TECH TALK
with John Barton , District ICT chair
Going … going … GONE !
The old Rotary South Pacific websites are no longer with us . During the next few weeks and months our new club websites will start coming up in Google searches , and we need to make the most of the exposure .
Until now , the old websites were dominating Google searches , and people were being taken to these out-ofdate sites .
From now on , however , when someone clicks a link to an old Rotary website address they ’ ll be taken to the Rotary Zone 7B website ( http :// www . rotaryoceania . zone ) and a directory linking to every Rotary club in New Zealand .
The old websites have served Rotary in our country well for 20-odd years , but they couldn ’ t present the public image we need , and had reached the end of their useful life .
What ’ s in a name ?
Why not personalise your club ’ s website address ? ClubRunner websites come out of the box with an address like portal . clubrunner . ca / 13201 , which isn ’ t really the most user-friendly name .
But clubs can buy a name / website address ( technically called a “ domain name ”), such as www . palmerstonrotary . club , for a modest annual fee of somewhere between $ 10 and $ 30 .
A user-friendly address will be more important now that Google will be displaying our new website names : do you want to be listed as “ portal . clubrunner . ca / 22143 ” or www . tarras-rotary . club ?
If you ’ d like to get a domain name for your club , you can place an order by clicking this link . No need to pay now – you ’ ll be billed the fee by Rotary NZ Project Support in due course . The domain name will take three or four days to become active , and you ’ ll get an email telling you when it ’ s all go . No technical stuff for you to do – we ’ ll do all that for you . A great investment for under $ 30 a year .
Check out the new District 9980 website
Our new District 9980 website ( www . rotarydistrict9980 . org ) is brimming with useful and interesting stuff for Rotarians and clubs , as well as for members of the public .
Most of the site can be viewed by anyone , but a section is for Rotarians only . To get to the member-only area , log in with the same password you use for your club website . ( Don ’ t know your user name and password ? Not sure how to log in ? Click here to download a how-to guide .) Take a look at :
• Rotary youth programmes
• The latest district news
• The district events calendar For the Rotarians-only information click here ( you ’ ll have to log in ), and have a look around .
Once you ’ ve sampled these tasters , visit www . rotarydistrict9980 . org and do a little exploring .
Membership records
One of the GREAT features of ClubRunner websites is that when you enter or update member records on your club website or the district website , the records are automatically updated and synchronised between :
National MEMBERSHIP Seminar Wellington - 18 March , 2017
For more details , email Deb Gimblett - deb . gimblett @ gmail . com
Page 10 | In Gear - Rotary in southern New Zealand - District 9980 | www . rotarydistrict9980 . org