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Hearts & Minds - Information for Change
Links Update Project |
Below are detailed
instructions on how you can help us help others.
Please read this carefully. It will save us a lot of time in the long run.
If you have questions, feel
free to ask. Your suggestions are always welcome.
1. Getting started.
First, choose a topic. Coordinate with the project
manager to make sure it's not already being done. To avoid confusion, only one person
works on any one issue at a time.
If you're working at Hearts & Minds, you'll work
directly with the file on our server. Please speak to the project manager.
If you're outside Hearts & Minds: With your browser, go
directly to the web page on our site. Once our web page is fully downloaded, save it on
your computer as a web page in a program like Netscape Communicator, MS FrontPage or
DreamWeaver so you can edit it as a web page.
If you don't have such programs, you can work in MS Word,
another word-processing program, or Notepad. When done, you'll send it to us as an
attached file or, if working on a Mac, you'll cut and paste it into an e-mail to us. In
any case, you do not need to include the narrow column on the right with links to other
parts of Hearts & Minds.
Save the file on your hard drive, if
this is not a problem for you. Otherwise, save it on a diskette. Use the current file name
or, for new topics, one that describes the topic you are working on such as foodlinks.htm
2. IMPORTANT: As you
work, keep adding the new information to your document. Save your work every 5
minutes or so in case your computer crashes.( Use existing file, do
not create new web page ). Microsoft
Office you can go into tools: autosave and set the time so it autosaves
frequently in case of a crash.
3. Every page should begin with links to all of the organizations on
that page and then some bullet points that provide the visitor with the advantages of
becoming a citizen activist in that specific topic. An example is at www.change.net/links/lobbylinks.htm. If you
are working on an
existing page that does not have this, you can create it.
4. Check the websites of organizations we already list.
If a link we have does not work, do a Google search
for the name of that organization. If you cannot get the link to work, try it again the
next day. Also, you can call the organization and ask them for the correct website
address.
We want to provide people
with easy contact information on the most helpful groups. Once you are at a group's
website, confirm its website and postal mailing address, phone number, main e-mail, etc.
To find this, start with its home page. Look for "Contact Us," "Who We
Are," etc. Its "Site Map," "Site Guide" or "Contents"
may also be good places to look for additional highlights of its website. Check to see
if you are being forwarded to another website.
Depending upon how big and useful a website is,
spend about 10-45 minutes with each organization. Note: You may not have
time to read everything, take enough time to get a good general idea of the
site for the review. We are looking for the best, most
helpful websites. New ones can be added. Ones we have that are confusing, out of date or
not very helpful can be deleted. For the ones we keep, your reviews can talk about which
ones you think are the very best sites.
5. Please use the following format
for each website you list.
Name: Helpful Organization
with full name and then initials in parenthesis if it also goes by
its
initials. Initials should not be bold type. The whole line is same size
as rest of type, and exact same blue as shown here)
Sometimes you can't find any other name besides their URL (website
address).
Address The address can be often found in the "contact
us" section of the website, including street & suite # (if any) on same line, next
line is city, state (or province), skip two spaces before postal code. Add the country if
outside the USA and not part of a one-country website, such as Italy in www.change.net/ital. Zip code should always be on
the same line as the state.
Phone add the number "1" before every area code, for example:
1- 212-280-0333 (if there are two main phone #s, place them both on one line with
"or" in between), then give Telecommunications Device for the
Deaf (TDD) and/or TYY, non-bold. Only
show "TDD/TYY:" when it is available.
Fax: 1-212-280-0336 (this is not bold and is on its own line, to avoid
confusion with the phone number)
Operating hours (If they are available, add the organization's hours on
the same line and following all phone number information. Specify what time zone they are
in (for example, EST = "Eastern Time"). Use three letter abbreviations
followed by a period for the days, don't worry about Daylight time (that gets too
complicated)
E-mail: We are especially interested in the main e-mail address
provided on its website. "E-mail" is always hyphenated.
Website address: www.change.net (no need for
http://) To eliminate chance of error, cut and paste from
the address line at the top of your browser when you're on that organization's home page,
then press space bar once and it will turn into a blue live link. Erase the
"http://" part of the address.
