1. Introduction
At the July meeting of the KPC it was decided to investigate the
possibility of setting up a Parish Council Web Site. Councillor Vic Ient
volunteered to prepare a report.
This report provides information on the setting up and management of a
website for KPC.
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2. Executive Summary and Recommendations
This report has looked into the avenues suggested at the July meeting
and other suggestions since that meeting. In overall terms the report
tries to provide information to guide the KPC to making step by step
decisions, namely:
Site Ownership and Registration
ISP storage arrangement and fees
Content development
Web site Structure and management
As you will see I recommend:
A. KPC should own and therefore register the site themselves.
B. The domain of the site should be of type .gov.uk.
C. KPC should own ISP storage and therefore control access to the site.
D. The initial web site structure to be developed by the KPC (I am
happy to prepare this).
E. Material for the web site should be submitted to the Clerk
for approval. The Clerk will transmit approved material to
the web site maintainer.
F. The Web site Structure and maintenance should be carried out by a
specialist under the supervision and management of the KPC.
Regarding costs the KPC can also take things in a
step by step fashion.
For details of the proposed budget please see Section 9.
Please note: the figures have been drawn up to ensure that actual
costs are incurred at a figure BELOW the budgeted figure.
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3. Aims and Purposes of the Study
Identify the basic costs of setting up a website.
Investigate possible people, organisations who could manage a
website for the council.
Review what other parish councils have done.
Propose basic contents for the Kingston PC website.
Suggest a budget for the website.
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4. The Registration Process
The KPC have two options for registering a domain for a
website: either they register a .gov.uk domain, which requires
a special procedure because they are restricted to sites
for organs of the government, or they register an ordinary domain.
Registering a .gov.uk domain requires a different procedure from
registering any other type of domain.
With almost any other type of domain, including .org and .co.uk type domains, the applicant is free to
register with any one of a number of ISPs. On paying the registration
fee, that site is, as it were, owned by that person or organisation.
With .gov.uk domains, there is a specific set of
criteria which the organisation registering the site has to meet
and these criteria are laid down by the Cabinet Office. Clearly, Kingston PC have no
difficulties in meeting the criteria for a .gov.uk domain, but
nevertheless, when we actually come to register it, we
will have to be checked for compliance.
The Cabinet Office themselves do not actually register the website for
us. They have delegated the supervision of registration to UKERNA who in
turn have authorised a number of ISPs to manage the process. It is those
ISPs who will require information from Kingston PC to confirm the
validity of their application. Again there is not going to be any
difficulty from the Kingston PC point of view, but obviously it is good
to know that there is a checking process before somebody can set up such
a site.
See appendix C for an explanation of the term domain.
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5.Methodology/Approach
Three main areas have been used for our approach to preparing this
report and they include
Our own knowledge
Meetings
Web research and emails
As you will see in the acknowledgements I have been assisted in
preparing this report by
Doctor Gavin Wraith, a Reader in Mathematics Emeritus from the
University of Sussex, who is an expert on web standards and related
matters. I myself have been involved in designing and developing
websites over a number of years and although I am not an expert in all
of the technology, I am certainly very familiar with building a website.
I have a responsibility for maintaining the Institute of Interim
Managers' website and also run my own company website together with a
family history website.
Therefore, from our own knowledge we have been able quickly to undertake
the process of providing information for the Parish Council to enable a
decision to be reached on the setting up and running of a website.
Secondly, our methodology has been to hold a number of meetings, either
on an ad hoc basis or specifically to investigate matters jointly with
somebody else. In particular, we held a meeting with Rhys Haden better
to understand his own website. However, a large amount of our work and our
approach to preparing for this report has been to carry out web
research and seek information by sending emails and making phone calls.
We have kept a record of these emails the main results of which are
included in this report.
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6. Research Report
This report covers the following:
(a) Basic costs (ISPs)
(b) What other Parish Councils have done
(c) Rhys Haden website
(d) The Peacehaven Internet Company
(e) The commercial website
(f) Website Editor Service
(g) Gavin Wraith's service
(a) The Basic Costs Under normal circumstances an individual or organisation would register
a web site and buy space and facilities with an ISP against standard charges. These may very a little from ISP to ISP
but they are clearly published on the ISP's web site.
