Q1: Who are you?
I'm a teacher branching out into website and weblog design and hosting. All using the same technology
I'm 37 and married. I live and work in Bloxwich, Walsall, UK.
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Q2: Initial costs for developing site?
The costs vary depending on your specific needs. This includes everything! Design, support, training, monitoring, mentoring, the lot! Obviously, the biggest overhead is the on-site training. So far, one visit is easily enough. I've even got a few customers now that I've never visited. Though I surely intend to.
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Q3: Do you have a manual?
You get a 'hard copy' of all the essential information you need.
Additionally, there's a good, detailed on-line manual. It is updated fairly regularly.
There is also have a simplified on-line manual for those nervous 'newbies'. It covers just the basics.
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Q4: Annual maintenance costs.
Subsequent years are again dependent on your specific needs and usually less than half of your initial outlay. This still includes all maintenance, support, monitoring and mentoring.
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Q5: The curriculum, BECTA and eLCs
We will hopefully soon be an approved retailer so English schools can use their eLC allocation to purchase.
We're releasing a full set of a term's lesson plans for Writing for Different Audiences. You should check these out for some cracking ideas for getting your pupils to add news and reviews to your website. These ideas can apply to pupils from 7-18.
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Q6: Why are you such good value for money?
This is a new way for schools to look after sites.
Overheads are kept to a minimum, we stay away from exhibitions, and other expensive marketing, preferring word of mouth and email.
Working on your site, there isn't much for us to do, and what we do do, we do very quickly and easily. Besides we enjoy seeing updates, people using this technology.
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Q7: Graphic design
Changes to the graphics are very easy, each swappable in seconds. Or sites can be fully customised, for a very small additional fee.
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Q8: Adding initial content
We take your prospectus, or old site and convert it to editable web pages. We'd prefer you to give us clean, digital text, rather than brochures produced in a page layout program, or, untidy web pages, with small useless pictures. Of course we can manage with anything, but there maybe a small charge for anything awkward or for massive amounts.
Once the pages are in there you can edit them as much as you want, moving them around the virtual directory site structure is simple too. Once you know how.
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Q9: Training
Training is included in the initial price.
Training can be a mere few minutes to enable someone to send an email with pictures attached. Or a few minutes to post a news item to the front page. There really is very little to explain. Of course, there is lots of power lurking about, like trackbacks, podcasting, and Google Juice strings, but posting a simple news item to the front page, really isn't rocket science—this really is why hundreds of thousands of people are attracted to blogging.
We can provide on-site training if needed, but I'm reluctant to do this, preferring on-line training as you go, as it is not really necessary due to the simplicity of the package. Two 10 minutes sessions spent on the phone while on-line twice in a week is really enough to get going. Later a few more 10 minute conversations, and really you're an expert.
Sure there is lots, and lots, and lots under the hood. Should you want to go much further, you can. Though I'd suggest you thought of this, with your other busy job, as long term.
We've a stand alone application in which you can edit your site in an outline. The best most detailed and expanded blog API, to connect to any other open system, maybe a MIS at your school or your LEA. We're built on the open standards of RSS and OPML. With a development platform that's been used since 1999 by a vast array of developers there are many places you can play, if you're interested.
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Q10: Support
We do phone, email and text support. I far and away prefer to see you doing something here, see that you could do it this way, or that, better, and E-Mail or text you there and then.
And you can E-Mail or text me, and know you'll get instant aid to your help plea.
Our base content management system has been around since 1999, it's relatively bug free, and been used by hundreds of schools and colleges in the US. Therefore, tens of thousands of users.
The two main problems I have is that:
People think it must be harder to achieve the results, "It must be more complicated than that?".
Getting to understand what you're trying to do—it's a language thing.
This is push button publishing on the web for the ordinary person (or child).
I'd be more than happy to talk you through adding a picture, say to a news posting on the front page of the demo site. This can even be done via e-mail which is too easy to believe.
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Q11: How much control over content
Everything is editable!
