How
long does it take to get my website up and running?
As soon as you complete the Signup with your contact and color
choices, your site will be viewable at the domain you chose within 48 hours.
We will usually confirm your address (yourschool.com) with you
first. You may see a "Vdeck" page while we
are setting it up. Generally, we work on your banner and
button colors, Contact Us, and How to Find Us pages first.
We also setup your e-mail login. The Contact Us page will send mail to
the address you chose on your Signup form.
You will receive
two e-mails from OCS: OCS Startup Checklist and OCS Website
Instructions. We usually send these e-mails to
both your address used on the signup and to your new school
e-mail account.
As you have time, work on the
Startup Checklist to send us information that make your site
more functional and personalized. You will start out with
default information until you change it. You should look at your site
as you give us Checklist information to proof it.
The
OCS Website Instructions will tell you how to login to your
Office page to use all the features found there and how to use
your school e-mail account.
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How
does OCS do this so inexpensively?
Considering that most web services like OCS can cost in the
thousands of dollars and then still have to pay a monthly
service fee, OCS may seem unbelievably
inexpensive! How do we do it? First, we are
doing it as a ministry and unto the Lord! After our
expenses, we make less than minimum wage for our specialized
skills. We are also located in a very economical area to
reduce our overhead. Although we include many bells and whistles, we have focused our
attention on functional and practical features for ministry
websites learned from years of designing ministry
websites! .
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Why
does OCS cost more per month than other offers I have seen?
Most offers for websites are generally soliciting web hosting
(server space) only! These offers do not include
labor, web tools, and specialized programming. These
advertisements may even offer 100 e-mail accounts, but they do
not tell you that account users cannot login to their e-mail
from your website (which happens to be the number one reason
your staff will keep up to date with your site!).
Actually, by the time you pay for your own web hosting, domain
registration, and web editing software, you will need volunteer
web help to with the cost of a OCS package!
Some online businesses and Internet Providers
offer a free website. These usually only allow a very
small web site and do not come with your own domain name
(internet address). You may or may not get any
e-mail accounts (usually under 5 if any). You probably
cannot use financial features, web videos, or have any pages for
growth. Websites have become more than an advertising
tool! You need a site that keeps you up-to-date with today's office
tools! Your visitors will also notice the level of
professionalism in using a free site (noticed by the address or
immoral advertisements)!
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What
if I already have a domain name registered? You
will have two choices: One choice is to point your
existing domain name to your new OCS site (which we can do
for you if you would provide your username and password for your
domain registrar OR you can request from us the domain name
server addresses for your OCS site and do it yourself).
Second choice is to get another domain address which is
included in your OCS package and use this to point to your
new OCS site and then later redirect your old domain address
to your OCS site as well, so both address will point to your
new site. This second choice is especially a good choice
if you already have an existing website that you want to be
available while your new OCS site is getting setup.
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How
do we send update information for our website?
Normally,
you can send your information to service@sentweb.com
or you can send information including files using our Live
Help. For sending e-mail, just put the name of your
school in the subject, then type or paste your
information in the e-mail with instructions for which page it
goes on. If you
do not mind waiting a couple extra days, you can mail documents
and pictures to us.
OCS
111
2nd Ave. #12
Tulare,
SD 57476
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How
do we send pictures to you? Just attach the picture(s) in an e-mail
or send them to us through Live Help. Please include instructions as
to where you would like the picture (i.e. Home page, 2nd picture
down on left,etc.). If you do not mind waiting a couple extra
days, you can mail documents and pictures to us.
OCS
111
2nd Ave. #12
Tulare,
SD 57476
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Why
should we get two packages if we have a church with a school?
Yes, it costs more! But with two
separate sites, your
website does not look so busy and visitors are not
confused. We can link back and forth to make your two
sites look seamless (i.e. School button
on church site and a Church button on the school site).
Content such as the special announcement
feature and enhanced sites' calendar system are much more efficient when the school and church
have their own. Our school features often overwhelm a
church site and take away from the emphasis of the
church. If your church site gives the impression that
your school is your entire ministry, many prospective church
visitors are reluctant to try your church because they get the
impression their children must attend your school.
You also do not have to share web programs or logins if you
have different staff which reduces the risk of
error.
