Short URL for this page

http://scouts.habichts.net

Static domain names for (just Ithaca?) area Scout units

Genesis

Two Ithaca-based BSA groups (Pack 4 and Troop 4) have parent committee boards who have explicitly expressed to me (Oliver Habicht) an interest in establishing a more permanent web address (via a domain name) so that regardless of where their web-based material is hosted (of which there could be more than one, and many of which will change over time!), their main web name remains the same.

Thoughts and ideas, so far

The most expensive way to achieve a static domain name for a unit is for each unit to get their own domain name. This is effective, and some BSA groups have already been doing this for years in Ithaca:

www.troop2ithaca.org
www.troop55ithaca.com [don't know why they selected *.com, not *.org]

This is in comparison to "piggy-backing" on the District top-level domain (TLD), as we do in Troop 4:

http://troop4.tcscouts.org/

I suggest that establishing a domain name at the "right level" will not only achieve providing units with a static domain name, but will make maintaining referrals at the Taughannock District's web site easier, more rational, and less prone to error. For example, I noted that although Troop 55 has a dedicated domain name, the Taughannock District's web site points to Troop 2's site to get Troop 55 domain name!

http://home.htva.net/~wb2jwd/scout.htm
See bottom of page's section, "There's a Scout Troop near you!"]: "Ellis Hollow – Troop 55" points to ->
http://www.troop2ithaca.org/Units.htm

Having an easily-understood URL naming convention would improve such communications as well as promote discovery of unit information by perspective Scouts and parents.

Taughannock District's Packs are listed here:

http://home.htva.net/~wb2jwd/cub.htm

And Taughannock District's Packs are listed here:

http://home.htva.net/~wb2jwd/scout.htm

Specific domain name ideas

Domain name	Implied scope BSA Scout Troops, Packs, and others.) Q: Include non-BSA, such as Girl Scouts units and 4H, too?	Notes
tompkinscortlandscouts.org	entire Taughannock District (~18 Troops, ~19 Packs)	Domain already owned by district. Choose not to hang off of <bpcouncil.org> domain.
tcscouts.org	Tompkins County units (~11 Troops, ~11 Packs)
tompkinsscouts.org	Tompkins County units (~11 Troops, ~11 Packs)
ithacascouts.org	Ithaca region units (~4 Troops, ~4 Packs)
mytroop.us	N/A. Use Soar's web service for Troop communications and data store.	http://www.mytroop.us/demo.html (a service from http://www.soarol.com/) Examples: http://dunwoody494.mytroop.us/ http://atlanta631.mytroop.us/
bsawebhost.com/	N/A. Use TroopWebHost's web service for Troop communications and data store.	http://troopwebhost.com/Demo.htm Examples: http://troopwebhost.com/Logon.htm http://www.bsawebhost.com/Troop4StLouis http://www.bsawebhost.com/Troop1199Cumming/Index.htm

Examples, using one of the above domains

For example, if we deem the "right level" of scope to be Ithaca-based Scout groups (something like <ithacascouts.org>), here's what things could look like:

troop2.ithacascouts.org
troop4.ithacascouts.org
troop55.ithacascouts.org
troop67.ithacascouts.org
pack4.ithacascouts.org
pack55.ithacascouts.org
[...]

We could even establish a default hosting page (say, on pbwiki.com) for units without a current central, traditional "web page" presence, pointing to their Facebook, Yahoo!, and other pages. The page would also contain more static information, such as general meeting information and contact information which would only need to be updated annually or so.

Having a domain name would also provide us the capacity to have standardized(!) domain name email addresses linked to individual email addresses. For example:

troop2@ithacascouts.org => Email is sent to the Troop 2 Scoutmaster (and Cmt Chair?)
troop2sm@ithacascouts.org => just to the Scoutmaster
pack4@ithacascouts.org => to the Cubmaster (and Cmt Chair?)
[...]

Doing so still means maintaining email address changes (via the domain name service provider- easy!), but no changes would subsequently have to be made to Taughannock District's web site.

Note that units with existing domain names would still be able to pay each year to maintain their own, unit-specific domain name. :-)

One advantage of a coordinated effort is that the annual cost of domain name services (less than $60/yr) could either be shared directly, or perhaps even funded centrally (District level??) to reduce administrative overhead and ensure "ownership" of the (centralized) domain name and appropriate user access so it is sustainable over time.