This post is a work in progress.  It has been published early for the benefit of those who wish to use it.  Stay tuned for updates.

Google has introduced a powerful set of free services which allow an organization such as a Rotary Club to create a powerful suite of electronic services to serve the club and communicate with the public.

Combined with an Internet domain like www.mainvillerotary.org (easy and very inexpensive to obtain) these tools allow a club, without requiring any web programming skills, to;

  • Create a club website.
  • Establish email accounts like sue.smith@mainvillerotary.org or lobsterfestival@mainvillrotary.org - up to 200 accounts.
  • Create an online calendar (you can give all your club officers and committee chairs access to create and edit events.)
  • Create online documents like spreadsheets, presentations and word processor documents. You can make these public or restrict them to club members. You can set permissions for certain people to edit them.

Powerful, free, and you don’t have to have any programming skills at all. It’s all done through a web browser.

Here’s a step by step look at how to get this set up quickly.

First, obtain an Internet domain

The first step is to decide what you want as a domain name. The key is to pick something as short and easy as possible, yet instantly recognizable. www.rcsn.ca is nice and short, but it is hard to recognize that is is for the Rotary Club of South Nepean. www.rotarynepean.ca worked much better for my club.

Many domain registrars are available, and many will offer very low prices, often requiring that you purchase a webhosting account as well. My practice is to register my domains with a registrar that does not offer webhosting. I’ve used www.easydns.com for about 7 years without problems, and feel comfortable recommending them. They charge just over $20-$25 per year for a domain name registration. I recommend a .ca domain for Canadian clubs, .org for American clubs.

Beware the name trap

Some organizations have fallen into a trap registering domains. Down the road, they find that the web host that registered their domain for them actually owns the domain, or is reluctant to release it. (District 7040 once lost a domain name in this way.) This can cause serious problems when the domain name ends up in the hands of someone who places advertising on it, which might not be suitable to a Rotary Club.

When registering a domain name I follow the practice of registering in one place and hosting in another place. This way the company that hosts my websites have no control over my domains. At the very least, get it IN WRITING, from the web host that you and not the host own and control the Internet domain name before you invest the time to create your website.

Want to check your present domain? Visit www.easywhois.com and check. The registrant should be your club, or you in the case of a personal domain. Your web hosting company may be listed as the administrative or technical contact. Print that page and file it away in a safe place as prove that on this date that was the status of the registration. This can be important if a dispute ever arises.

Set up your Web Hosting

This section assumes two things: 1) you have an Internet domain registered, and 2) that your web hosting company is www.dreamhost.com. If you have a different hosting company contact them to see if they support Google Apps for Domains. If you do not yet have a web hosting company, and wish to sign up with dreamhost.com, you can take advantage of a $97 sign-up incentive that will see the first $50 taken off your bill and the other $47 donated to the Rotary Foundation. Visit https://signup.dreamhost.com/ and enter promo code SCAIFEROTARY. All of this incentive goes to Rotary, through the $50 discount (the maximum allowed) on your hosting bill and a $47 donation I will make to the Rotary Foundation on top of my regular annual donation. I will receive no personal benefit.

Set up Google Apps for Domains

This section assumes two things: 1) you have an Internet domain registered, and b) that your web hosting company is www.dreamhost.com. If you have a different hosting company contact them to see if they support Google Apps for Domains. If so, the instructions should be similar. Otherwise, visit http://www.google.com/apps/.

First, let’s get registered with Google Apps.

  1. Go to the Dreamhost Manage Domains page in your Dreamhost control panel.
  2. Click Add new Domain / Sub-Domain.
  3. Scroll down to the Google Hosted section of the page.
  4. Create your domain in the space provided and click Google Host this domain now!.
  5. Click the supplied link to register at Google Apps for your Domain.
  6. Create the Administrator’s account. It is important to create a generic administrator’s account like ‘Admin’ and ensure that the password is not lost.
  7. Click I accept Continue with set up after reviewing the terms and conditions.
  8. Now you are at the Google Apps dashboard for your club. From here you can create email accounts, web pages for your club, an online club calendar, online documents like spreadsheets and presentations, etc.

So now you’re registered with Google Apps, and it’s time to create your services.