Prestatyn, Rhyl & District U3A Website Standardisation
CONTENTS
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Interest Group Names .......................................................................................................................... 1
Links..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Email Contacts ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Events ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction
Because of restrictions in the U3A Site Builder, it is necessary to adopt some standard conventions
when creating email contacts, etc, to ensure that they can be used without confusion. It is possible
that the Site Builder will up upgraded at some point to render some of these conventions
unnecessary, but it is unlikely that they will then fail to work.
In addition to the above, it is desirable to adopt some further conventions to give a degree of
uniformity to the website, eg, so that potential users access the same kinds of information in the
same way on every Interest Group page, without stifling individual creativity. The salient features
are summarised as bullet points after each section.
Interest Group Names
Interest Group names must be unique across the website. Whilst it is possible to include some
special characters (eg, £,$,*, etc) in names, several of these have rather strange effects when
creating webpages and should be avoided - unfortunately, the potentially useful characters (&’+)
happen to cause problems. Preferably use ([-/,]) and definitely avoid +#&\’|<>.
Names for unrelated groups should be sufficiently different to avoid possible confusion. Where a
group has (or may have in the future) obvious, related branches, eg, language groups may have
‘Beginners’ & ‘Advanced’, the branches should be named consistently and with the main name first
so that they appear together in the Group List, eg, French Beginners & French Advanced not
Beginners French & Advanced French. Alternatively, a single Interest Group might be created
having subpages for each of the branches. Note, however, that only the principal page is listed in
the Groups List (and there is provision for only one timetable on the main ‘Groups’ page), and the
list of all groups is not displayed at the bottom of subpages. Editors for a group will be able to edit
all subpages in that group.
Subpages are useful when the principal page is becoming long or there is a self-contained subject
area to address. Interest Group (and Main) pages may have unlimited numbers of subpages, but
subpages cannot have further sub-subpages. Subpage names are also links and should follow the
general rules for links including having a letter code in square brackets (see “Links”). Note that
there is no automatic provision to link between subpages, or back to the main page. It is good
practice, therefore, to include links on each subpage to navigate between related subpages and back
to the parent page, either by in-line links (simply using the (sub)page name), say, in headings at the
top of the page, or by creating new links attached to each subpage (very laborious!) which would
then appear in the sidebar.
PRAD U3A Website Standardisation
V1.0 March 2016
 Interest Group names must be unique across the website
 Interest Group names should be restriced to upper and lower case letters, numbers, space and the
characters between the arrows ►([-/,])◄
 Groups with obvious branches should have the main name first
 Groups with obvious branches might consider using subpages for the branches
 Subpage names that may be used in-line must be unique across all pages of an Interest Group
and have either the two-letter Interest Group code appended in square brackets or include the full
Interest Group name (or the equivalent for Main pages)
 Subpages should have links between related subpages and back to the main page
Links
Link names should adhere to the character set conventions for Interest Group names. Links (other
than pictures, which are always associated with only one page) should be attached to the
group/main page or subpage to which they are most relevant so that they will appear in the sidebar
(though this can be suppressed), and must be unique on that page. However, links that are
referenced in-line with the text will not work reliably, even on the original attachment page, unless
they are unique across the whole website. Bear in mind that Interest Group/Main and subpage
names are also links, so link names must not, for example, be a subset of a (sub)page name.
Since Interest Group editors cannot know what link names have been (or could be) used in other
groups, but are all likely to want to use similar terms like ‘Leader’ or ‘Map’ in link names, it is
necessary to add an extra element to all link names that might be used in-line to make them unique.
Each Interest Group has a unique two-letter code that should be appended to the link name (in
square brackets) for links defined on that group’s page(s) - the codes can be found on the Group
Editors Help page, eg, “Venue Map [AA]”; alternatively, include the full group name, eg, “Art
Appreciation Venue Map”. Links attached to Main pages should use the one-letter code or the full
page name unless there is no likelihood of duplication (even adding empty brackets [ ] or, say, *
could be helpful).
It is the responsibility of the group page editor(s) to make sure that link names are unique within
that group’s page(s). It is the responsibility of the site editor/administrator(s) to ensure that links
across the Main pages are unique.
 Links should be attached to the most relevant page or subpage
 Link names should be restriced to upper and lower case letters, numbers, space and the
characters between the arrows ►([-/,])◄
 Links that will only be used in the sidebar of the attachment page must be unique on that page
 Links that may be used in-line (ie, most links) must be unique across all pages of an Interest
Group and have either the two-letter Interest Group code appended in square brackets or include
the full Interest Group name (or the equivalent for Main pages)
Email Contacts
Email contacts must follow the rules for general links, specifically, by being attached to the
appropriate page. For personal security, email addresses (and telephone numbers & home
addresses) should not appear in plain text on web pages unless their owner has weighed the risks
and given approval. The strongly preferred method is not to show phone numbers at all (they can be
given out when an email is replied to), and for email addresses to use the standard contact link
format and not be in-line only, ie, to operate via the blue carrier pigeon icon. If the contact might be
used in-line, even on the attachment page, the link text must include the two-letter Interest Group
code or include the full Interest Group name (or the equivalent for Main pages).
Interest Group Webpage Guide
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V1.0 Feb 2016
The main ‘CONTACT’ page should be reserved for general contacts, eg, Committee members and
group contacts should be via the appropriate group page.
Since the Site Builder has no provision for additional text on the contact form for groups, users
should be reminded (in the main page text) to use the blue carrier pigeon icon and to take care over
entering their email address.
 Email addresses and phone numbers should not appear in plain text, ie, only use the contact form
 Link text should be restriced to upper and lower case letters, numbers, space and the characters
between the arrows ►([-/,])◄
 Contacts that will only be used in the sidebar of the attachment page must be unique on that page
 Contacts that may be used in-line (ie, most contacts), must be unique across all pages of an
Interest Group and have either the two-letter Interest Group code appended in square brackets or
include the full Interest Group name (or the equivalent for Main pages)
 Contacts should use the standard form (not ‘mail to:’)
 Users should be reminded to enter contact details carefully
Events
Events should normally use the built-in events facility (which removes the display automatically
after the event) rather than in-line text unless, for example, it is desirable to have recently past
events also listed - in which case it is important to keep up with the housekeeping!
If the option for Interest Group events to be included on the main ‘EVENTS’ page is enabled, it is
highly desirable to standardise the layout of events so that the list is easier to read. This is less
important if this feature is not enabled (since a group’s events will then only appear on its own
page), but worth doing in case the feature is re-enabled.
To this end, it is suggested that events should have a plain text general description first, and that the
details (eg, times, venue, ticket options, etc) should be included in tabular form so that the
categories stand out and problems with text wrapping are avoided. For example,
Venue:
Map:
info/link
link to map
Date:
Time:
info
info
Cost:
Tickets:
info
how to obtain/link
Naturally, the headings in the table may need to vary according to the event. The aim should be to
reduce the total number of rows by having as many columns as is consistent with logical grouping.
Although the date will automatically be listed with each event, it is probably worthwhile to repeat it
in the table with the time information. Note that the automatic event facility now has the option for
events lasting up to 21 days.
Interest Group Webpage Guide
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V1.0 Feb 2016