YouthPastor2000

So you want a webpage for your youth group? Cool! But what is it going to do? Good question.

Here are some tips and suggestions to help you start creating an online presence for your youth ministry. (Not in any particular order.)

1. Don't use Microsoft Frontpage or Publisher as your HTML editor.
   Netscape Composer (part of Netscape Communicator) and AOLPress are both FREE and create more sensible and standardized code that makes for faster loading and better indexed webpages. A great non-WYSIWYG recommendation is HomeSite that comes complete with HTML helps and tag wizards to help you create your page.

   Don't use your student's full names, email, addresses or phone numbers on any webpage.

   This could potentially get you into a lot of trouble with parents. There is always the possibility that any sexual predator could use the information from your site to choose his/her next target. Posted email addresses could potentially get added to lots of spam lists and this would not be good for students who use their parent's email account. Protect your youth by maintaining some anonymity and use only their first name. (You may use an initial from their last name when 2 or more youth share the same first name.)

   Get a separate email account for the Youth Group webpage.

   Consider the email address similar to a phone number that will not change or be discontinued when students and staff members move. I've found that youth pastors often use their personal email accounts for the website, then move to a different church, and the email address on the website never gets updated. Get an email address that stays with the local youth group.

   Don't forget to post your church's address and phone number.

   Too often I've read "Come and Join Us!" on a webpage and then haven't had the slightest idea on how to locate or contact the church for more information. A great tool to use when explaining how to get your church is Maps.Yahoo.Com. Fill out your church's address and then copy and paste the URL at the top of the page that displays the map. This way visitors can enter their personal address and get door-to-door driving instructions. I use this a lot and it has seldomly ever been wrong.

   Tell us a little bit about your group.

   How often do you meet? What subject material are you currently covering? Do you have a mission statement? Who are the leaders? Can I know a little bit more about them before I allow my kids to attend? What events are scheduled? What type of music does your group listen to together? Do you have photos from any activities? How about posting some testimonies from some of the students? If you have a newsletter, how about publishing it online? What are some links that you and your youth group enjoy visiting?

   Well, what about graphics?

   Use the JPG format for all photos as this displays 16 million colors and has really good compression. Use GIFs if you want to display graphics that have less than 256 colors or wish to have animation or transparent backgrounds. GifOptimizer.Com is a great place to visit if you want to make your GIF images load faster. Try not to use too many graphics or have any graphics wider than 400 pixels as some visitors may be using older computers or slower connections. ALWAYS enter the width and height in the image tag so that the page loads faster (ex. <IMG SRC="Mygraphic.gif" WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=100 ALT="My graphic">)

   Get your youth involved.

   Make your group's webpage a ministry to the world at large. Include articles, devotions, testimonies and artwork that is created by your group in an effort to reach their friends and others. Include photos from mission events. Your students and parents will enjoy inviting their friends and family to visit the website site to see what God is doing.

   Don't fill your page up with banners and graphics from other sites.

   Keep your pages focused and filled with information pertaining to 'your' group. There are a lot of sites that contain very little unique content and seem to be just a collection of lianks and graphics discovered while surfing. Make your site stand apart by supplying it with unique content generated by your group. Update it periodically and create a page that is dedicated to notifying visitors of new items that have been added.

   Announce your site!

   Submit your youth group website to the YouthPastor.Com Resource Directory. Add your youth group name to the Youthgroup Name Page. Use the All In One Christian Index to submit your site to Christian websites. Most search engines allow you to include your website for free... you just have to spend a little time entering the information.

   Do not put all of your information on a single page.

   Create sub-pages and remember to provide links to all of the pages and provide a way to return to the 'home page'. Make sure you have a TITLE for each page or else it will be listed as "Untitled" in the search engines.

   Regulate yourself before someone else does.

   Some browsers are configured to not allow users to visit webpages that do not have either SafeSurf or RSACi ratings. Register your site and you will receive specific HTML code that you will need to put on every on of your pages.

James ministers and maintains both Youthring and YouthPastor.Com. He visits many youth group websites each week.

• Netscape Composer - FREE WYSIWYG HTML editor (a part of Netscape Communicator)
• AOLPress - FREE WYSIWYG HTML editor
• HomeSite - the BEST HTML editor
• Maps.Yahoo.Com - Enter an address & get a map
• GifOptimizer.Com - Make your graphics load faster
• Youthring - A conglomeration of youth group websites
• YouthPastor.Com Resource Directory - Links to sites of interest to youth pastors
• Youthgroup Name Page - A list of youth group names
• All In One Christian Index - Submit your site to the Christian Search Engines
• SafeSurf - webpage rating system
• RSACi - webpage rating system

Please notify me of any broken links and I'll immediately and gladly correct them. Email your questions, ideas, review requests and comments to .