. Following these guidelines will make linking to each other's pages an easy and routine matter, rather than an evening research project. Below is the file structure for our web site directories that we want everyone to use. I apologize for the redundant detail, but all these files and folders are really just the beginning. Hopefully, you'll see why some structure early on is important. Folders are shown as bold text. Files are not bold but do show an extension. (Please note that you should link to other files, like graphics, where they exist in the directories, rather than making an extra copy of them to store in your own subdirectory.) We'll be using the ".htm" extension on all our HTML files (rather than ".html") and eight letter file names, in case some of you are still using older versions of Windows or software that doesn't recognize longer file names. Don't mess with these! Folders listed below whose names are in red are described for your information, but changes should not be made to files in these folders without the express permission of the webmaster, or of the volunteer listed as being in charge of that folder. index.htm - The main (home) page for northcountrytrail.org. Please be careful that if you are uploading a file with that name (your chapter's home page for example) that you put it in the correct directory, and not accidentally overwrite the main file! But, if you do this, you will find a file called index.bak. select it in FTP, and rename it as index.htm, and all will be well. Then put your own index file where it belongs! If you accidentally mess even this up, so that the main NCTA page is unrecoverable, CALL ME- Matt Rowbotham, webmaster at 866-hikeNCT, or email me. graphics Stores basic logos and icons that other people might want to use. (Keep Chapter photos and other less universal graphics in your own "graphics" folder.) The contents of the graphic folder: nocologo.jpg - Faded trail emblem which can be used as wallpaper (old web design) nctalogo.gif - NCTA's logo (color version with shadow) npslogo.gif - Park Service shield (color with shadow) colormap.gif - Color map of all seven states nd.gif - Small map of North Dakota mn.gif - Small map of Minnesota wi.gif - Small map of Wisconsin mu.gif - Small map of Michigan's Upper Peninsula ml.gif - Small map of Michigan's Lower Peninsula oh.gif - Small map of Ohio pa.gif - Small map of Pennsylvania ny.gif - Small map of New York Each Chapter will have its own folder at the main level in our directory. Most of your stuff should be stored in your own folder, with the exception of your calendar of events (see below) and certain graphics that will have broad appeal to other web designers (see above). Other than what's shown below, you can put anything you'd like in your folder. We do ask, though, that each Chapter limit its total storage to 10MB. The file system shown below for the Allegheny National Forest Chapter shows the naming scheme. The other chapter codes are listed below anf- Allegheny National Forest Chapter folder index.htm- Home page for Allegheny National Forest Chapter graphics- Holds all the Chapter's graphics adm- Adams County Chapter folder baw- Baw Beese Chapter folder bsc- Brule St. Croix Chapter folder but- Butler Chapter folder che- Chequamegon Chapter folder cnd- Chief Noonday Chapter folder cla- Clarion Chapter folder cny- Central New York Chapter folder dpg- Dakota Prairie Grasslands Chapter folder gmc- Grand Marais Chapter folder gtr- Grand Traverse Hiking Club folder gts- Great Trail- Sandy Beaver Chapter folder gpt- Greater Pittsburgh Chapter folder hrb- Harbor Springs Chapter folder htg- Heritage Chapter folder hss- Hiawatha Shore-to-Shore Chapter folder itm- Itasca Moraine Chapter folder llc- Laurentian Lakes Chapter folder ltr- Lonetree Chapter folder nct- North Country Trail Hikers folder ohv- Ohio Valley Chapter folder pwf- Peter Wolfe Chapter folder rok- Rock Chapter folder srv- Sheyenne River Valley Chapter folder spw- Spirit of the Woods Chapter folder stn- Star of the North Chapter folder tbw- Tittabawasee Chapter folder wam- Wampum Chapter folder wmi- Western Michigan Chapter folder events To make it easier to find and maintain links to each others lists of events, we'd like every Chapter to keep their calendar of events on a separate page in this folder, in place of, or in addtion to, in their own folders. ev_index.htm - Index to events pages for Chapters and States within the events folder, place your chapter's calendar and naming it with the three-letter designation for your chapter with a dot and the htm extension. For example, the Baw Beese Chapter calender should be saved as baw.htm. If you do not use this naming scheme when saving your calender to the "events" file, the link to your chapter's calendar from the events main page will not work, and people won't be able to find your activities! If you also place the calendar in your own folder, don't forget to update it here as well when you make changes. It would be great if you would notify the webmaster when you update this file. That way events