What it's about: Information about the organization can be found
in the "about us" section of the website. Paraphrase the most important 1-4 sentences
from the website's own
description in their words of what the organization and its website are about. It may be more than
four sentences if there is a compelling reason for it. Here are some additional
guidelines:
- Do not repeat name of organization. You can delete most mentions of its name or
"the
organization", since that's evident from the bold listing right above.
- Do some editing of what they say if there's
a shorter way to say it, but please do not change the overall meaning of what
they're saying.
- Complete sentences are not necessary, as long as it's clear
and reads nicely. You may delete the subject of the sentence as long as the sentence makes
sense without it. If it reads very smoothly in complete sentences, that is fine, too.
- Not necessary to list names of board members, founders,
editors or other staff, unless there is a good reason why that is noteworthy. Founding
date may be interesting, though.
- A shorter summary is better, as long as it includes the
necessary information. Our main goal is to help people decide which sites to visit. They
can check the finer details about an organization when they visit that site.
- If you believe a website promotes violence or
hatred delete the website.
- You don't need to use bullet points in the actual
description.
Always edit, paste special, to paste from websites. If not sure how
to do this ask project manager.
Your additional comments (in italics): In 1-4
sentences, your summary review of what you like about the site and what could be better.
The main focus is on how useful the site is, but it's also nice to include a short
critique of the design and navigation of the site. For example, "has an easy to use
search feature to find a wide range of information." You can use the same editing
guidelines above. You can also briefly describe what activities its volunteers do.
Don't skip a space between this and
the description. Follow with one space, one hyphen, no space and your
three initials. No need to repeat information that is obvious or in its own summary, above your review.
If other reviews are already there, do not delete
them, just add yours last. Feel free to refer to the other reviews in your
comments. Again you don't need to use the name of the organization, since it's
obviously part of that listing. Even if you do not have much to
say, always add additional comments, even if its simply "I agree"
with the ideas of this person."
Note: In Microsoft FrontPage: When adding
to a description, FrontPage double spaces when you hit the enter key. For single space,
hold shift and hit the enter key. |
Please follow
our format, including Phone: 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX,
TDD/TYY: 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX, Fax:, E-mail: and Website:
with colons, bold and italics as shown below. Please note that all of these
labels are in italics, but none of the actual contact info is. Also be aware
to use the space bar not the tab button.
All paragraphs are
indented 7 spaces. Each organization's description is in regular type and all the reviews
in italics. There are no blank lines within any organization's listing and only one blank
line between each two organizations. After every second organization listed, with one
blank line above and below (but not after the very last organization listed):
Please see our style sheet for more guidelines.
Top of Page
Note
that the listings are justified left and that the text just automatically wraps to
additional lines. Since different computers show the text as different sizes, DO NOT try
to set each individual line.
Hearts
& Minds (H&M)
3074 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
Phone: 1-212-280-0333, TDD/TYY: 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX (would be here if it was
available), Hours: 10 - 6 Tue. - Fri., 12 - 6 Sun.
Fax: 1-212-280-0336
E-mail: mail@heartsandminds.org
(include hyphen in e-mail)
Website: www.heartsandminds.org
What it says about itself, paraphrased, but be careful to keep its meaning:
Motivates people to become involved both in helping
themselves and others. Filled with information on how to effectively address
poverty, the environment, addictions, human rights and other important
issues.
Shows where and how to volunteer
effectively, and self-help resources for a wide range of psychological and physical
challenges. Also includes Inspiring Quotes, Food & Health, Art and Humor.
Plenty of useful information in this site. Site could
be improved to make it easier to find things. It is working on that. -BAB (your 3
initials)
It's
good to spend a little time looking through various Volunteering or Self-Help links pages on our site to get a
sense of how others have done this, but be aware that not all these web pages conform to
our latest criteria.
6. Organizations go in alphabetical order by
name. There is a separate web page for organizations that specialize in NYC. National
organizations with headquarters in NYC stay with other national groups.
7. Add your comments below previous
reviews. If there are two or more comments that are brief, put two letter spaces
between them and keep them on the same line.
(ex.) A very extensive website. - LEM I
agree. -PAF
More tips:
Make sure that your comments do
not repeat what is already stated in the organization's mission. It is OK to specify what
you agree with, though.
Your summary shouldn't be too
vague or too specific.
