Before we get to the fundamentals of a successful site for the politician, it is important to note a basic requirement for the successful politician: BROADBAND. If you don't have it, get it and don't look back. It is the ripe old year of 2005, it is cheap and it is highly available. You cannot be a successful politician, or professional for that matter, at 56K. You simply don't have the time and your opponent will crush you while you're waiting up to, as in this page's case, 30 seconds for each click. And, if your opponent is the stubborn type you can benefit from more calls, more door-to-door visits etcetera while HE or SHE is waiting. Each 56K click could be one more phone call.
Now, to the fundamentals of a successful site for the politician. We've reduced the magic potion to just two simple concepts that should resonate throughout every step you take along the production of your site. First, you must make every effort for your site to be easily assessable. Once this goal is achieved then make sure your site has 'compelling' content. Adherence to these two cardinal rules is paramount to creating a web presence that can capitalize on the synergies between a politicians need to communicate with the public and the Internet’s unparalleled ability to achieve that goal with comparative ease and minimal investment.
It should go without saying that as you progress along this path you WRITE DOWN ALL YOUR USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS in an easily accessible and cohesive manner - preferably not in electronic form nor on a post-it in a public place. Passwords should be eight or more characters, with a mix of numbers, symbols and caps and non-caps alphabetical characters.
Step 1 - The domain nameOnce you leap this hurtle you are on your way. Make sure to have your credit card ready and head to your favorite domain name registry. There are many domain name registries out there to choose from. After going though several ourselves, we've found a pretty comfortable spot with godaddy.com [just get their domain names for ~$8 and deny all the add-ons they try to sell you - we specifically do NOT reccomend godaddy hosting or web sites]. They have an excellent price/performance ratio [for domain registration], however there are many other fine registries out there whom may be better or you would prefer.
Registering a domain name can be a bit daunting when you are presented with all the options. At godaddy.com, .com domains go for about ~$8 and other dot-whatevers range anywhere from ~$2 on up. A good rule of thumb here is to stick with a .com unless you cannot get the exact domain name you are looking for. And, since this is with an eye toward politicians, you probably can't go wrong with a domain that is simply your name. However, being honest with yourself, if you have some name that folks are most likely going to spell wrong when they go to type the sucker in to their browser or search engine, then find something catchy with part of your name and maybe the position you currently have or are running for. The goal here is most easily accomplished keeping in mind the first rule of a successful site, “accessibility”.
Also domain names are cheap so get several, you will be amazed at the utility they may have later on. And, ultimately all those domains can point to the same web site if you wish.
Step 2 - The web hostA host simply provides the space to store your web pages on and a means to get those pages in that space [usually via FTP]. Most also come with some sort of email server functionality. From there the options are nearly limitless. Most importantly, a "host" will not create your pages for you unless you hire them to do so [you would be hiring them to then also play the role of the "developer" in this case]. That service is a whole different ball game and $$ is pretty much the determination of everything in that arena.
But for simply a host with a big bang for the buck, I would take a look at www.bluehost.com [4] . We have never used them and cannot say anything about them other than they to our attention while looking for CMS [content management system] hosts. They have a cheap and “robust” offer. As for their "availability" and specifically their "reliability", we would guess both would have to suffer at the $7/month price they advertise. But for a beginner site that is non-mission-critical [and perhaps most significantly allow you to install a CMS like PostNuke [5] - the CMS that runs this site - in one click]. There are probably better options though and the following will help guide you in your search.
The magic that makes bluehost.com so convenient is a technology called “Fantastico De Lux [6]” and for the beginner, and perhaps even the experienced, I would nearly insist that you seek a host which has this technology/software package installed on their server. For the most part “Fantastico” should remain an invisible but highly effective “partner” in your site’s development. Not all hosts will have all the various modules this software comes with installed. So, shop around [simply Goggling “fantastico host” returns many results] and find one that gives you the best bang for your $. Unless you know exactly what your after, find one that has more “blog” and “CMS” options, this will give you the opportunity to experience the different options in their arena and you may also discover later that one “blog” or CMS” option is the one for you and it sure would be nice if that one was one of your options. The final word on Fantastico is that it also provides a basic litmus test for hosts that generally have their “backend” together and offer all the various technologies you may later want or need.
However, it is with our strong suggestion that, while the beginner $7/month "shared hosting" package may fit the immediate bill, you should actually put up a bit more per month for a "VPS" [Virtual Private Server] package. Entry level packages for this type of plan begin roughly at $20/month and under most all circumstances, will fulfill your needs a-plenty. Without going into all the gory technical details between a "shared host" and a "VPS" let it just be said that this type of plan will give you added security, reliability and availability that is well worth paying for. If your site is anything more than just a toy, then it deserves being on a VPS [or perhaps your own server if you are a tech guru and not a politician]. A quick link from the Fantastico De Lux [7] site took me to BurstNet's VPS offerings [8] where you can order their entry level VPS for ~$20 and add on Fantastico for $3 extra/month - a minimal investment in your profession. Again, we cannot speak to BurstNet's service, but we offer the example as a demonstration of ways of discovering hosts an as an approximate of what you should look for.