This is not the case with .gov.uk sites
as recommended. However the overall cost is much the same as the more
standard fees; the only difference is that you have to ask for a price. In summary the registration costs are in the region of £70 - £150 for a
2-year period plus VAT and the ISP storage costs are in the region of
£50 - £200 per year. The only decision is who to use as an ISP. Please see my recommendations
section. Please note: it is always possible to change ISP, so there is
no long term tie-in. back to the contents list (b) What other parish websites have done A selection of parish council
websites in our neighbourhood that are worth viewing are:
* a .gov.uk site+ part of a Local District Council site back to the contents list (c) Rhys Haden Website At the last Parish Council meeting it was suggested that we
follow up and find out what happened with the Kingston Village (http://www.kingstonvillage.org/)
website which was set up some few years ago.Indeed, we did follow up and had a meeting with Rhys Haden.
Immediately prior to this meeting we did a web search and found that
the site was not in use. Gavin, Rhys and myself had a meeting
and Rhys explained his website.
It was quite clear from the conversation that he saw himself as
owner, editor and controller of it.On that account we did not think it sensible to suggest that
a Parish Council website could be subsumed by it. The other
reason was that Rhys has a full time job with Honeywell as a
data networks engineer, which requires his attention intensively
sometimes. So it would be unlikely that he could offer
a reliable service for any sustained period of time. The other
complication would be that he would still be the owner and
controller of the site; we felt that any site should be under
the full control of the Parish Council, so that if they wished
to change the editor of the website at any time, they could easily
do so.Following the meeting with Rhys we found that he had got his website up
and working again and it was clear that we had spurred him on, but we
still did not think it worth while taking matters further. Of
course, his website will no doubt be a useful resource for
the village, and any Parish Council website could reasonably be expected
to provide links to it. back to the contents list (d) The Peacehaven Internet Company Mr Jarman had passed on to me details of an offer from an internet company (http://www.integral-designs.co.uk/)
in Peacehaven and I thought I would make an experiment
first by sending them an email to see if they responded quickly. I
sent this email some three months ago in August and have had no response. You may
ask why not make a telephone call and not send an email, and my view is,
that if you send an email to a web editor and they do not respond, they
cannot be very attentive to their job. I have therefore not followed up
this lead. back to the contents list (e) The Commercial Website. After investigating the criteria required for setting up a .gov.uk site, I felt it was not appropriate to follow up with a
commercial web site associated with the Parish Council. The reason for
this is that it would contravene the Cabinet Office guidelines. back to the contents list (f) Website Editor Service We could go to any one of a number of individuals or
organisations to arrange for the setting up of a website and indeed, the
maintenance of that website. The bigger the organisation the more we
will find ourselves locked in to its dictates, as far as structuring
and updating the site is concerned. I therefore did not think it
suitable for us to follow that line. However, there
are many smaller companies or freelancers who do provide a website
maintainer/editor service. As you will see in my recommendation I have
suggested we look for 2 firm quotations from sources, - G Wraith and
ANO. back to the contents list (g) Gavin Wraith's Service Gavin Wraith offers an unsophisticated straightforward web
editor service without the use of any special software such as Front
Page or proprietary framework such as Microsoft ASP. As you will see
from the cost summary set out below, Gavin's service is reasonably
economic when compared with other service providers. Why would I choose Gavin Wraith? Well, he has lived in the village
since 1974. Secondly, he is retired and therefore has the time
for such work. Thirdly, he is a web enthusiast, and already runs
websites for other organisations such as
He is very knowledgeable in the area and has colleagues
(other ex-professors from the University) who provide training courses
in the use of internet technology. If we were to use Gavin's service
I think we could set up a direct relationship between Mr Jarman,
our clerk, and Gavin, so that any information that Mr Jarman wanted
to publicise could immediately be put on the web. I believe that
Gavin Wraith's service would enable us to set up a well organised web
and provide us with the maintenance and editorial service for
say the next two years. Clearly, we should develop the way we use the
web and as a longer term second phase, I would be willing to look into
the use of specific technologies and software. This would enable us
automatically to upload to the web documents and information, such as
planning applications and local plans where that uploading could be done
by authorised members of the Parish Council. However, at this stage I
think we need to get a service up and running, where there is minimal
responsibility on our clerk to maintain the site, using an
expert such as Gavin Wraith to get us to a point where the web site
could be seen as a real service to the people of Kingston. back to the contents list
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7. Conclusions
In looking at the possibility of setting up a parish council web site I
have concluded it would be best for the KPC to do it properly rather
than work on the basis of getting it on the cheap because Fred or Joe
can set it up for us free of charge. I see the KPC as a proper organ of
government and as such should be separate from either commercial or ad
hoc support services. My recommendations are, therefore that the KPC
own and control the web site and its contents. Also that it should be a
proper .gov.uk site.
