Creating an FRC team website
The website of any FRC Team is very important, not only does it provide an award opportunity, but the website can be used to communicate between team members, provide information about FIRST to those in the area, and reinforce the team's image to those around the FIRST community.
Software and Tools
While a site can be designed using nothing more than Notepad, there is a multitude of software available to help make your site easier to construct and more visually appealing. You do not need to spend any money to take advantage of the software, most of the time there will be free alternatives to any program.
To design a website, it is essential to know how to edit code. While many simply use Microsoft Notepad to edit their code, it usually is much easier to use an editor where you can see the appearance of your webpage as you edit. The two most popular programs are Microsoft's Frontpage and Adobe's Dreamweaver. Both programs provide the option of editing your HTML text or editing in a window that will look like your finished website. However, both programs can be rather expensive. A good free alternative to these program's is the HTML Editor by Andrew Glinwood. While this program does not provide the ability to view what the page will look like as you edit the code, it does make coding much easier with indenting, highlighting and buttons to insert commonly used tags. Another free program smilar to Dreamweaver is KompoZer
The visual appeal of a webpage accounts for a large portion of the judging points. It is important to have graphics that look professional and flow with the page. The software Team 291 uses is Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop offers tools that can crop pictures to make them fit on your page and a tool to reduce filesize. Google Picasa (a free download) is also a good tool to replace or complement Photoshop. Picasa offers comparable cropping software to Photoshop, as well as excellent organization software and photo album webpage creation. Microsoft Paint is also a powerful tool for minor photo cropping and resizing.
Although not software, the website Bravenet.com offers some of the best tools for web designers. With free Javascripts and widgets such as hit counters, they can add a lot of flare to a FIRST webpage. In addition, Bravenet offers free limited hosting, perfect for hosting a test site before you decide to upgrade to real hosting or move to a permanent server.
before you begin...
When designing a FRC team website, it is important to always keep in mind the major points on the judging sheet for your website. The full judges' sheet can be found here. However, when starting the design it is crucial to focus on these points...
1) How
will the user move around the site?
2) How can you reduce file size and make the page load faster?
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3) Are the colors you are using easy to read and not hard on the eyes?
4) Can the site be viewed in any browser on any resolution?
Now think about what pages you will want on the site. Remember, the goal of any FIRST webpage is to "celebrate team achievement while promoting FIRST vision and values." Make sure you address all of these parts when choosing pages. Possibly add a photo and members page to celebrate team achievement and an explanation of FIRST to promote FIRST's vision and values.
Creating the Pages
The specifics of any webpage design should be left to the individual team's webpage team. More important than the specifics of the design are the four points above. Beyond that, the only limit is the imagination. Always remember that if you can think about designing a webpage a certain way 99.99% of the time there will be a way to accomplish that design. Just don't give up and don't be afraid to seek help if you need it. Take a look at other teams' pages for inspiration.
If there are any questions on designing a webpage or if your team hits a snag, please feel free to e-mail Team 291's web design crew at cia@team291.org. We are more than happy to help with any problem you may encounter.