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How
do Classrooms Pages work? A simple user
handout can be printed from the Office page to give to each
staff that will be using this system for his/her page. Essentially
this is a blog system with RSS (without the ability for visitor
comment). Individuals in your school can be given unique
logins to allow them to quickly add, edit, or delete their
information on their own page. In the past, information
could not be shared because it all had to go through the
secretary creating a bottleneck effect. The staff had to
take the time to get the information to the secretary and then
the secretary had to take the time to deal with it, often
re-typing it as she tried to translate it. With
the classrooms pages, your school can offer more timely
information than ever before! The secretary or
administrator login has the ability to edit or delete any of
your pages for quality control.
Schools
that are not using online grades, use this system for teachers
to post homework and announcements for each class. Some
schools require their teachers to update their page every week
or month to guarantee more parent traffic by preventing stale
pages. Since it only takes seconds to use, some teachers
will post homework at the end of every day. Others will
post homework/assignments by the week or by the month. Teachers that do
not usually have homework should post what students
accomplished, reminders, or an encouraging thought.
Teachers/staff
have two choices in the format of their page. The first
(recommended) is to edit or change their initial article (post) rather than
adding new articles. The second is to add a new article
each time which will appear at the top of their page with
older articles underneath.
The system offers
basic formatting such as bold, italic, underline, and
bullets. Staff with more advanced tech skills can use
photos and html features.
Schools will often
use this system with support staff as well. Coaches,
Athletic Director, elective teachers, etc. can have their own
pages as well. We usually use this system for your
Prospective Parents page and the From the Administrator page
so they can be quickly updated.
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How
does the From the Principal's Page work?
This is a page created using the Classrooms pages system
above. The administrator can click the Login button on the
page and edit, delete, or add information quickly. Great
for a weekly devotional thought or training. It can be
called whatever you need: Principal's, Administrator's,
Headmaster's, or Pastor's Page.
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Can
we add our own links on our site?
Yes, the administrator or secretary can send the request to us.
Your checklists that you use to setup your site will ask you for
links such as Tuition Management, Sports League, sponsoring
church, etc. but you may have others. We can link any
online grade program to your website for easier parent and
teacher access. Schools should always make their web
presences accessible from one central place to keep it simple
for students and parents. (i.e. sports league websites, tuition
management, scrip systems, security systems such as Honeywell,
fundraising sites, etc.)
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Can
I use my e-mail accounts with Outlook or Outlooks Express or
other Pop programs? Yes, you can use your
mail accounts as pop3 with a variety of programs including
Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Mozilla, Netscape, and many
others. Please see our step-by step
instructions! Remember to Remove old
accounts when you are finished using them or your mail that you
write may show your old e-mail account as the return
address.
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How
do we make a web video? Your Video
or Animated Video Feature
Your Video:
Enhanced Package: This is referring to a custom video that you have created and
not the animated video feature. OCS currently
needs to receive your video on VHS, VHS-C, or in digital format
such as a dvd, cd, or file. We prefer digital for
faster service and often better quality. Generally, webvideos lose some quality,
especially since we make them to run on slower dial-up
connections.
If you are using a
video made by someone else or are using background music,
please make sure you are not infringing on copyright!
OCS assumes you have permission and assumes no liability for
copyright infringement.
It is best to have a closer shot of
people talking or it is harder to see lips moving. It is
also easier to use a printed script that you can follow if
the camera is closer. Try to keep your script to the point
otherwise your video may seem long to viewers. Talking
videos should be limited to only a couple minutes or less if
you are not using changing pictures. You may
want to create a script and insert a small picture in the middle
of your page. Then cut the picture out with scissors and
place your paper over the lens of the camera. You may see
your eyes reading on your original tape, but the webvideo
distorts just enough to hide your eye movement.
Although we can lighten the video, it is good to have plenty of
light, but you do not need spotlights.
Tape
users: Each time you
attempt to record, you may want to rewind your tape so that if
you get a satisfactory take, you will not have to copy it to
another tape OR you can just rewind your tape to the beginning
of your good recording when you send us the tape.
Please mark your tapes/disc with your domain name (internet
address). Send it to:
OCS
111
2nd Ave. #12
Tulare,
SD 57476
Animated
Video Feature: Each OCS account includes an animated video
on the Enrollment or Admissions page. Just send us your
script! Each script should be less than 150
words (60 seconds) for best visitor attention. You can
use your Office page for options and procedures.
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How
much are extra web videos? Each OCS
Enhanced account
includes one custom webvideo. In most cases, this
actually means two because we make two different files from
your original to accommodate broadband and
dial-up. Please contact us if you need more custom
videos. Each OCS account includes an animated
video. Four additional animated videos can be purchased for
$150 per year.
