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A Little About the History of This Web Site...
At the August, 2005 meeting
of the SLPA, Bo Ritchings asked if there was any interest in
establishing an Association web site. If so, he would volunteer to begin
the project over the winter months.
During discussion that ensued, it was noted that:
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The SLPA website could provide a means for better communication
among members of the SLPA and Star Lake community;
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The web site and e-mail accounts could also reduce postage and
office expenses, since fewer paper mailings would be necessary;
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The site would provide a great way to
preserve the SLPA archives which include meeting minutes dating back
over a hundred years to
the creation of the Association (archives are currently in paper form;
one copy only exists);
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It might assist in the
promotion of the lake;
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It could potentially be useful to people with rental
cottages
and businesses;
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It could be a positive attribute of the
community to be noted in grant
applications and economic development;
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Most important, it could provide a glimpse into
the history of Star Lake and its only Association.
A motion passed unanimously to authorize up to
$200 for the purpose of starting and maintaining an SLPA website. Bo agreed to make it a winter
project, time permitting. Thus began the journey that would get us where we are
today, March 12, 2007, the day of the site launching.
Work progressed slowly throughout the winter.
At the July, 2006 meeting, Bo reported
that a site was created using Microsoft FrontPage 2003.
So far, we have :
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A home page with table of
upcoming events and an intro to the SLPA;
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A password protected "members only"
area to address some members' need for privacy;
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An archives area (within the member
area) for the By Laws, past
minutes and historical information;
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A links page pointing to various
resources of interest to members;
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Links to
the Star Lake Handbook in Adobe .pdf format for viewing;
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A photo
gallery with some favorite pictures of Star Lake;
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A feedback form so that viewers
of the site could react to the site or communicate with the SLPA.
Bo noted that he should not be solely
responsible for all the content of the site; that volunteers could
and should
submit information. He suggested some topics that might interest
members and asked for
volunteers to work on those topics. He said that this is a
great opportunity for some older members to preserve forever, their "reflections"
on Star Lake. First-person narratives about "Star Lake when I first came
here" would be great reading, as many of our senior members have a rich history
with the lake.
At the August, 2006 meeting, Bo reported that some new pages have been assembled and the web site is progressing nicely.
A "most recent minutes" page has been added, as has a page dealing with
unwritten rules of the lake for newcomers. He is
shopping for a web host service that will meet our needs, be economical and
offer additional services that might be useful to members, such as free
e-mail accounts. Bo again said that he would maintain the site; but
would not be responsible for generating all the content for the site.
Help was again sought from
volunteers to research and create content. Suggested topics include:
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The Microburst of 1995,
event and pictures;
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Memories of youth on Star Lake,
narrative;
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A history of the Star
Lake Regatta, narrative and pictures;
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"Rafting on Star Lake,"
history, pictures, Adirondack Life article;
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A summer rentals section
with descriptions, pictures, and reservation info;
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An old Star Lake
postcard gallery (many members have collections to share)
Bo
said he would hopefully have the site up some time this winter.
SLPA
hosted by
The site continued to be
refined and a web host was selected. As of March, 2007, the site was ready to launch for the first time! We are officially the owners of
the domain name "SLPA.info". After
extensive shopping for and reading reviews of (it seemed like) hundreds of web
hosting services, Lunarpages was finally selected to host the site. They
were carefully selected for a number of very good reasons:
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Lunarpages Web Hosting is the #1 rated, affordable web
hosting service for uptime, customer support, and feature-rich hosting.
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They provide a huge amount of server space--1,500 GB with 15,000 GB of bandwidth per month. While we probably
won't have that much traffic, we will need lots of storage as we continue to
add to the site and archives.
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They offer
domain transfers for only $7.95, private domain registration, and a FREE domain
name for the life of the hosting plan. Additional domain names are also only
$7.95 each.
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They provide for free $700 worth of
"Coffee Cup" webmaster-and-design
software and other server-based features, including
the FrontPage extensions necessary to help develop and maintain our web site.
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They provide unlimited POP-3 and
SMTP based e-mail accounts, which can be used by our members. Many of our
"snowbirds" will appreciate the "web-based" access to their e-mail, for when
they travel south.
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Lunarpages seems to rule in the
customer service area. Based on user reviews and my own experiences, they are
simply "the best". They provide 24/7 award-winning
support services by e-mail or toll-free phone
support, and they maintain a member forum to help solve problems. Coffee
Cup Software also provides great support from their
Coffee Cup Site.
-
Their price is extremely attractive.
By purchasing a two-year contract and by taking advantage of a coupon offer, we
were able to get 26 months of hosting for just $149.75 which is
well within our startup budget. That's just $5.76 a month for the
first 26 months. After that, it will cost around $7.00 per month.
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Another great feature is that,
through an affiliate program, if someone signs up for a Lunarpages account by
using our affiliate link to
their site, the SLPA will receive a commission of $65 to help defray our
future costs. Always looking for no/low-cost projects, it's possible that
our web site might become self-sustaining or even generate some revenue--time
will tell.
About
Lunarpages Web HostingIf you are considering a new web
site or have an existing site and need a hosting service, you should take a very
close look at Lunarpages. If you decide to start a Lunarpages account,
when you are ready to sign up
PLEASE FOLLOW OUR LINK TO THE LUNARPAGES WEB SITE . Following this link will help us to defray our
costs, as Lunarpages will pay us a fee for each account referral. Once you start your account, you too will have the same opportunity
to become an affiliate of Lunarpages. Please let us know if you do
sign up.
For more detailed
Information, see the Lunarpages links:
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