Lodge Survey.doc
William Baumbach notes and check list
Website must have
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- On the main home page....
- Name of Lodge. i.e. "Name Lodge No. 123 A.F. & A.M." do not use "#" (Details)
- Charted (date) by The Grand Lodge of Virginia. Optionally link to GL site
(Details)
- Location of Lodge. use the physical 911 address, not the mailing address (Details)
- Stated communication's day and time, properly formatted and any exceptions
noted (Details)
- Information below can be on the main or other pages....
- Mailing address if different then physical 911 address.
- Phone number, of the Secretary and or the Grand Lodge of Virginia.
804-222-3110
- Webmaster's name, email and or phone number.
Website should have, static information
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- Picture of Lodge (Details)
- Phone number of the Lodge if it has one, if not use the Secretary's and
or the Grand Lodge phone 804-222-3110
- Copyright notice and Official website information (Details)
- Masonic District Number, optionally link to the District website.
- Driving directions.
- Lodge history or a Bio.
- Handicap accessibility information
- Parking information
Website Optional information, static information
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- What Grand Lodge Region and Division the Lodge is located.
- Are there meals, if applicable, dinner is served before or after the
stated communication
- Links to other websites as long as they are not considered non-Masonic in
nature
- If applicable, information about renting your Lodge to other groups.
- Information about other Masonic Appendant Bodies or other groups that meet
in your Lodge
- Link to Internet mapping service for driving directions.
- Consider having links to your local town/city and local originations.
- Images of US and or State Flags.
- Background music, not recommend because it causes websites to load slowly.
Website Optional information that requires regular updating
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- Unless you know for sure you will be able to regularly update your
website do not provide this information.
- Trestleboard's (Details)
- Calendar of events.
- Worshipful Master’s contact information, email and or phone number.
- Officer's. contact information, email and or phone number and what year
they are serving.
- Pictures of Officer's, with or without jewels and aprons, optionally
include bios.
- Information should be no more than ninety days outdated, if six months
or more the link to it from the GL website will be removed.
Website may not have
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- Broken, dead, or misdirected links.
- Copyrighted pictures, text or other, unless there is written permission.
- Pictures of due guards, signs, ritual, degrees, or of the Square &
Compasses on top of the Bible.
- Pictures of Brethren, other people, or children unless you have their
consent.
- Content or links to content that would be considered un-Masonic in nature.
- The use of the Great Seal of Virginia is not allowed by Stated Law. Image
of State flag is allowed.
- Petitioner or candidates name's
- Masonic publications by the Grand Lodge of Virginia, please contact the
Grand Lodge to confirm what publications are approved.
- Information should be no more than ninety days outdated, if six months
or more the link to it from the GL website will be removed.
Website tips
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- The current Worshipful Master should review the Lodge's website and its
content approved by him annually.
- Unless you know for sure you will be able to regularly update your
website do not include dated content, i.e. current year Worshipful Master or
Officers names, calendar of events, Trestleboard, etc. If your website is
most likely to stay static, then only include the information under "Static"
section listed above.
- Two or more Brethren of your Lodge should have the information needed to
access the website and make changes to it.
- Add a hit counter to track the number of visitors
http://www.hit-counter-download.com or
http://www.easycounter.com
- Request other Masonic websites in your District and other websites that
would not be considered un-Masonic in nature to add a link to your website. This will greatly increase
your search engine ranking. You may also want to add links back to their
website.
- For general website tips visit
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/workessentials/HA100243631033.aspx or
search the Internet using search terms like website tips, building a better
website, etc.
- Pictures, you should keep the file size of your images as small as
possible to allow for faster webpage loading. Large files sizes, i.e. large
megapixel and high resolutions will cause your website to take a long time to
load. Today's cameras have very high mega pixel and create a very large file
size.
Image Resizer is a free Windows XP utility from Microsoft that can easily reduce the
file size. or try
Image Resizer from VSO. A 10 megapixel image can range from 4 to 7megs in size, an images
dimensions, i.e. A 3872 x 2592 is 10,036,224, 10 megapixel (Ten million). A
1024 x 768 is 786,432, about 200kb in size. A 640 x 480 is 307,200, about
80kb in size and is large enough to full most monitors. A 240 x 320 is 76,800,
about 30kb in size.