And lastly on hosts, CALL THEM, speak with them and ensure your "VPS" or "shared host" will be on a server near you [like within the USA]. The closer to you the better and you may be able to pick a local closest to you. Also, any advertised "start-up" fee can most usually be waved, so ask and you shouldn't be paying for anything more than 3 months in advance and preferably in the beginning with a new host, until you are happy with that host, your package should be on a month-to-month contract. Also, [as is true with every host we've ever encountered] their sales is going to be better than their support, so if their sales sucks then...
Avoid having a cheap host also do the "development" if you choose for an outside developer - Fantastico will give you most of the tools to do it better than most professional developers can or will. But if you choose to wash you hands of it, most "developers" have hosts they typically work with.
Step 3 - The web page/siteTo go it your own or suffer the slings and arrows of an expensive and generally unreliable developer?...that is the question. And our answer is actually a hybrid of the two. Simply put, hire a developer to sit behind you and teach you how to do the basic administration of your site. It will end up being MUCH cheaper in the long run and you won’t end up hostage to their, most usually, eccentric whims.
The first thing you are going to need to do is tell your domain registrar what your new DNS [Domain Name Server] servers are for the domain(s) you are using for this project. You new host will most likely tell you what these new DNS servers are. Usually there will be a pair of them and they will be something like "NS1.yourhostsdomain & NS2.yourhostsdomain" - sometimes they are also called just "name servers". If you already have a hosted domain then the best time to do this is at the end of the business day on Friday - it can take upwards of 2 or 3 days for your new domain to propagate to all the other DNS servers throughout the Internet. The question I nearly always get from people just getting started on the Web is "What is 'DNS'?" And my usual answer is something like this: think of you IP and DNS server as your telephone number and phone book respectively. Now, whenever you request a Web page in your browser you are actually requesting an IP, just like when someone calls 'you' they are actually calling a telephone number. Since, your browser doesn't just have every IP address for every corresponding domain name built in, it uses a remote 'phone book' or DNS server to do its name-to-number matching. The easiest way to think about it is, is that your IP is your 'Internet phone number' and your DNS server is the 'phone book' that tells everyone [or everybrowser] which number to call for 'you'.
Next are your email addresses. Your hosting provider will have specific instructions on how to accomplish this with their particular setup. On a more general note however, make sure to disable any "catch-all" settings but then absolutely remember to create a(n) "postmaster@yourdomain" and "abuse@yourdomain" address [these can just be forwarded to whichever email you set up at your primary address] so you can avoid ~90% of spam while still complying with RFC standards and avoiding placement on any email "blacklists". Also, very important is to make sure your SMTP server requires "authentication" from any IP address other than 127.0.0.1 or "localhost" for the same reasons as above. This will keep the spammers from using your outgoing email server as their own. It's also good to set up a webmaster@ and a admin@ email address for each domain.
Now you are ready to install your CMS [Content Management System] of choice. There are really too many choices in this consideration to offer one simple suggestion. However, currently there a about five CMSs about there that are preferred for different uses and utility. In no particular order they are: PostNuke [9], Mambo [10], Drupal [11], Movable Type [12], Plone [13]. A good resource for learning about CMSs and comparing their capabilities is CMS Matrix [14]. Each system has its set of core benefits but in general you should make sure the one you select is, for ease of use to those just getting started, installable with Fantastico. If you are more advanced and looking for something, not installable with Fantastico, allowing you to pour countless hours of your life into just getting the thing running, then it probably goes without saying that one of the most beneficial characteristics of a CMS is a large and active "community" - basically that it is popular. If you are the odd ball reading this who subscribes to the later then Plone [15] should meet your bill. As for the other four, and with the audience this article is targeted to in mind, Drupal [16] or Movable Type [17] will most likely be your best picks. Movable Type [18] is more, as advertised, "elegant", but this is at the cost of features and utility. Drupal [19], on, the other hand, is one of the more feature rich CMSs but at the cost of ease of use. Going with Drupal [20], despite its steeper learning curve, would probably pay off though in the long run as many of its 'features' and/or add-on modules are especially relevant and/or specifically designed with the political world in mind.
Whichever you choose though, you will first need to install a database prior to installing your CMS. The one to install here is MySQL [21]. However you set up MySQL [22], just ensure you install your main MySQL [23] database with the user as "root" and absolutely some password of your choice and [unless you know what your are doing] absolutely "bind" the server and users to "localhost" or "127.0.0.1". Then create a separate database for your CMS install with a different user other than "root" and a different password other than the one used for root. This will prevent "the bad guys" from most of their database chicanery.
Step 4 - Marketing your siteThis section we'll keep short for now other than to say once your site is complete with all the appropriate meta-tags including keywords and descriptions, use and search engine submit tool that may have come with your hosting package to submit your new site to the major search engines [Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.]. Do stay tuned for Part II of this series which will cover this topic in depth.
And lastly good luck in your venture! If you have any questions or comments, click on "Comments? - must be registered - and we'll attempt to respond with something useful...
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