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How
do signup pages work? You can use your
Contact Us page to also include a form below your normal message
sending area for people to signup online for various activities,
responsibilities, or requests. Whatever information
the visitor enters on this page will be e-mailed to the e-mail
address of your choice. Schools can use this page for volunteer
signup, yearbook purchases, uniform orders, e-mailed newsletter,
lunch tickets, special forms, or many other
things. If you are using the ATM/credit card feature
elsewhere on your site, then you can even give parents the
ability to pay for things they want. This feature can save a secretary hours and
hours of visiting time with people stopping in to take care of
something.
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How
do I add more e-mail accounts? Essentially,
you can have as many e-mail accounts as you want. People
that have an e-mail account with you visit your site more often
and keep up with other information located
there. We start you out with an office@ministryname.org
account which is used for your
Contact page. When you first signup with us, you will send
us a list of e-mail accounts that you wish to start
with. Later, you can use your Office page to add or
delete accounts. Please
make sure you send us the exact username you want without any
spaces or punctuation in the username (usually all lowercase).
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How
does the money we collect from our website get handled?
Your money collected from ATM/credit card use from your
website is instantly put in your PayPal account as soon as the
giver's funds are transferred from their card. You
are instantly sent an e-mail notifying you that money has been
received. You can use your PayPal login and password to
securely manage your money. People using an
ATM/credit card do not need to have a PayPal acount setup to
use their card. You can use the Withdraw
feature to transfer any amount of money available to your
checking account. PayPal has reporting
features that will allow you to view the History of your account
for over a year with various viewing options. You also
receive over 1% interest on the funds residing in your PayPal
account. Each deposit into your account from your
website will have the current percentage charge deducted from
the deposit. Currently, 2.9% plus a 30 cent
transaction charge are deducted from each transaction. If
you consistently receive more than a $1000 per month into your
PayPal account, you may qualify for a 2.2%
rate.
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Why
does it cost so much for people to use credit cards?
The cost of handling financial transactions from credit cards is
usually charged to the merchant or receiver of the
funds. Although there are many other bank
merchants that handle credit card services, PayPal is attractive
because there are no monthly charges, enrollment fees, or lease
costs. There are card services that only charge 1.5%
on sales, but they have monthly charges in addition to this that
add up to more than PayPal when only doing a small
volume. Most card services do not give you interest
on your funds while in your account like PayPal does. PayPal has over 45 million users now.
Currently, 2.9% plus a 30 cent transaction charge are deducted
from each transaction. If you consistently receive more
than a $1000 per month into your PayPal account, you may qualify
for a 2.2% rate. Some parents also benefit from air miles or
cash back from using their cards.
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Should
we use Tuition management with our school?
Yes! But! You should consider which method to
use. Tuition management is a real benefit to schools
because it uses a third party system to collect your
money. Relationships are often better when the school is
not directly billing and collecting from parents. Forgive
this next negative thought: sometimes parents will worry
more about a bill to someone else than from your school. If you are going to consider Tuition
Management, you need to weigh out several factors.
Tuition Management systems have a cost to them and offer
different features. The cost can be worth it for
these reasons: It saves time. It reduces the
load on the secretary, administrator, or bookkeeper.
It can take care of late payments. It saves embarrassing
conversations. And sometimes, it reduces write-offs
because it stays on top of late payments.
Here is an overview of one Tuition Management
company:
Smart
Tuition (smarttuition.com)
charges a yearly per family fee of $35. Schools will often
pass this cost onto the family. They also collect a late
fee from parents. They do not pursue collection other than
the late notice. They do not collect registration and book
fees. You will still need to contact the parents for
suspension or arrangements. Smart has an enrollment
form that must be filled out by new families.
Returning families usually do not have to complete a form.
Enrollment forms have to be collected by you and sent to Smart
in June or July. Smart gives the family either the
option of a payment book where parents mail their check to Smart
or the set up an automatic transfer from the family checking
account. Smart will send your funds to you several times a
month. They have good reporting. If you have
100 families, the yearly cost is $3500.
Another tuition management company that some of our schools
use: Facts
Management
Some
thoughts to consider: Maybe use Smart or a similar
system for your tuition management but also set up the PayPal
feature on your website for registration, book fees, donations,
and collecting tuition by credit cards for those who have fallen
behind with Smart. It is often worth losing a small
percentage on school application fees and registration fees
using ATM/credit cards to learn your enrollment sooner! Always try to collect full-year
tuition payments in your school office to save fees.
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Does
OCS have access to our bank account(s)?
