Reston Runners Web Site Standards and Guidelines
Revised 8 August 2005
The purpose of the Reston Runners' website is to provide a readily available information and communications resource for its members and the community at large.
The site has grown extensively over the past five years and is now rich in subject matter and technical complexity. This document establishes the editorial policy and technical standards necessary to maintain a professional club image and to minimize the technical work required to maintain the site's working code.
The site is not professionally designed or maintained. Every aspect of the website has been designed and prepared by Club members who volunteered their time and skill.
The Club encourages all of its members to contribute to the maintenance of the website. Help is always needed with written composition and photograph preparation and posting. Members skilled with, or who would like to learn, HTML/CSS and script language coding are also needed. This document is intended to provide guidelines for volunteers as they prepare material for website use in the future.
- No use of tasteless humor (humor that is based on gender, race, cultural values, politics, sex, or other topics likely to offend Web browsers-and not just our membership!)
- No criticizing of other persons, cultures, or organizations
- No discussion of politics or religion
- No solicitation by runners raising money for causes
- The Club encourages its members to share their experiences, observations, and insights on running, walking, and the human condition.
- To accommodate this, several well marked areas of the web site have been created, including the RR forums (soon to be restored) and the weekly guest-authored "Stats and Chats" column.
- The Club hopes these submissions by individuals will inform, entertain, amuse, and occasionally provoke our membership. The right of reply is a given.
- Responsibility for the content of such submissions rests solely with the identified author.
- All authors are expected to refrain from scurrilous comments, ad hominem attacks, or mean spirited remarks of any kind. Violators of this standard will be denied posting privileges.
- Personal e-mail addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, or places of employment will not be posted on the RR Web site unless germane to a RR event and only then with permission (written or e-mail) of the individual and approval of the Webmaster.
- The webmaster will provide a Reston Runners email address [xxxx@restonrunners.org] for all Club officers, program coordinators, and others conducting Club business so that personal e-mail addresses need not be used.
- The Forums contain two very secure, convenient email systems for email communications among and between Forums members.
- No links that offer additional links to unsavory sites (e.g., those with pornographic or violent content)
- Links to commercial sites should be avoided and used only with the webmaster's permission. Weather forecasts are a special case
- Links to RR sponsors and to Running Event sites are OK
- Links to commercial photo-displaying sites should be avoided and will require the webmaster's approval
Photos should be only of RR events or events promoted by RRs
- Photos of RRs at play elsewhere (e.g., skiing or hiking) are acceptable in a folder clearly describing their social context (so viewers are aware).
- Priority is always to be given to RR event images
- Coding: Consistent with W3C standards and HTML 4.01 Transitional coding
- The use of JAVA scripts, that may affect cross-platform/browser readability, should be avoided and only used with the webmaster's permission
- Editing tools: The more basic, the better; Microsoft's FrontPage is being phased out of our Web site and should be avoided in the future.
- Site formatting should rely on cascading style sheets (CSS). All new pages will use CSS for control of format. Old pages will be revised as time permits.
- Use of the PHP scripting language (already introduced to our site) will be extended and encouraged for all new additions to the site.
- All HTML, css and php code pages must have a creation or revision date as a comment near the beginning of the code. [e.g., Rev 20 Mar 03]
- All new and modified HTML and PHP pages must be validated using the W3C Validator: http://validator.w3c.org/ . Pages shall not contain structural errors; minor errors [e.g., MS' apostrophes] can be ignored.
- All new and modified CSS must be validated using the W3C Validator. http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ . All style sheets (CSS) must be error-free.
- Links on all new and modified HTML and PHP pages must be W3C validated. http://validator.w3.org/checklink . There shall be no broken links.
- All new HTML and PHP pages must use the HTML base declaration to insure future transportability.
- Individuals who have (or are willing to acquire) familiarity with FTP file transfer operations and basic HTML editing and who have a need to maintain a portion of the site independent of (or as backup to) the Webmaster will be given FTP access to the site by the Webmaster.
- Access privileges will be withdrawn immediately after the need disappears or the vested individual leaves a RR management responsibility. Open but unused accounts will not exist.
- File access within the site (e.g., to use the PHPlist "eNews" system) will be given to those needing it, with the permission of the President or designated member of the RR Board
- For security reasons, account names and passwords are not to be shared; new accounts will be set up within minutes for those needing them.
- Newsletter sponsors' logos and links to their Web sites will appear in the body of the applicable newsletter edition and on a page of "Sponsor Links" which will be updated on a quarterly basis.
- Web site links may be kept in place for up to one year for any one quarter's sponsorship of an ad in our newsletter.
- Announcements for local races will be posted on our local races page
- Announcements for out-of-town races will be posted only if there is known interest within the Club; members may request the posting of a race announcement.