[If there is something that the
organization's website does not have, which one would assume it does (such as additional
information on the topic), mention what you feel is missing.
Make sure your web page follows Style Sheet for Our Website
8. If there is time after you have updated the organizations already
listed on our web page, surf the net for additional
websites for your issue. We are interested in the ones that best accomplish at least
some of the following:
- Summarizing the issue(s), educating and moving people to action
- Describing people and organizations that effectively tackle
challenges in our communities and society
- Providing an easy-to-use and useful website. For example, with
valuable and interesting services or volunteering activities that are readily accessible for
people in NYC, nationwide, and/or all over the world.
- Including insightful, thought-provoking ideas
- Listing valuable links to other websites
As long as they meet such criteria, it is OK to list sites that:
- Cover many other issues, as long as there's substantial relevant info
for the issue you're working on. If there is a specific section of the site for your
issue, you can describe and link directly to it, just mentioning briefly the overall work
of the organization.
- Have a "bias" (specific platform), as long as they clearly
advocate non-violence.
- Are written/created by individuals, if they seem to be honest,
clear, and knowledgeable (such as a professor).
Should be only organizations that have a lot on your topic. Some
organization go better with another issue we cover. However if they have
something quite valuable on your topic , even if they also go with a
different issue you can consider listing them.
However, do not include commercial websites - those
that advertise a service or product - unless the product seems very helpful
or there is very substantial useful info that does not require buying their product.
You may come across good organizations that do not necessarily fit
in with the particular issue you're working on. For example, while researching links for
Arab-Israeli peace, we came across organizations that addressed anti-Arab racism in the
United States. Those were added to the racism web page.
Keep all these "other issue" groups at the bottom of your
file, sorted by category, for us to consider adding to our other web pages. But try not to
get caught up in unrelated organizations since these should be covered by the volunteers
working on other links pages.
9.
Bookmark links at top are regular 12 point type, not
bold, justified vertically to the top of the two column table. A link to
more links in our site may be at the end, in the table, lower right corner,
one blank line under the last bullet point.
10. This top of page
link is centered under every second listing except the last one. It has one
blank line above and below it.
Top of the Page
11. Edit or create a summary of what this web page is about for the
top of the web page, above the bookmark links to each organization.
12. When you are done:
At our office: Save the file, then ask the project manager
to show you the checklist of additional formatting steps, which can be found in Word
Perfect. If you are working on a project at home, we can e-mail you the checklist. An
editor will also work with you for a final edit before we upload it to www.change.net. Add your name as the most recent update contributor,
keep the previous contributors and make sure everyone has their initials given in
parentheses:
13. How to find the file you're working on:
Go online, find the file you signed up to work on heartsandminds.org or change.net is the equivalent of W: on our
computer
http://www.change.net/self/links/cults.htm is in the W: drive, self folder,
links folder within that folder and the file name is the same as shown,
cults.htm
14. If you can no longer get to one of the websites we list, try it
again on another day. Do a search for the name of that organization in
google.com. If neither method works, we'll consider that organization- is out of
business.
15. In general, we don't list commercial websites. There are some
exceptions, talk to the project manager for additional guidance.
16. In general we only list organizations that work citywide in NYC, but
those are placed in a different area on the web page or even on their own web
page. Ask the project manager what to do. If it has a local chapter in NYC or
even its headquarters is in NYC, but it works nationwide, it's still listed
with the nationwide organization.
17.We also list organizations that work nationwide in the USA or worldwide
but are of obvious interest to people from the USA. There are exceptions
to this rule but even if its commercial or only works in a local area
somewhere other than NYC, if it has a lot of very helpful info on the
issue, you can consider adding it.
18. Make sure organizations are in alphabetical order.
19. Place a link for bookmarks as well as in
alphabetical order.
20. Make sure bookmarks have existing links not dead
links.
Outside our office: Save on your hard drive or diskette and
also e-mail to us at links@change.net - and send a
copy to yourself - in
the e-mail text field and as an attached file.
Thanks for your help. If there
is any way we can improve your volunteer experience, please let us know.
Also let us
know if you would like to start any new projects.
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Most recent update by Minitha John
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and entire website © Copyright
1997 - 2007 by Hearts and Minds Network, Inc.
http://www.heartsandminds.org/howto/newlinks.htm
- latest text changes July 26, 2007 |
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