Website tips

WEBSITE HELP AND TIPS from your WEBMASTER
(for active MSC members only)

1) Email your document to the webmaster. The document can be in almost any form: PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. The webmaster will rename the document and create a PDF (Portable Document Format) suitable for posting on the website. He'll upload the PDF to the website and establish all appropriate links to it through out the website.
Note: Apple users must save their document in an equivalent Microsoft version, or provide a PDF.

2) All posted documents must have some form of issue control in the body of the document. (Just like this webpage has -scroll down to the bottom!).
You can use a date, issue number, revision number or whatever works for you, but it must be in the body of the document somewhere, as a footnote, or below the title, for example.
Relying on the name of your file or the properties of that file is inadequate, since neither of those will be available to the final viewer of the PDF on the website.

Why issue control, you might ask?
Well, once a document is posted on the website you no longer have any control over what people will do with it. For example, they may:
-view it on a computer, laptop or mobile device.
-print it and perhaps stick it to the refrigerator with a magnet.
-file a printed copy.
-post it on a public bulletin board somewhere.
-save it to a computer or mobile device.
-attach it to an email and send it to countless other people.
-create a link to it in another website.
-and other, more creative things!

It is imperative that people be able to distinguish one version from another! Never assume that your original version will never be updated!

So, when you eventually find an error in your document, edit your original, change it's issue date, and email the revised version to the webmaster. Politely request that he update the copy of your document on the website as soon as he can. The webmaster will let you know when that has been done.

3) Lastly, this is not an unusual request. Think of all the documents you interact with on a regular basis. Nearly all of them have some form of issue control that establishes the version that you are looking at:
-newspapers and magazines
-all receipts
-bank and credit card statements
-many webpages, especially if they contain time sensitive info.
-checks
-order confirmations from websites (think Amazon.com)
-and almost everything else

Disclaimer: Documents must be approved by the current Board of Directors and the Webmaster prior to posting. The Webmaster will not edit your document in any way. You are the keeper of the original and must make all changes. Documents without proper issue control will not be posted.