would be sure to be listed on the master Trail Calendar! explore Here we keep general info about the Trail in each state with slides, trail condition reports, etc. Each state will have a general description and links to other pages of interest. It's likely that these pages will remain fairly static, with only occasional updates as needed. They are meant as a general introduction to people who know little or nothing about the trail, with more detail located elsewhere. However, if someone volunteers to add more depth for one or more of these state pages, that would be fine too. ex_index.htm - Main index for Explore section nd.htm - North Dakota page mn.htm - Minnesota page wi,htm - Wisconsin page mu.htm - Upper Michigan page ml.htm - Lower Michigan page oh.htm - Ohio page pa.htm - Pennsylvania page ny.htm - New York page ndslides Folder for North Dakota slide show ndslides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images mnslides Folder for Minnesota slide show mnslides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images wislides Folder for Wisconsin slide show wislides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images muslides Folder for Upper Michigan slide show muslides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images mlslides Folder for Lower Michigan slide show mlslides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images ohslides Folder for Ohio slide show ohslides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images paslides Folder for Pennsylvania slide show paslides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images nyslides Folder for New York slide show nyslides.htm - Slide show page nct-???.jpg - Various slide images bbs, bbs1, and phpBB2 A "BBS" is like a bulletin Board where visitors can post messages or questions for others to read and respond to. Typically, these result in ongoing "conversation threads" that other visitors can read through and participate in. news This folder contains the current news topics featured on the opening page, and an archive list of past news items. ncta This folder contains general information about the Association itself, including mission, organization, history, membership info, etc. It is currently not in very good conditon. about.htm - Main index for info on NCTA shop and Merchant2 Trail Shop merchandise online, and these folders contain the trail shop. https://salmon.site-secure.net/northcountrytrail/Merchant2/merchant.mv? - Main index for Trail Shop (these are exceptions to the 3-letter file extension. This naming scheme is required by the server for processing the sales transactions. This page must be linked absolutely through the secure server. https://salmon.site-secure.net/northcountrytrail/Merchant2/merchant.mv? tsgraph Folder containing graphic files related to the Trail Shop (mainly pictures of merchandise) voluntrs We want the web site to be a helpful resource for volunteers, so this folder will contain tips, links, forms, etc. of interest to our volunteers. We also may include a volunteer "Hall of Fame" collecting the bios and pictures from our Heart and Sole column in the North Star. Some pieces are currently working, and some are not. volcentr.htm - Main index for Volunteer section cgi-bin This folder contains scripted programs which process data from forms and the trail shop. contacts This folder contains subpages linking to our business members, NC Champions, and other links links.htm -This is an index of links to other organizations and agencies of interest. At the present time Richard Lutz of Pennsylvania is keeping this page updated support This folder contains files describing ways you can help support the trail. sp_index.htm - Main index for Support section ALL OTHER FOLDERS Please do not make changes in any other folders not named above. FEATURES Certain features will be provided at the National level for our users. We ask that you not duplicate these features within your own Chapter or state folders. On the other hand, we're very open minded about these features. If you have ideas about how to make them more relevant to your Chapter members, please let us know. MERCHANDISE SALES As mentioned above, visitors to the site will be able to order Trail Shop merchandise with credit cards on the web site. We may be able to market merchandise that Chapters have developed on their own as well, but first we would need to figure out some way to keep it simple. OTHER Let us know if you have ideas for other features, especially if you want to volunteer to create and manage them! MORE HELP One of the purposes of having a paid webmaster is to assist you in getting your chapter's news and info on-line. If you have problems, need help with specific questions, etc, feel free to contact me Matt Rowbotham, webmaster. You need to have enough knowledge to design and maintain your own pages, but I can help with specific problems. That said, I can not do regular updates to your chapter pages for you. I am allowed to contract work for chapters at the same rate as I am being paid by the NCTA. last update 12/28/07