CONTRACT: Web Development

*** ** Send replies directly to: <cbranson(at)asne.org> ** ***



July 21, 2000

The American Society of Newspaper Editors is seeking a proposal to build a=
=20
Web site to promote high school journalism.

We have purchased the domain { HYPERLINK=20
"<http://www.highschooljournalism.org>http://www.highschooljournalism.<http:=
//www.highschooljournalism.org>org"=20
}www.highschooljournalism.org and selected Interland as our ISP. The site=20
will be in an NT environment.

The bid must include the overall site design as well as design of a=20
back-end database (possibly utilizing SQL in an ASP environment).

The Web site, set for launch in early September, will be a resource for=20
high school journalists, their teachers/advisers, guidance counselors and=20
ASNE=92s membership, which is comprised of the editors of daily newspapers.

On the following pages, we list specific components that we want built into=
=20
the site.

In the event you decide to submit a proposal, the deadline is a week from=20
today =97 July 28. We=92ll move to quickly select a bid, with a deadline for=
=20
completion of the site to be Sept. 1.

As part of your bid, please include references and sample URLs of sites=20
your firm has done.

ASNE, a non-profit group, was founded in 1922 and is the largest=20
professional organization of editors of daily newspapers throughout the=20
Americas.
If you have any questions about the proposal, don=92t hesitate to contact=20
Craig Branson at 703/453-1123 or cbranson(at)asne.org
{ HYPERLINK=20
"<http://WWW.Highschooljournalism.org>http://WWW.Highschooljournalism.<http:=
//WWW.Highschooljournalism.org>org"=20
}www.highschooljournalism.org

Mission: Build a Web site for the high school project of the American=20
Society of Newspaper Editors that can be systemically and easily expanded=20
and maintained by ASNE.

Web site goal: An interactive, educational and fun Web metasite with a main=
=20
page and four major sub-sections featuring unique content:

=B7 Student resources

=B7 Teacher/Adviser resources

=B7 Guidance Counselor resources

=B7 Newspaper Editors

Content from the existing www.asne.org that relates to high school=20
journalism will also be featured.

This is to be a high usability site. All graphics and other devices must=20
help the user experience. Additionally, it is to be a relatively=20
low-bandwidth site.

The main page will feature a lesson plan or story of the day, perhaps with=
=20
art, perhaps not; this could be a tease to an item or it could be the=20
beginning of an item itself. The rest of the page would also have an=20
interactive/multimedia feature (like a quiz or video clip link opportunity)=
=20
or section-specific headlines in a lesser form (showing what=92s new in each=
=20
section), an about this site link, a search box (with an advanced search=20
link) and a scholastic press freedom link.

Major content areas would have links to archived stories germane to each=20
major subject area (for example, adviser resources =97 stories about adviser=
=20
issues, links to awards they can win, etc.). Color or another cue will tell=
=20
people where they are and appear unified with the rest of its content area.

We plan to change content frequently and need a system that allows us to=20
conduct straightforward maintenance, updating and linking. The site may=20
grow to a few thousand pages. We believe that a database-driven site is a=20
reasonable way to proceed. We would require that this database be designed=
=20
as part of this project.

Other aspects/capabilities: =B7 Search versatility. We will need a basic=20
search method and an advanced one that allows searches with Boolean=20
phrases, area-specific, dates, phrases, exact words, names or URL links.

=B7 On-the-fly related topic search. For any story that comes up, we would=
=20
like 10 stories related to it to come up in a little =93Related topics=94=
 box=20
on the side.

=B7 =93What=92s popular=94 list. Compiled daily or more frequently, a=
 listing=20
showing the most popular pages on the site appearing on the home page.

=B7 Live interactive chats. We intend to have large-scale =93broadcast=94=
 chats=20
between editors and their brethren at high schools. We would want the=20
ability to have 1,000 participants at once. We also want the capacity for=20
non-linear chats (FYI, by non-linear chat, we mean the equivalent of an=20
advice columnist responding to letter writers.)

=B7 A uniform method of knowing your location in the site. For example,=20
Home>Student>First Amendment>Hazelwood>A summary of the Hazelwood case.

=B7 An easy way to post information with an intuitive way of entering data.=
=20
The database for entering information should have a Web component (or=20
perhaps should be Web-based only) so that information can be entered=20
remotely. We would need to be able to regulate this data entry somehow. We=
=20
would like the ability to do occasional, limited exchanges between the=20
online database and our existing Access database. The database will be used=
 to:

o Maintain a listing of student press association contacts.

o Maintain a listing of student scholarship information.

o Maintain a listing of designated contacts at newspapers that high school=
=20
advisers could talk to/get advice from.

o Maintain a listing of accredited journalism schools.

o Maintain a listing of high school newspapers.

=B7 An automated method of updating/checking links. A program that checks=20
links nightly to ensure they=92re working; program should have ability to=20
e-mail warnings to a site supervisor or show status easily.

=B7 Coordination. Each main subject area should be instantly recognizable.=
=20
This could be a background color for the page, color accents or =93skins=94=
 or=20
something else entirely.

=B7 A rotating high school paper site. Via the database, we would like the=
=20
ability to list a random high school newspaper as a link every time the=20
front page loads. This would be near a link that would take you to a page=20
that would list every online high school paper in the database.

=B7 ASNE=92s connection to the program should be clear and on every page.=
 There=20
should be a link to ASNE=92s site at least on the front page.

=B7 Design of a =93high school journalism project=94 logo.

=B7 The following links would anchor of the inside content area pages:

o An =93Ask a pro=94 column previewed on the main screen and linked to the=
=20
student resource section.

o A Curriculum link that appears on the main page and connects to the=20
teacher/adviser section.

o A Scholastic Awards link geared toward students interested in pursuing=20
journalism in college.

=B7 Hosting a dilemma of the week, which would explain the dilemma, then let=
=20
students or advisers vote, showing the score graphically on another page=20
and explaining what the =93right=94 decision is.

What we already have through Interland:

=B7 300 MB Hard Disk Storage

=B7 20GB Transfer Per Month

=B7 Real Media Server/Windows Media Server

=B7 SQL Server

=B7 ColdFusion

=B7 SA FileUp

ASNE has the following software that could be used in the building and=20
maintenance of the site:

=B7 Dreamweaver 3

=B7 Flash 4

=B7 Photoshop 5.5

=B7 Access 2000

Please advise us on other software we would need to purchase to accomplish=
=20
our goals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Craig Branson Online Director=20
American Society of Newspaper Editors 11690B Sunrise Valley Drive Reston,=20
Va. 20191-1409 703/453-1123 (Fax: 703/453-1133) cbranson(at)asne.org=20
<http://www.asne.org/>http://www.asne.org<http://www.asne.org/>/=20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





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