In reviewing the possibilities of using Rhys Hayden's web site I have
borne in mind the fact that that his site has not be properly populated
or developed since its launch some 2 years ago (it may be longer). I
have also reviewed the commercial options and rejected them because I
believe a parish council should be seen to be impartial. That is not to
say that once set up the KPC site cannot be sponsored. In this case, when
the individual sponsor is accepted it can be done not because they are
running the web site but because they have a link from it just like the ads in the newsletter. In that way the KPC can accept the
sponsorship on terms (to be drawn up) that clearly state the acceptance
of that sponsorship does not imply a contract or agreement with that
party.
If the KPC agree to go ahead the remaining steps are relatively easy and
quick to implement. The web site could be up and running within a month
(subject to choosing a maintainer, of course). The population and
development of information on the site can be executed in a step by step
way; improving the site in the forthcoming months.
On the question of the finances, which may well be the sticking point, -
my budget is intended to be a maximum. Also, the expenditure in the this
financial year will the in the region of £600 - £700 rather than the
full £910 since we will only have 3 to 4 months to go to the end of March
2005.
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8. Recommendations
As you may see in the Executive Summary, I recommend:
A. KPC should own and therefore register the site themselves.
B. The domain of the site should be of type .gov.uk.
C. KPC should own ISP storage and therefore control access to the site.
D. The initial web site structure to be developed by the KPC (I am
happy to prepare this).
E. Material for the web site should be submitted to the Clerk
for approval. The Clerk will transmit approved material to
the web site maintainer.
F. The Web site Structure and maintenance should be carried out by a
specialist under the supervision and management of the KPC.
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9. Recommended DRAFT Budget
My recommendation is:
i. Domain (web site) registration will be in the region
of £70 - £150 for a 2-year period, plus VAT.
ii. The ISP storage costs are
in the region of £50 - £100 + VAT per year.
iii. The set up costs are in
the region of £250 - £350 + VAT (using a low cost supplier).
iv. Monthly maintenance is in
the region of £0 (if no up-dates are requested)
and up to approx £70 if there is a lot of work to do
(again, if we use a low cost supplier).
NB: VAT will be chargeable for (i) and (ii) but may
not be chargeable for the low cost supplier.
If the KPC are minded to proceed with the web site, that:
R1) The KPC approves a budget of £910 ( + VAT, where chargeable) to cover the
first year and Set Up costs.
I am happy to manage the implementation of this
aspect without charge.
R2) The KPC approves an Annual Maintenance Budget of £600 per year to cover the costs of the
monthly web content management costs. This item
will pay for a free-lance low cost specialist to
ensure the web site is up-date with the content
provided by the Clerk.
R3) The KPC includes in its forward financial planning budget of £100 + VAT to cover the 2nd, 4th etc year
IPS storage costs. This cost is included in R2 above.
R4) The KPC seeks a quotation from Gavin Wraith and ANO for the
execution of :
R4-1 The Web site Structure and Initial Content
R4-2 Annual Maintenance (1st year only) - to cover the costs of the
monthly web content management and uploading
In summary, therefore, I propose the KPC adopt a
budget for this work and
on-going maintenance as follows:
Proposed Budget
| Item
|
Year 1
|
Year 2
|
Year 3
|
Year 4
|
| ISP Registration
|
£100.00
|
|
£100.00
|
|
| ISP Storage Charge
|
£100.00
|
£100.00
|
£100.00
|
£100.00
|
| Set up costs
|
£350.00
|
|
|
|
| Monthly maintenance *
|
£360.00
|
£396.00
|
£435.60
|
£479.16
|
| Total
|
£910.00
|
£496.00
|
£635.60
|
£579.16
|
* Monthly Maintenance Costs (Forecast)
| Month
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
Total
|
| Amount
|
£0
|
£30
|
£50
|
£70
|
£50
|
£30
|
£0
|
£30
|
£30
|
£0
|
£70
|
£0
|
£360
|
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10. Reference
Kingston is a very common placename in the UK. For
example, there is another Kingston Parish Council www.arun.gov.uk/kingston/ close by. This is all the more reason to register the website
properly. You can find many parish and town council websites
at this URL http://www.tagish.co.uk/tagish/links/parish.htm
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11. Glossary
| ccTLD
|
=
|
country code Top Level Domain
|
| HTML
|
=
|
HyperText Markup Language
|
| HTTP
|
=
|
HyperText Transfer Protocol
|
| ISP
|
=
|
Internet Service Provider
|
| KPC
|
=
|
Kingston Parish Council
|
| TLD
|
=
|
Top Level Domain
|
| UKERNA
|
=
|
UK Education and Research Network
|
| URL
|
=
|
Universal Resource Location
|
| WWW
|
=
|
World Wide Web
|
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12. Acknowledgements
I am very grateful for the help given to me by Dr. Gavin Wraith. It is
always useful to have someone to discuss things with when undertaking a
project. I have been able to draw on Gavin's knowledge of the
internet in making up this report. His details are:
G.C.Wraith
| Home pages
|
http://www.wra1th.plus.com
|
| Address
|
12 Mushroom Field, Kingston by Lewes
|
| Profession
|
Retired mathematician
|
| Current work
|
Author, software development
|
My thanks also go to Rhys Hayden for the meeting back
in the summer when he explained some of his ideas and the Kingston site
he registered some years ago. I hope he decides to develop his site. If
he decides to develop his site it can be linked to the proposed KPC
site. Rhys's sites are: http://www.internetworkbiz.com/index.html - his business site and http://www.kingstonvillage.org/index.html - his demonstration site - as yet not populated.
