Veterans Benefits and Assistance
Website Goals & Guidance
Jim Bush - 7/22/2017
Enhance Our Website
The goal of this website is to become the primary communication hub for everyone within the Department of Wyoming so that we may all carryout the VFW mission. To do this the website will be used to send out emails (push out information), but will mainly function as a warehouse of information, documents, reports, etc., that will allow visitors to quickly find and get the information they need (pull the information).
To achieve this goal your input is essential. Currently we are looking for VFW related article updates, new articles, calendar entries, photographs, helpful documents, and other information. Here is some guidance to help make our website goal a realization.
Information
If you have accurate and current information that should be posted on our website please email it to us. Indicating the name of the page the information should be posted to will be of great assistance.
Documents
To help protect from computer viruses we are only allowed to post document type files in the PDF (Portable Document Format/Adobe Acrobat) file. So if you wish to have a document posted please email it as a PDF. Hint: Many programs will let you save your files as a PDF, if not; an online file converter can be of use.
Photographs
For images the JPG/JPEG file format works best on our website. The image should be cropped to only include the desired subject matter. Additionally, the JPG must be formatted for website use. You may already have an image editing program or app to help with this. If not, various programs and apps are available to help do this. Many of these programs and apps have a website setting to adjust your image for use on the web. If you know of a good, simple, and perhaps free app that prepares image files for website use please share the link so we can post it below.
Articles
Articles do not have to be very long, a few paragraphs, but they do require interesting substance. For articles to be of interest we ask for several things: a title, details (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How), the author, when you would like it posted to our website, when it should be removed, where more information can be found, and a lead.
The lead is of vital importance, it can be a brief summary or ask a question of the reader, but it must compel the reader to want to know more. Our news section of the website is currently set up as a list of our article titles and the lead. The lead needs to be the hook that gets the reader to click onto the title to read more, if the hook is not good enough the reader may never click to see the full article, photos, links, etc.
Please don’t despair; instead take a look at our news section. Some articles are well written, but to be honest most could have used some extra help before they were posted, and some are really dated.
We know everybody has busy lives and already gives so much of themselves that is why we are seeking just a little help from many to turn our website into a truly useful tool. Thank you.
Useful links
Department of Wyoming Website Committee email address: info@vfwwy.org
Online convert images to JPG files: http://image.online-convert.com/convert-to-jpg
Royalty free images: https://pixabay.com/
Convert image for website use: Awaiting input
VFW Website Solution Program
Dept Website Committee - 1/13/2017
Our new website makes presenting a uniform VFW appearance simple and promises to be more dynamic than our previous website. You should know your Department Website Committee will be hard at work getting accurate information posted.
VFW Post 11453 in Cheyenne was the first post in Wyoming to take advantage of the National VFW Website Solution Program. When asked why their post chose to take advantage of this program, Post Quartermaster Jim Bush replied, "The new website will enhance communications between our post and its members; additionally when VFW National or the Department of Wyoming places a news article on their website it will immediately show up on our website for our members to view. Communication like this is the way of the future; pulling desired information from a convenient website is how most young veterans prefer to get information. Furthermore, the cost was a real bargain.”
Here is some more information about this new website. If you prefer getting those emails you can sign up to receive mass emails. If you change your mind simply unsubscribe. Much of the website is open to the public; advertise hall rental and whatever else you want the public to know. Additionally there is a Members Only section where post members can log in to see Meeting Minutes, Financial Reports, Rosters, or whatever the post decides to have in this private area of the website. Also worth mentioning, soon individual posts will be able to input data for many of our department reports.
Interested? Here is how to get a website for your Post: In a nutshell
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Complete and submit the Grant Application. Within a month the website design company Pixel-bit New Media Group will have a website set up for your Post.
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With the Grant, VFW National will pay for the first year: $360. It is worth mentioning Pixel-bit is doing this work pro bono; to cover their expense of hosting and server operations the post will be charged $360 per year after the first year.
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Once they notify you that your website is ready you can populate the website with information relative to your post.
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Worried about the cost? Pixel-bit built into the website a service to offer sponsors. The idea is to annually seek out local sponsors for your post website. Charge what you would like ($100, $360, $1000). In addition to the sponsor getting a nice feeling for helping us out, their logo will be on your post website and you can give the sponsor a username and password that will allow them to edit their one page hosted on your post’s webpage. Oh and the post is not limited to the number of sponsors they can have—potentially a money maker!
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Training by YouTube video is available and currently Pixel-bit does live web training on a weekly basis, additionally they are pretty good replying to email questions.
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To contact your Department of Wyoming Website Committee about this program please email info@vfwwy.org or use the "Contact us” link above and in comments please type WEBSITE as the first word, followed by your question/comment.
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More information to follow.
Grant Application
Support Flyer