No! Rarely, we may request temporary access to your PayPal account
(not your bank account) to create features on your website but we remind you to change
your password afterward. We even send the instructions on
how to do it. Passwords should be changed regularly
on financial accounts anyway! Note: Never change your
financial information from an e-mail link sent to you!
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How
does OCS promote our website and how do we promote our
website? Each website is submitted to
several search engines every couple of months. Any more often is
usually counterproductive. We also use some reciprocal
links with OCS which boosts you in the search engines.
The longer your website is up and the more it is used, the
higher you will go in the search engines. You may find
that older, existing links to your school come up above your
newer OCS site at first. Generally, a school's goal with a
search engine is so when someone types in your school name, your
site will be at the top of the results. It is important to
let us know if there are other names your school might be known
as so we can enter those for keywords with the search
engines.
You will want to use your website address on all
your publications, business cards, Yellow page ads, other
advertisements, church signs, church bulletin, letterhead, etc.
You should use the www. in front of your printed address (www.onlinechristianschools.com)
so people will know it is a website address. You
do not need to put the http:// in front of your address to work,
and people that don't know that have more to remember. Look for
local websites such as Chamber of Commerce and other community
organizations and contact them to be added to their directory
page. You or your marketing committee can take the time to
add your school to directories on the internet such as Yahoo
Yellow Pages or MSN
Yellow Pages where visitors search by category and city.
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Does
OCS offer anything for referrals?
Yes! Tell your friends to make sure to put your name in
the How Did You Here About Us question on their Signup
form. You will be e-mailed a choice of rewards!
Contact us for more information.
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Does
OCS use flash in their websites? You can
send us a flash file for your website intro or we can design a
custom flash intro or other flash features for you for an
additional cost. We only use limited flash features in our standard
structure because of the significant number of
dial-up internet connections still in use and the rapid
development of RSS, cell phone access, etc. where flash can be
cumbersome. This will
probably change in the next 12-24 months, but until then, OCS is trying to make all their websites functional for ALL
visitors! We realize people love to use cool special
effects, however most of these effects slow down visitors from
getting to information that they came to your site for.
Please contact us to inquire about flash or other
features.
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Our
school presently has a web-site. Can you use our existing domain?
Yes! We would need to change what is
called the nameserver addresses on your current domain name to
point to our server. Usually, we either need your login for the
domain account so we can make the changes, or we can give you
the nameserver addresses so you can change it. Whoever initially
registered your domain name will usually have the login.
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How
do I choose a good domain name?
A domain name is the unique address of YOUR website (www.yourname.org).
You will have to make two choices in deciding a domain
name: the first choice is the first part of the name (www.yourname)
and the second choice is the extension (.com, .org, ,net, .us, .ws,
.info). Originally, most business sites used
.com and most non-profits used .org. Today, we see many
ministries using .com because most people remember .com out of
habit. However, if the organization's preference for a
name has already been registered by someone else, the name can
still be registered with .net, .org, .us, .ws, or .info.
The major problem with this approach is the visitors to your
site might forget what extension you use and go to the .com out
of habit. Generally, your full school name is the best
choice (ourtownchristianschool.com) and will help you in the
search engines. You may hear some complaints about it being so
long, but you will never miss a visit to your site or miss
receiving an e-mail because someone couldn't remember your
website! If your school's initials are 4 or more
characters, there may be a chance the name is available.
If your initials are 3 or less, you probably won't be able to
get it. We do not recommend a blend of initials
and words. Many 4-letter .com's have already been registered, but sometimes
the other extensions are available. So the possibility for
www.bgbs.us might be considered for Blue Grass Baptist
School.
Here is a suggested process in
choosing your domain name:
-
Use your full organization name (www.bluegrassbaptistschool.com)
which may have a good possibility of being available.
-
Use your initials that people
are familiar with (www.bgbs.com) and we will immediately let
you know what is available including other extensions.
-
If you have a very common name (Grace
Christian Academy), you may want to consider
www.gcaonline.org or www.chicagogca.com or www.graceca.org
or www.gcaofchicago.com or
www.gracechristianacademyofchicago.com.
Special Note: We can register more than
one name for you that will take visitors to your site.
Your first domain name cost is included in your package.
Each additional name is $35 per year and will be redirected to
your website. You may only use e-mail addresses with your
main domain name. Contact us for details.
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Do
you provide spam filtering/e-mail virus protection?