- Have your DNS configure so your website can be accessed with or without
the use of www in the URL. i.e. http://Lodge.org
or http://www.Lodge.org
- To prevent users from receiving a 404 page cannot be found error, this
can happen when you rename and delete pages on your website
and during that time search engines and other websites have linked to those
now non-existent pages. Have your ISP configure the server to redirect page
not found errors to a custom auto redirect page. An example of this can be
found at
http://www.grandlodgeofvirginia.org/404.htm
- There is no need to pay fees to third party companies that offer to list
your website with search engines. you can do this yourself by visiting each
search engine and looking for the option to submit your website a.k.a. URL for
indexing. Now a days this is not even necessary, as most search engines in
time will automatically find your website and index it. Here are some
submission links for you
http://www.google.com/addurl and
https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit and
http://www.bing.com/webmaster/SubmitSitePage.aspx
- If you have links to other websites, check them periodically to make sure
they are still active. If applicable links to other websites should be to the
top level domain i.e.
http://www.grandlodgeofvirginia.org and not sub-pages within the website
because they might be renamed and or deleted, a URL of
http://www.grandlodgeofvirginia.org/events/index.htm should not be used
because at some point the page name Index.htm could be changed to something
like Index.asp.
- Make sure the Title and Description META tags in the hidden HTML source
code have the proper information to match the page, i.e. each page should have
an unique Title, the Contact page should read something like <title>Lodge Name
Contact</title> the Membership page should have <title>Lodge Name
Membership</title> This will improve your search engine rankings. Google
webmaster tools can help point out issue with your website
www.google.com/webmasters/tools
- Double check for spelling errors and typos.
- Make sure your website is password protected with a secure password, a
minimum of 8 characters in length, and a combination of upper and lowercase
letters, number and other characters.
- Keep several backup copies of all the content of the website, should the
ISP go out of business or other major mishap you will be able to get your
website back up and running. Put copies of this information on a CD, DVD,
Memory Stick, or other computer hard drives, etc.
- File names should not contain any blank spaces, webpage's, PDF, picture
files, etc. Example, "Picutre_Name.jpg" and not "Picture Name.jpg" use
"December-2007.pdf" and not "December 2007.pdf" use a underscore "_" or a
hyphen "-" to separate words in a file name. And keep file names as short as
possible, Dec_07.pdf.
- How to prevent search engines from indexing your website or pages and
files within your website, read this
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=59819 the use of a
robots.txt file can be useful.
- You can prevent people from using right-click to copy text and images or
only images from your website by adding a couple lines of code, search the
Net for words like "stop right click." preventing right-click copy or save
as, only stops the average user, a person with some knowledge will know how
to bypass this. So keep this in mind, anything and everything you put on the
Internet is public and available to anyone in the World.
- All of your website content should be available using the web browsers
HTTP standard port number 80, Internet users with good quality firewalls
will be blocked from viewing content on non-standard ports like 81, ,8081, 8484, etc.
i.e. do not have any URL's like
www.Domain.com:8081
How to create a Website and obtain your own Domain Name
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Basic steps
- Obtain a domain name, i.e. Lodge123.org having our own domain name is an
option but recommend.
- Select an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to host your website and
optionally provide email services.
- Create and publish your website.
- Domain Name. The first thing you should do is register your own
unique domain name. There are a multitude of domain name registrars authorized
by ICANN to re-sell domain names, for a complete list visit
http://www.internic.net you will pay an
annual fee for your domain name and the prices vary widely from
registrar to registrar. You can save money by pre-paying the annual fee
several years in advance. Paying a registrar for a Domain name is required.
Registrars my also offer optional paid for services either separately or in a
package deal, i.e. website hosting, and email, etc. Some popular registrars
are www.GoDaddy.com
and www.NetworkSolutions.com
and
www.Google.com/a and
www.Register.com just to name a few. Do
your research and go with what fits your budget and needs.
- Domain Name Types. There are dozens of different top level domain
types, most commonly known are, .COM commercial business which is the
most common. .ORG origination nonprofits. .NET networks
typically ISP's. EU educational school, college, museum. .GOV
government. The .ORG better represents freemasonry and is
recommended, but it would not be a bad idea to get both the .ORG and .COM. If
your .ORG and .COM name are already taken, you may want to considers others
like .US.COM. .NET, .US, .INFO.
- Domain Tips. Keep your domain name short and easy to remember.
www.Name123.org is recommend over the
longer version of www.NameLodge123.org
example's "George Washington Masonic Memorial"
www.GeorgeWashingtonMasonicMemorial.org is rather long whereas
www.gwmemorial.org is easier. Or in
the case of "Alexandria-Washington Lodge No.22"
www.AW22.org
- Free website hosting. ISP's that offer free website hosting will
automatically add advertising to your website and some overdo this. The ad's
are typically not static and change regularly and may or may not be the type
of ads suitable for a Masonic website. Read the ISP's policy and select
carefully. With free hosting you typically cannot use your own domain name,
but rather share the domain name the ISP has, i.e.
http://www.ISP_Name.com/Lodge_Name.htm
- Paid website Hosting. Will not have advertising and the ISP will
provide a better level of technical support for you. Your own domain name can
be used, i.e. www.Lodge123.org and email
services can be included. SPAM and anti-virus filtering for email is
important, select an ISP that offers these services.