As a managing editor, you'll be able to edit or delete anybody's messages, news items and stories. Content editors can do the same, but not so much control over the configuration. While contributing editors can only, well, contribute. Members can edit their own content at any time.
As for the front page, there are areas where you can edit, things that you can add, and if there's more areas that you want to add that you need to edit, you can add them, it's called an includeMessage macro and you merely pop it into your home page's template. OK, I'll do it first and talk you through it.
It's a nice little macro because you can put say an address, and use the macro everywhere in the site, and when you need to change the address, you merely need to change it in one place—that's content management for you.
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Q12: How much safety
Comments... This is probably worrying to you. Anybody could leave something nasty in a comment?
First, it's not directly on your front page. It can even be set to require Editor approval before being added, via the pending posts page of your site.
Secondly, we do check programmatically for swearing.
Thirdly, we monitor here. Anything that we can plainly see is nasty we delete, or edit. You get an email (you'll get lots of these from your site, sent to a list of people) telling you what's been added. You too, can edit or delete, or even ban or delete the member and all their comments, with just the one simple click.
Effectively, the openness means people are happy to contribute to the site, but anything nasty, isn't going to be there for too long. In my experience people are extremely well behaved. In my experience running these sorts of sites we have the controls and power to make sure all is good, clean and proper.
(If you'd want comments and other feedback loops switched off, perhaps initially, it's easily done.)
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Q13: How much web space
You can create as many pages, news items, messages in the discussion group, folders... Thumbnails, pictures, uploaded files (Word docs, PDFs, wav files...) as you like. There are no limits!
You can update as many times as you want, whenever, whereever. The more, the happier I am. I try and encourage my schools to break away from thinking about one webmaster doing all the work.
Spread the joy! To secretaries, the Head, any and all teachers. Parents, pupils, neighbours, the local bobby! Yes, we have membership controls. Three levels of editors.
There are many sections of the front page that are editable by you. If you want more (unlikely) I can add them and while doing so, show you how you can do this. Again, an on-line demo will ease your concerns here. I'd like to limit them, but sure we can change them to suit you. Best then, to leave them consistent, for the repeating visitor. And with a frequently changing front page, you will get people coming back each day, everyday. They'll be worried if you don't update ;-)
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Q14: Uploading of other files
It's easy to upload other files. Anything will go and can therefore be shared.
As above, there are no limits. Though, obviously, smaller files are easier to upstream and for users to download.
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Q15: Video
I don't have a method, as yet, for this. There's plenty of ways, but so far other clients have said they wanted it, but there's much too much going on elsewhere, I guess. I certainly want to do it too, for emailing mpg4s off my phone. I think I may just podcast them (oh, podcasting is inbuilt... We were the originators of RSS and podcasting!)
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Q16: Secure areas
We can create secure areas in sites. Though we think it us usually better to create a duplicate site and for that to run as an intranet.
Another intranet site would cost £40 (I can do bulk buying deals too, as you may consider several intranet sites), this site would be made as members only.
You add members (fill in a little form) it sends them an email with all the necessary. You can bulk add, for that initial start.
All the controls for running an effective intranet are there, including ways of setting the time out of the log in. As I said this stuff's been around since 1999. (Actually, it's been around since 1990, but you don't need a history lesson here.)
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Q17: Faults, errors and going bust
Sure I run back ups.
We back up every night, actually at 1am. However, we only keep daily back ups. If you over write something, if you don't ask us the very next day, it'll be gone.
What if we go bust? You're able to download your entire site, and move it to another supplier.
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Q18: Are we locked into a proprietary service?
Yes, your downloaded site can only be run in the Frontier/Manila environment. Once there, you can export to another blog format, there are some tools available.
No, there are many other Manila hosters around the world who will take your downloaded site. Some of my customisations will not however, be there. But in the main your site will run happily on their servers.
Indeed, you could buy Manila and host your site on your own machine. Further, you could become a competitor to us. This would be great. The more people running good sites, the more RSS feeds from multitude of news departments the more interest there would be in aggregating all that content.
The only lock in is one of excellent service.
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