Guidelines for Districts
The Northeastern New York A.A. Area 48 Technical Committee has developed a website template which Area 48 districts are welcome to utilize. Most districts find it important to maintain transparency with respect to finances, district meeting agendas and minutes. Many districts regularly inform groups of important information through the distribution of a newsletter as well.
There are some districts within Area 48 that have been challenged with filling the district committee service position of website coordinator. Other districts have website coordinators who could benefit from technical assistance provided by the area technical committee.
To that end, we have developed a website template that provides a simple format for a district to make available important information to its members and the public. This format includes a Home Page, and pages for Meetings, Reports, and Newsletters as well as a page for important A.A. resources.
Website Layout
The Menu bar appears as:
Home Meetings Reports Contacts Newsletter Resources Events
The Home Page has a district logo and a Picture or image that best fits the district. It also includes a description of the district which can be composed according to group consensus. One additional feature of the page is an announcement window, just below the picture or image, which can be used by the DCM to post relevant announcement notices.
The Meetings Page is simple and contains two links- District Meetings, and Area Meetings
Reports listed on the Reports Page are Monthly Minutes, Agendas, and Treasurer Reports.
Monthly Newsletters are listed on the Newsletter Page.
The Resources Page includes links to AA World Services, Area 48, the CDCO, and A.A. readings.
Most of the website information remains static and does not change (i.e., the Home Page). The key to the system is the way information is posted each month to the website. Trusted servants responsible for reports prepare them as they normally would – PDF, Spreadsheet, Document, etc.
Posting District Reports to the Website
When a report is ready for posting following a district meeting the trusted servant simply emails the report to a special email address, with a specific subject.
For instance, if I had prepared a document representing the district meeting minutes I would address my email as follows:
To: districtX@special-address.org
Subject: Minutes: MM 22-12
Where “X” equals district number and “special-address.org” is a unique email domain used only by trusted servants of that district. Further, only specific email addresses are allowed to reach the “special-address.org” email domain to post reports. There is two-factor security restricting anyone from posting on the website.
The “Subject:” format is simple and consists of the “Post type” with a “:”, and then the name of the document. In the example above the name represents “MM” Meeting Minutes December 2022.
To post all monthly reports three emails are sent as follows:
To: District2post@aaalbanyny.org
Subject: Minutes: M 22-12 December ……………..Meeting Minutes December 2022
To: District2post@aaalbanyny.org
Subject: Agenda: A 22-10 October ……………..Agenda October 2022
To: District2post@aaalbanyny.org
Subject: Treasurer: T 23-04 April ……………….Treasurer April 2023
The area technical committee will set up the special email address and configure your specific email addresses; which would be allowed to post reports to the website. Basic support for the website will also be provided.
We’re confident that a district can have a website with up-to-date information running quickly. Any district adopting this format will be required to name a website coordinator to at least serve as point person and to hopefully learn how to perform basic administration functions.
Current Post Categories:
Minutes
Agenda
Treasurer
Newsletter
Update
Announcement
District Website Coordinator
The Area Tech Committee agrees to provide this website template to districts who name a web coordinator, or liaison to the Tech Committee. A website development or other technical background is not required. The district web person will be the Tech Committee contact for support requests, website content changes, and a district meeting weekly refresh process.
Three specific functions are required and training will be provided to the web coordinator:
- Correct a district post or title
- Login and press a button to refresh the district meetings each week.- Preferably on Monday after the Area Meeting list has been updated on Sunday
- Generate a PDF Meeting list – which may also be printed hard copy, if required.
Correcting posts is done with the Post editor, a straightforward post management system. Refreshing the meeting list is accomplished by logging into the site dashboard: https://yourdistrict.NENYAA.org/wp-admin/
- Login into dashboard and select “Meetings”
- Select “Import & Settings”
- Press the Refresh Button
The functions of the website coordinator are not complicated and represent 3 tasks which are readily mastered. The Tech Committee is available to help with any challenge that may come up. You can open a support ticket, or join the monthly technical committee meeting to discuss your district’s website, or any other subject that may be of interest to you.
Should you be interested in learning more about website development and management please let us know. We have volunteers who are skilled in these areas and are more than happy to help.
Join The Area 48 Tech Committee Meeting
3rd Tuesday of each Month at 6:00 PM
Zoom Meeting