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Appendices
|
A Advisory Information (www links)
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B Possible Contents of parish website
| Home and About the Parish Council
|
|
News, Bulletins and Special Reports
|
| Parish Council Members, Parish Clark and Committees
|
|
Current Projects/Issues
|
| Parish Council Diary/Calendar and Meeting Agendas
|
|
Contacts
|
| Planning
|
|
Parish Council Minutes
|
| Annual Report and AGM Minutes
|
|
Parish Accounts
|
| Parish Council Reports
|
|
Archive Area
|
| Information Area
|
|
Feed-back page
|
| District and County Council Representatives
|
|
Member of Parliament/European Parliament
|
| District Council Link
|
|
County Council Link
|
| Police and Neighbourhood Watch Link
|
|
Village Information Web Site Link
|
| Visitor counter
|
|
|
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C Web domain names
The world wide web (WWW) is a network of computers, organized into domains. A domain is a subnetwork. Domains may have subdomains,
which in turn have subdomains of their own and so on. For example
the URL (i.e. the internet address) of a photo of myself is http://www.wra1th.plus.com/images/gcw.gif. The prefix http refers to the means of access -
in this case by browser. The www.wra1th.plus.com part gives the host i.e. computer where the
the file gcw.gif is to be found within the directory images.
The top level domain (TLD) is the com domain.
This has a subdomain plus which belongs to my Internet Service Provider (ISP),
PlusNet. They have created a subdomain wra1th which they
have assigned to me and they have called my computer www within this subdomain. You often find this as a name of a computer on the WWW but there
is no rule that says it has to be. There are rules for what letters
can or cannot occur in names of (sub)domains and of computers (which can be
thought of as subdomains themselves) which are decided by the WWW
Consortium.
There are top level domains for each country (ccTLDs). For example uk is the ccTLD for the UK. There are TLDs that are not
ccTLDs, for example
com commerce
net network
org charitable organizations
Most UK ISPs can register domain names within these domains.
Do not confuse the TLD gov with the gov subdomain of uk. Subdomains in one
part of the WWW can have the same name as subdomains in another,
just like names of files in different directories (folders) on
your hard disc. The UK government reserves the gov.uk domain for official websites.
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D Typical ISP cost schedule
Blackfoot (http://www.blackfoot.co.uk) are a typical ISP
who offer a professional and reliable service. I have used them for a number
of years.
Blackfoot offers 4 types of accounts:
Business
E-Commerce
Professional
Reseller
If my recommendation for a .gov.uk web site is accepted we may have to go for the
Professional package. This is a summary of the service:
|
|
Feature
|
Business
|
E-Commerce
|
Professional
|
Reseller
|
| Main account
|
Set up fees
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
|
|
Annual Cost
|
£50.00
|
£100.00
|
£150.00
|
£200.00
|
|
|
Web Space (mb)
|
200
|
500
|
1000
|
500
|
|
|
Bandwidth (mb/month)
|
5000
|
10000
|
15000
|
10000
|
|
|
Parked Domains
|
4
|
10
|
20
|
10
|
|
|
Addon Domains
|
No
|
10
|
20
|
10
|
|
|
MySQL databases
|
1
|
10
|
20
|
10
|
| Email
|
POP3 Mail Boxes
|
50
|
100
|
200
|
100
|
|
|
Mailing Lists (Mailman)
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
10
|
|
|
Webmail (Neomail, Horde, Squirrelmail)
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Additional
|
Secure server (requires SSL cert.)
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
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