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Getting Your Magazine Online:
It's Easier than You (Might) Think

In September 1996, Bob Chodos (editor of Compass, A Jesuit Journal) and I presented a workshop at the Catholic Press Association Regional Convention in Toronto, based on our experience of putting up the Compass website. The focus of the session was on making a website a possibility for small, non-profit publications.
The notes which follow grew out of that presentation. In the interests of helping other publications find their way onto the WWW, I'm posting this material here, with links to examples from the Compass site and some resources which I've found useful in publishing in this new medium. Neither the examples nor the links are anywhere near comprehensive; there are already so many publications and resources on the Web that no one site can list them all. But they will give you some useful starting points for building a website that emphasizes content rather than flashy technology (not that I'm completely opposed to the wonders of the technology, but...; if you're interested in my web-design biases, see How to Design a Website...), and to do so without incurring the national debt.
Feel free to make use of this information. I've made it as accurate as I can, but the online universe is changing so fast, some of it will be outdated before I can get it posted. I will update it as quickly as I can. The opinions expressed are mine. If you'd like to add to, or argue with, my points, write me at gail@gvanv.com. If I get enough response, I'll add a discussion page to this section. If it helps you get your publication online, I'd love to hear.
Gail van Varseveld
Fall 1997
 

Management & Editorial Decisions

 Why do you want to be on the World Wide Web?
What content will you provide on your website?
When will you put up your site and when/how will you update?
Who will do the work?
 

The "Technical" Aspects

 Getting Started
Site Organization
Page Design
Site Promotion
Site Maintenance & Further Development
Management & Editorial Decisions
1. Why do you want to be on the WWW? (This will help determine what to put on your site.) Do you want to:
small slug advertise your publication in another medium (another form of print or RTV advertising)?
small slug increase exposure for your publication (the equivalent of handing out sample copies)?
small slug take subscription or single copy orders (ordering information or full online ordering)?
small slug sell ancillary products (books, tapes, etc.)?
2. What content do you want to provide?
small slug sample content (selected articles) or full issues?
small slug current (i.e., on the stands now) issue or back issues or both?
small slug all your print content or some (time-relevant or timeless)?
small slug additional (online only) content? If so, what?
3. Timing & staging decisions
small slug What are the most critical items in terms of your website goals? These should go up first.
small slug Is there a particular event or date which will assist you in promoting your publication and/or website? This could provide the target calendar date for posting/advertising.
small slug How/when will the site be updated? What material will be added/changed when?
For example, with Compass, the priority goals were increasing exposure and getting orders, and the content decision was to include sample material from the current issue with the full issue going up only when it was a back number.
So we began with our base pages:
small slug the homepage
small slug an overview of who and what we'd published in past
small slug an "about" page covering awards won, masthead information, etc.
small slug a contact page with mail-to links
small slug the all-important ordering information, also using mail-to links rather than take the time to set up forms (which we still haven't done)
For content, since we wanted to give people a real taste of the substance of the magazine, we posted:
small slug selected items from the current issue (contents page, leader, a theme article and a regular feature)
small slug the full content of the preceding issue
small slug contents pages for the preceding 4 years (all we had in digital form)
small slug a complete backlist, with a brief description of each issue (as these are posted, they will be linked to the backlist
4. Who's going to do it?
There are thousands of website developers, both individuals and companies, many of whom would be happy to do the work of developing your website - for a fee. If your publication is in the fortunate position of being able to pay for this work, my recommendation is that you shop around, not just for price, but for design capability.

Many people have come to web development from computer-related backgrounds; they are superb at the bells and whistles, and know all the latest programming techniques. But if you mention "kerning" or "pull-quotes" or "leading", they may not know what you're talking about. There are people who have come to web development from graphics design and/or typesetting/desktop publishing backgrounds (not to indulge in shameless self-promotion) who will not only know what you're talking about, they'll be aware of page design issues which, as discussed below, are quite different from those in older media. My advice: look at the websites developed by anyone you're considering hiring. You will be able to tell which developers are most suitable for you.

If, however, your publication is, like many, not able to afford outside help, the notes in the following section will provide some assistance for you or your staff in doing your own website development.


Continue to Part 2, The "Technical" Aspects

Comments and suggestions to Gail van Varseveld


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© 1997 Gail van Varseveld