Special purpose websites
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Most people when they think of the web think of public websites that are available to anyone in the world with an internet connection. But there are other websites with specific purposes that have restricted access or which provide an entry point to a group of other websites.
Intranets
A website that is only available to staff and volunteers is known as an intranet. It is a website built using the same technology and design processes and is no different in principle to an ordinary site except that access is restricted.
Some intranets are available over the internet but access is via a password. Others are only available within an organisation on its own network.
The main purpose of an intranet is to make life easier for staff and volunteers. When designing an intranet ask what frustrates them about getting information and use that as your starting point.
Key content to consider for an intranet:
- a staff and volunteer directory or contact list
- staff forms, e.g. leave, expense claims, volunteer registration
- organisational policies, e.g. on client confidentiality, employment conditions
- internal events calendar
The cost of setting up and maintaining an intranet can be low if you already have a website. Your intranet can be as simple as a separate section on your public website accessible only by password.
The simplest password system will be where everyone uses the same login which, for security purposes, you might want to change every six months or so.
True story
An intranet needs proper coordination
The South West Respite Network www.respitesouthwest.org.au
is a group of service providers coordinating respite care in south-west Victoria.
Respite care supports and maintains the relationship between primary care-givers and recipients by providing short-term breaks for the carer and positive experiences for the care recipient.
With 25 service providers in the region spread over such a broad region and knowledge of available services inadequate, the network recognised that improved communications were the key to success. As face-to-face meetings were not easy to arrange, some form of online network was needed, and the most cost-effective way to involve everyone was to develop an intranet for members and staff.
The intranet has contributed to improved relationships between service providers and created a sense of belonging to a real network. The project succeeded through cooperation across the age, disability and mental health sectors, all of which have a demand for respite care.
An earlier competitive tendering system had created some problems in maintaining cooperative working relationships, but there remained a level of goodwill that could be built on.
Without a network coordinator the intranet could not have worked. The coordinator has time to work with agencies in a sustained way on the use of the technology and has contributed to a constant flow of information in an environment where service providers often do not have the time to update their information.
More information
Jakob Nielsen’s usability website www.useit.com has a number of good articles about intranets and usability.
Extranets
An extranet is similar to an intranet but instead of a website that is only available to staff and volunteers the audience is defined differently: a group of related organisations or perhaps board members and senior staff from one organisation.
Examples include:
- HSNet which is a resource for nonprofits working in human resources in NSW run by the state government.
- an extranet developed for Australian community legal centres that allow member organisations to post documents online, collaborate on developing these documents and share information.
The sort of content that an extranet might contain includes:
- papers for board members
- discussion forum for key staff.
Portals
The term portal can refer to different things. In the context of large organisations it is a ‘gateway’ application that provides personalised content, online applications and access to internal systems and databases.
But that’s not a lot of use to most nonprofits. For our purpose a portal is better thought of as a gateway website into information held on other websites. It provides users with the advantage of clustering related information in one place.
A portal can be as simple as a glorified links page or it can be a more complicated umbrella site that integrates the key work of a number of related organisations and allows them to pool information in shared databases.
A national web portal for, say, welfare rights groups in different areas can provide general information about your different organisations and provide a ‘one-stop’ shop to direct potential clients to the services of the organisation most relevant to them.
The development of RSS feeds allows portals to include regularly updating information from other sources such as the ‘latest news’ of key related sites. Unions for example can use the ‘ACTU News’ section of the ACTU website to provide feeds on their own site.
More information
Whether a portal website is useful for your organisation depends on the field you are in and the needs of you and your users.
- See Getting listed in directories and portals
- Paper by a consultant explaining more about portals.