If you operate a website which invites people to subscribe to your newsletter then you need a #WordPress website which incorporates the MC4WP plugin and adds them directly to a Mailchimp database. You can then use Mailchimp to send out your newsletters without worrying about breaching data protection rules or GDPR regulations. Get in touch for more information – Call 07966 355054 or email steve.x.cooper@gmail.com
When Elmet Lions Club decided to resurrect the Great Selby Bike Ride after Selby Lions Club closed down we decided to bring it into the 21st century in terms of its organisation and set about doing so in the following manner:-
We set up a Paypal business account and applied for charity status with Paypal to reduce the fees charged for transactions.
The website dedicated to the event included an e-commerce plugin from Woocommerce so that we could sell entries online, using Paypal to handle the payments and Mailchimp to handle correspondence with entrants.
We also needed to recruit marshalls to manage cyclists en route. This was mainly done via our Facebook pages, where we now have approaching 1,000 followers. Communication with marshalls was then managed via Gmail using Sheets and an extension called Yet Another Mail Merge.
The two routes were written up as Google Docs downloads from the Bike Ride website and also mapped with the phone app Bikemap so that they could be downloaded to cyclists’ own devices.
The club registered with HMRC for a GiftAid number. We then signed up to Justgiving and created a discrete fundraising website that riders could sign up to. This simplifies fundraising as all donations are automatically sent to the club and Justgiving claims GiftAid on our behalf in return for a 5% fee.
GiftAid is worth a net 20% extra to the club.
Historically (the event is more than 30 years old) many cyclists enter on the day and 2022 was no different. More than a 100 riders entered on the Sunday. Handling the amount of cash that this involved made the club members a bit nervous and would have added to the insurance cost of the event too.
The previous two years of Covid restrictions had seen a quantum leap in the use of contactless payments so the club invested in card readers to be used in conjunction with a mobile app.
This wasn’t without problems though. We initially purchased a number of Square card readers and found that multiple readers would not work in close proximity to each other. We then approached Zettle who assured us that their readers would be able to function at a number of pay stations near to each other, which they did.
We were able to take more than £1,000 in entries during the hour before the event started.
Mobile phones provided direct communication between riders, marshalls, the club’s HQ, mobile first aid, and the lost child managers.
If you are a charity and have any queries about this article, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Steve Cooper, Elmet Lions Club CIO trustee
If you have a website with external links how do you know how effective they have been at driving traffic to that site, be it an e-commerce site, a companion website, technical content or blog article?
The answer is a WordPress plugin called Track the Click. It’s free and will log all the traffic that resulted from a visitor clicking on an external link on your website.
The basic functions of the plugin include:
You can download the plugin from the WordPress repository here
“Death of the HIgh Street” is a headline you will have often seen in newspapers as retail chain after retail chain succumbs to the steady shift in the pattern of sales from shops to online, exacerbated by various lockdowns.
If you are a smaller local business you may feel that it won’t affect you to the same extent and it will blow over when lockdown restrictions are lifted.
However if you haven’t already done so, isn’t it time you looked seriously at online sales for your business to protect its future?
There are various options open to you from ‘dipping a toe in the water’ to a full-blown e-commerce website offering your full range of products online for delivery to your customers’ home address.
What not start by adding Paypal buttons to the most popular items on your website? Here is an example:-
https://wetherbyweb.com/pay-with-paypal/
E-commerce is even an option for charities. Have a look at Elmet Lions Club’s Easter Egg Raffle:-
https://elmet.lionsclub.co/shop/
GitHub, Inc. is a subsidiary of Microsoft which provides hosting for software development and version control using Git. It offers the distributed version control and source code management functionality of Git, plus its own features.
It has always worked 100% remote and has now published an e-book about remote working based on its own experience. You can download it from Github at
https://about.gitlab.com/resources/ebook-remote-playbook/
or from this link on my website:
This is what WordPress said about its 2017 flagship theme:-
Twenty Seventeen brings your site to life with header video and immersive featured images. With a focus on business sites, it features multiple sections on the front page as well as widgets, navigation and social menus, a logo, and more. Personalize its asymmetrical grid with a custom color scheme and showcase your multimedia content with post formats. Our default theme for 2017 works great in many languages, for any abilities, and on any device.
It was the first site that permitted video headers as well as static images (although this didn’t include audio)
It could be set up as a landing page design with multiple sections on the front page. Each of these sections was a page in its own right so you still had the opportunity to create multi-page SEO instead of being restricted to just one page.
Subsequent modifications by individual developers converted it into a scrolling single page layout (Page scroll to id – http://manos.malihu.gr/).
Examples are:-
https://leedsnaturistgroup.com/
https://wetherbydrivingschool.co.uk/
Full width featured images added to the dramatic effect.
Out of the box the choice is single or two column layout, However there is a block of CSS that you can add via the Customize -> Additional CSS that lets you alter the width of the one column page to your chosen percentage.
I do not remember the source of CSS but can email it to you on request.
Other modifications have been created by various developers. Have a look on Google or Youtube for more information.
If only they added audio…….
Here are two websites where you can see the reviews in action:-
https://glenleadental.co.uk/reviews-on-google/
That’s all there is to it!
If you would like me to carry out the work you get in touch and I’ll quote you a price.
Each has its own website, meaning that you have to go to each of them for a complete overview of your website’s performance.
NOT ANY MORE!
Google’s WordPress plugin combines all four tools into one dashboard that can be viewed within a website’s own dashboard. Each tool website can then be accessed .
If you administer a WordPress website and its performance this plugin is a MUST HAVE.
I occasionally get called on to make AV (Powerpoint) presentations so had to invest in one accessory – an adapter which plugs into the C-type USB port and adds a further USB 3.0 port, an HDMI port for projection and a through C-type port which means that the Chromebook can still be charged.
The HDMI connection means that sound is also sent to the projector’s built-in speakers, which is adequate for small groups but was not suited to a recent Lions Clubs convention of 100+ attendees. A separate sound system was in place and the Chromebook was linked to it by an audio jack plugged into the earphone socket. The Chromebook auto-detected the audio jack, cut the sound to the projector’s speakers and sent it to the sound mixer deck instead.
Although there is an Android/Chrome version of Powerpoint it seems to be a cut-down version so I have made the switch to Google Slides. This has previously worked adequately but this time I ran into the problem that PP presentations with embedded video wouldn’t upload to Google Slides. It turns out that Google Slides will only accept uploads of “bare bones” PPs. Embedded videos, transitions and such need to be stripped from the Powerpoint file and added again after upload.
Other features of the Chrome OS that have become obvious are that it auto-detects printers, projectors and HDMI-splitters. It has even exceed the expectations of ASUS in respect of their MB168B Portable USB Monitor which I use to duplicate my Windows laptop screen when giving one to one training. On their website ASUS lists the Windows operating systems under which it will run. An email to their technical dept met with the response that it would not work with Chrome OS. So I tried it and it worked!
My Chromebook (an HP 14) continues to exceed my expectations and will assume a more important role in my mobile computing. It still cannot completely replace my Windows laptop but the gap is narrowing.
I hope that my experiences may help others avoid some of the problems I have experienced and would suggest that you give a Chromebook a try out. They are not expensive compared to Windows/Mac laptops.
If you are not familiar with the block editor it is possible to continue to use the Classic editor that you are used to.
Just install and activate the Classic Editor plugin from here:
You can learn more about the block editor here: https://gogutenberg.com/
Get in touch if you have any questions or problems
