what makes a winning site

[amirjpl]

i just want to know what really makes a winning site. what features, and services deos a website need, and what do the judges really look for when they are judging. what is the key. lets all start a list of features a winning site could and should have and leave a link to your team's site.

[dk5sm5luigi]

Originally Posted by amirjpl

i just want to know what really makes a winning site. what features, and services deos a website need, and what do the judges really look for when they are judging. what is the key. lets all start a list of features a winning site could and should have and leave a link to your team's site.

To me the purpose of the website award to give the teams a reason to have a functioning and useful website and get credit for their work. Most importantly your website needs to be useful to your team. If you find your team members going to the site on a regular basis to get meeting information, a calendar of events, and news then you are on your way to a successful website. Your website should also explain who your team is and what you do. It is also important to recognize your sponsors and provide a way for those who want to sponsor you a way to find out more information. After this it should be easy to add a few things here and there to make it have a better chance of winning the award.

To sum it up make your team website useful to the team first and then the requirements for the award follow.

[Clam]

(see tutorials under our download link on our site) It might be moved sometime soon, but you'll be able to find it. On the tutorials page, it explains the process of how a website should be done when it comes to planning and deciding content. again, it's the tutorials page.

[BandChick]

If you look at the Website Award section of the manual, they give you the grading process for the judges from last year. The outline of the award basically explains what FIRST is looking for.

9.7.2.1 General
The ideal website is a genuine reflection of the team, its participants, spirit, and goals. It should not be just a bulletin board with information accessible via a menu. It should tell an individual story and also detail how it is part of the larger FIRST community.

9.7.2.2 Content and Design
The content (text, pictures, music, etc,) and design of a website should work together to provide a pleasing user experience. Good content with a confusing interface, or vice versa, will not be scored as highly as a site
with better balance.

They want to see content, that's the key of any team website. They want the inside, human perspective of a team, and to see how this team interacts within both the FIRST community and their own local community. They want multimedia, pictures, video, flash animation is a nice bonus. They want up-to-date information, maybe even what the team is currently working on and how it's going.

Here's what I explained to my kids when they were looking for examples of websites:

To be honest, the web criteria is more about the content of the site than the presentation of it. Looking professional and good is a plus, but it is not what counts.

Here is 555's website.
They won the Website Award at the NYC Regional in 2005. http://www.montclairrobotics.org/

Here is 103's website.
They have won the website award multiple times, I believe.
http://www.cybersonics.org

Chiefdelphi has won the Website Excellence award two years in a row
2004: http://team2004.chiefdelphi.com/
2005: http://team2005.chiefdelphi.com/

This is the kind of stuff judges look for:
team success stories
appreciation and recognition of sponsors
resources for other teams
photos of members/mentors/coaches

One thing FIRST is big on is letting people know about the impact its had on teams. 358 has a list of where their graduates have gone and what they're considering for majors. That's awesome! They also have a schedule up as far as their upcoming events are concerned. They have a nice archive of the newspaper and other media spots they've had too. Seriously, the content of this site is awesome.
http://www.team358.org

I know this post is long, I'm sorry.
But I hope it was informative.


2005 Website Judge NYC

[Heuerproduction]

Originally Posted by BandChick

If you look at the Website Award section of the manual, they give you the grading process for the judges from last year. The outline of the award basically explains what FIRST is looking for.



They want to see content, that's the key of any team website. They want the inside, human perspective of a team, and to see how this team interacts within both the FIRST community and their own local community. They want multimedia, pictures, video, flash animation is a nice bonus. They want up-to-date information, maybe even what the team is currently working on and how it's going.

Here's what I explained to my kids when they were looking for examples of websites:


One thing FIRST is big on is letting people know about the impact its had on teams. 358 has a list of where their graduates have gone and what they're considering for majors. That's awesome! They also have a schedule up as far as their upcoming events are concerned. They have a nice archive of the newspaper and other media spots they've had too. Seriously, the content of this site is awesome.
http://www.team358.org

I know this post is long, I'm sorry.
But I hope it was informative.


2005 Website Judge NYC

All of the above information are really good chunks of advice. Navigation is a big factor if you want a smooth running site. Generally there's alot going on in your school so alot has to be entered. Be sure to give clear links to each event or category. Usually a visitor has a rough time navigating through sites that aren't properly edited and built. Leave the guess work out of your construction, and you will go far. Make it fun but professional and you'll reap your rewards.