Our servers check for viruses automatically and
includes a spam filter. The spam filter does not prevent
all spam, as spammers are continually trying to get around
filters. If you are inundated with spam, you can let us
know and we can turn on a confirmation system which requires
all senders to confirm they are a real person before letting
your message go through. Parents and friends will only
have to do this once. Most spammers do not take the time
to confirm. You can also go to your e-mail options within
your account
and set your account to deliver mail to the trash if the subject
contains Fwd. (a forwarded e-mail) or any other word you do
not like. Another feature our e-mail has is a Block
feature, so when you receive a message that you don't want
again, you can use the block it button at the bottom of the
message instead of taking the time to
unsubscribe from their list. In
our e-mail instructions, there is a section on how to not get on
spammer's list in the first place along with some other good
training. You may also want to visit our Computer
Survival Guide.
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Who
is responsible for updating the content on the website?
Schools have several areas that can be updated
directly by the school. Changing content is what keeps
people coming back! Pages that are more complicated to
change are done by OCS using our e-mail or Live
Help. We are structured
somewhat like a support secretary in your ministry. We handle
the technology aspects and leave the documents and content up to
the administration/secretaries/teachers. Rather than having to learn complicated programming, schools can
focus on what they do best. OCS is unique in that we are
looking out for you instead of letting you figure it out.
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Do
you back up e-mail and websites and if so, how often?
The servers are backed up daily by a service that we
pay for. However, we backup and download your website/e-mail to
our computers on a monthly basis in case for some reason the
above service fails.
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What
kind of program files can we send to OCS? OCS
can normally use any type of file created from any program to
extract information for your website. You can send OCS
your already created documents by attaching them through e-mail
or using our Live Help. We do recommend Microsoft Word (any
version), Word Perfect (any version), Microsoft Works
(any version), Word Pad (any version), Excel (any
version), and Microsoft Publisher (all except version
98). Programs not listed above may take us an extra
day to extract or convert for usage such as Print
Shop and Publisher 98.
If
you would like to have printable documents available (i.e.
enrollment forms and newsletters), we usually convert them
to .pdf (Adobe Reader) format so web
visitors can click a link to open the document and view them
exactly how you intended. This keeps the printed web version the same as if
you printed it in your office. We can
place a link to a free download of the Acrobat Reader program on
the same page in case the visitor oes not have a Reader program.
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How
does Live Help Work? OCS uses a special web page
with chat features. You can also easily and quickly send
us files with Live Help from your computer while we are chatting
about what to do with them. The nice thing about Live
Help for a secretary is that you do not have to wait for an
e-mail response or be unavailable to other office duties while
talking to us on a phone! We understand if the phone
rings, someone walks into the office, or you have another
task. Just leave your Live Help window open and return
when you can. Be sure to complete your needs before Live
Help closes. Live Help is available from your Office
page. Just click the Live Help link and enter your
first name and click Enter Live Help. It is
available Monday-Friday 7am-3pm PST (8am-4pm MST) (9am-5pm CST)
(10am-6pm EST). You may want to bookmark or add to
favorites the Live Help login page so you do not have to login
to your Office page first. The right side of the Live Help
page has simple instructions for sending files to make your
first couple uses easier. Currently, for efficiency and
simplicity, you may see other people being helped on the same
screen. Just jump in and give us your instructions or ask
a question! You can always communicate with us via e-mail
at service@sentweb.com.
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Online
Grades Overview
OCS has researched most of the grading and
records options available and has found a great tool for
smaller Christian schools to consider. Many online
grading systems are expensive, complex, and training teachers
can be a challenge. The account that OCS includes
with your website is simple enough that your staff can be
given a one sheet handout and run with it. No need
for extensive meetings, teacher meltdowns, or expensive and
time-consuming training. Web-based grading provides more
flexibility for teachers going between school and home.
It eliminates the crisis when a computer breaks down.
Technology requirements are simplified for schools by only
needing internet access instead of a complicated network and
server. Each OCS account includes one online grades
account.
The teacher, parent, student login can be put
on your Home page to keep your parent web visits centralized
to encourage visits to other valuable information on your
website that is not covered in most grade/records programs and
make it less confusing for parents.
The online
grades system OCS uses has attendance, grades, assignments,
lesson plans, individual comment features for each student
plus much more. It is very easy to use.
Normally, it only takes a few minutes to get the system
operational. We can give you guides for usage based upon
the Christian school curriculum you use.
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Using
Online Grades with an Individualized Curriculum
If your school
uses an individualized Christian curriculum such as A.C.E. or
Alpha Omega, then you may want to consider using the included
grading account for your entire school. We have an
easy-to-use guide for individualized curriculums using online
grades.
Essentially you
have three grading options to consider:
