Webmaster Resources:
Guidelines

The USCJ Information Services Committee has developed the following guidelines to assist webmasters (aka spiders) in preparing their organization's home pages.

General Requirements:

1. All materials included on the home pages must comply with U.S. copyright law and relevant licensing agreements.
2. All materials included on the home pages must be in accordance with USCJ policies and standards. All links to other web pages must be appropriate for an USCJ affiliated organization. An example of an inappropriate link would be one to a "Messianic Jewish" (also known as "Hebrew Christian") organization's web page. See also the USCJ Policy on Advertising and Commercial Web Links.

   (Make sure that all content is viewable for a wide audience, and that your content is representative of our organization.)

3. The home page must be approved by the synagogue president, school principal, chair of the school board, or appropriate officer or representative of other organizations. Authorization in writing or via email should be sent to the USCJ Department of Computer Operations or the regional computer committee chair.

   (Do not upload any unauthorized materials to your web site. Check with proper authorities before doing so.)

4. All information in the home pages, including links to outside resources, should be current and valid. Each webmaster is required to maintain his or her own files and update, remove, or correct outdated materials.

   (Web pages should be kept up to date. Outdated or incorrect information or links can be aggravating.)

5. Copyright of the Web pages will reside with the affiliated organization, not the individual webmaster. A statement of copyright with the year and name of the organization should be included on at least the home page. Original artwork or text, and items covered by a license agreement may be copyrighted separately.

   (Make sure the copyright statment is for your synagogue [USCJ for regional sites], not the person creating/maintaining the site. Please attribute any non-original content to its creator.)

6. The home page of each organization should include an acknowledgment of affiliation with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and a link to the USCJ home page, http://www.uscj.org/.
7. Webmasters will be held accountable for all materials within their directories. Failure to abide by the guidelines may result in removal of unauthorized documents.

   (If your content does not conform to these guidelines, the powers-that-be have the right to remove such content.)

USCJ and JCN reserve the right to restrict access at any time for administrative reasons or if necessary for system maintenance.

Recommendations

1. Before beginning work on a home page, become familiar with the USCJ web site, and and HTML.
2. Use standard HTML. Netscape and Internet Explorer are the most widely used browsers, but many visitors still use other older software. Make information accessible to as many users as reasonably possible by accomodating multiple browsers and versions. The WWW3 consortium maintains a page devoted to HTML standards.
3. Be efficient! Avoid unnecessary duplication and excessively large files. Consider dividing up large documents into separate linked pages to reduce the time it takes for the pages to load.
4. Use images, video, and sound clips in moderation. Use the alt=" " tag on images for visitors who have older browsers or don't want to load the graphics.

   (The alt=" " tag provides a text description of your image, video, or sound for individuals using text browsers.)

5. Lay out text and graphics so that the page is attractive as well as informative. Keep in mind the size of the viewing area, particularly when creating images. There are many good style guides for developing HTML documents. Remember, you can always serve as a bad example.

   (Many people continue to surf with a screen resolution of 640x480 pixels. Make sure your site accomodates those people.)

6. Take advantage of the templates and scripts already available on the USCJ server and the Internet.
7. Respect the privacy of staff, students, members, and officers. Don't include home or work addresses or phone numbers on the Web pages, and only include email addresses with permission. Newsletter contents may need to be edited before being made public on the Web to remove this information.

   (Remember that anyone can have access to the sites you create. As stated above, make sure your content -- especially personal content -- has been approved before uploading.)

8. Every HTML file should include the following information:
1. Title
2. Name and e-mail address of the page's author and/or the webmaster
3. Date created or last modified
4. Appropriate copyright statement
9. Keep a backup copy of all your files, including any unique images.

   (You never know when odd maiming of your files could occur. Backing up is always a good idea.)