- Create your website. You do not need to know programming to create
a website; there are a multitude of easy to use programs that you can use on
your own computer, i.e. MS Word, MS. FrontPage, Dreamweaver, Even easier,
select an ISP that offers the option to create your website online using
fill-in the blanks and templates that they provide. This way you can create
your website online without the need of any special software or computer
skills.
- The legal registrant name of the domain name should be in the name of the
Lodge and not a member of the Lodge. The Administrative and Technical Contacts
registered with the domain name registrar should be one or more members of the
Lodge and this information should be keep current.
- Email, the best free email is provided by
Google Apps
Details
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Lodge Names
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The correct why to display the Lodge name is "Name Lodge No. 123 A.F. & A.M." or
all uppercase "NAME LODGE NO. 123"
Do not use "#" use "No."
A.F. & A.M. or A.F. and A.M.
Ancient Free & Accepted Masons or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons
stated communication
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"stated communication" for Lodges having one meeting per month
"stated communications" for Lodges having two meetings per month
(note the lower case "s" and "c")
Use "1st", "2nd", "3rd", "4th" for week. do not spell them out, First, Second.
The day of the week should be spelled out in full and not abbreviated.
Example, stated communication 1st Monday's.
Example, stated communications 1st & 3rd Monday's.
Example, stated communications 1st Monday's & 2nd Wednesday's.
Do not use "meetings" or "meets"
Do not use First, Second, Third.
Make note of any known exceptions to stated communication, i.e. December 2nd
Monday. If a holiday then the following Monday.
Copyright notice and official website information
Optionally you might want to include a Copyright notice in small print on the
bottom of your pages. i.e.
Copyright (c) 2000 Lodge Name No. 123 All Rights Reserved
and a sentence stating
"This is the official website of Lodge Name No. 123"
Location of the Lodge
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Should be the legal 911 address. i.e.
123 Main St.
City, Va. 22212
If applicable, give details, i.e. meets in xxx Fire Department, 2nd floor of
xxx Church. or cross streets.
Chartered statement examples
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Charted date should be spelled out, i.e. December 22, 1877
Three options "Charted by" "Holden under" or "Under a charter
from"
The Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M., of Virginia
The Grand Lodge of Virginia, A.F. & A.M.
The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M., of Virginia
A.F. & A.M. can be spelled out "Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons" or "Ancient,
Free & Accepted Masons"
The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the
Commonwealth of Virginia
A.F. & A.M. or A.F. and A.M.
Trestleboard
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Trestleboard is one word.
Petitioners name shall not be published.
Candidates name can be published. (revised 2009 Sec. 2.108)
Rejected, suspensions, etc., shall not be publised.
For faster download times, Trestleboard's or other documents should be converted
to HTML, or PDF format, the use of Word Document format is not recommend because
the files are larger and require the user to own a copy of Microsoft Office or
have a viewer installed. There are also font and printing issues.
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Use of picture photography, video
or audio recording during a tiled meeting. Or while working or practicing the
ritual degree's.
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Video or audio recording is NOT allowed, this includes,
Camcorders, Tape recorders, Mobile phones, or any other recording devices.
Still Photography is allowed if you follow these guidelines.....
- Get the Worshipful Masters permission.
- No pictures of due guards or signs.
- No pictures of the Square & Compasses on top of the Bible, this can be
prevented by taking your shot from a low angle and shooting upwards. Do not take a
picture if your view will be looking down on the top of the
Alter. If you take a shot by mistake, you must edit the photo and blur or crop out the
Square & Compasses on top of the Bible.
- No pictures during balloting.
- No pictures during grand honors.
- No pictures of ritual or degrees.
- No pictures of a candidate during the degree work or at anytime while he
is prepared in his attire for a degree..
- Respect the wishes of Brethren who do not want to have their picture
taken, or published. See the official
Grand Lodge
position letter, utilization of the Internet. from June 4, 2009
- Unless you have the permission of the person, do not identify him in
publicly published pictures. (See GL position dated June 4, 2009)
- If there are any accidental pictures taken of the above, the digital
copy, prints and negatives must be destroyed. With digital prints you may be
able to edit them and blur or crop out and removing the unwanted portions, for example,
blur or crop out the Square & Compasses. Make sure the originals are destroyed.
- Note: a Table Lodge is a tiled meeting in which EA's and FC's can
attend.