RoboForm for iPad

Church communicators often have multiple online account logins -- web site administration, email administration, blog accounts, YouTube accounts, etc. These can be a nightnmare to remember if you adopt good security practices of using multiple user name s and different passwords everrywhere.

The solution is to use good password mamnagement software. Roboform is one such program.

RoboForm Everywhere 7 now is available for iPad 2, iPhone, and iPod Touch. It requires purchase of an annual subscription to RoboForm Everywhere. RoboForm Everywhere is a "cloud solution" that keeps your web site, login name, and password data on a remote server.
I wanted to know how the app compares with the Roboform Desktop/laptop edition. Here's what I found so far...

• Tough to contact. I had a hard time finding out how to contact the RoboForm developer (Siber Systems) by email to ask some questions.
  Here's the tech support URL -- they reply by email.
• Annual ssubscription fee. The 1-yr. subscription cost is currently discounted to $10. Added years are the normal $20. I'm not sure I like that. The Desktop edition lets you keep one version for several years and get updates for the version you buy free. New version upgrades cost $20. I guess that their rationale is that the RoboForm Everywhere edition can be used on multiple computers. Also, this cloud subscription service is in keeping with the software industry cloud service fee schemes. But to me it smacks of a way to keep the dollars flowing for the developer.
• App security issue. I do not like being limited to a 4-digit PIN for access to the RoboForm app itself. It should allow at least the option to use a strong password (upper case letters, lower case letters, numerals, and symbols). After all, this one app password opens up a storehouse of all your key web sites, login names, and passwords. The reply to my question about this from Siber Systems is that PIN to access the app is in addition to the complex password you can use to access your actual Roboform data stored online. But since the iPad iOS 4.0 and higher lets you choose a 4-digit PIN or a complex password, as an app dealing in information security, I'd like to see RoboForm adopt that option too.
• Data protection. Like with many cloud services, the quality of protection your data gets is at the mercy of the company that stores your data. Banks, credit card companies, and other businesses keep showing up in the news as getting hacked. So if you always keep your own computer patched and always practice safe computing, you may want to use the local desktop/laptop version. 
• Convenience vs. security trade-off. Using Roboform Everywhere to store information at a remote server and be able to access it from anywhere may be too tempting to pass up.

Related links

• Roboform Everywhere 7 overview
• Roboform Everywhere 7 Review (PC Magazine, Feb. 2011)
• Roboform Desktop 7 review (PC Magazine, Feb. 2011)

Managing a lot of passwords

I have tons of web sites that require logins and passwords. Remembering them all is not really feasible, since I use a different name and password for most sites. So I researched password manager programs.

I like RoboForm for managing web site login names and passwords. The program is available for the below Operating Systems:

• Windows
• MacOS
• Linux

RoboForm also has three "flavors":

• RoboForm Desktop.
  This edition is for one desktop or laptop computer. The encrypted password-related files are stored on that computer. If you use this solution, remember to "back up" your lengthy site, login name, and password data and store it somewhere other than on your computer.
• RoboForm Everywhere.
  This is a cloud solution. Your login and password data is stored on remote servers. Since the solution is a cloud one, your login and password data is available from any computer with Internet access. I'm personally hesitant to blindly trust most companies' information system security, but the choice is there. Using RoboForm on a mobile device requires this edition.
• RoboForm2Go.
  This is portable solution for one USB flash drive. This may be a handy solution if you use both a desktop and a laptop, as you could use RoboForm2Go on the USB drive on each computer. The license is per USB drive, not per computer.

Platforms supported by RoboForm:

• Desktop/laptop
• Internet Explorer
• FireFox
• Chrome
• Opera
• Safari (MacOS)
• USB Drives (RoboForm2Go)
• U3 flash drives
• Mobile (app is free, but use requires the RoboForm Everywhere edition)
• Android
• iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
• Blackberry

There are other program managers on the market, but I'm fond of this one. It also originally came recommended by Fred Langa (Senior Editor, Windows Secrets newsletter), which encouraged me to check it out.

I'll report on RoboForm for an iPhone/iPad/iPod in a future post.

Password tips

Anyone associated with a church web presence usually has a slug of sites and passwords they need to remember.

Some cautions and tips for login names and passwords.

• Use a different login name for different web sites.
• Avoid using your real name as any part of your login name.
• Don't use the same password for multiple web sites. Use a different one for each.
• Make passwords strong (8 or more characters plus a mix of upper case letters, lower case letters, numerals, and symbols such as ^). Ideally, use 13 or 14 total characters.
• Don't use any part of your name, birthdate, pets names, etc. in your password -- nothing a criminal could pull from some part of the web (including a social media profile you think is "locked down").

To help you remember passwords, use a long passphrase, then adjust for the character mix as above. A password/phrase that is at least 13 characters is very hard to crack.

Example: Thyrpualptaftcmaa is the first letter of each word in the prior paragraph's first sentence. We can then adjust that and change some to characters, insert numerals, and remove a couple letters to set the total here to 14: ThYrPu^13ptae$

If you feel the need for good password manager software, stay tuned for a future post "Managing a lot of passwords".

Sentence Sermons - part 2

In his book "701 Sentence Sermons", L. James Harvey gives several excellent tips for excellent text for church signs and wherever else the church uses that sentence sermon -- see Sentence Sermons - part 1.

Below are are a few tips based on Volume 1 of Harvey's book.

• Condense the English.
  You don't need to include every word of every saying or quote. You can even rearrange the messages to better fit the sign. Most signs have only 3 to 5 lines for brief text.
• Consider line breaks.
• Decide what wording makes the separate lines read better. Revise the wording as needed, but keep the meaning clear.
• Use a line break for natural speach pauses.
• Use a line break for most commas.
• Consider the speed of passing cars.
Even passengers in a moving car have only a few short seconbds to read and understand the entire message.
• Consider your church's theogical views.
  Don't use sentence sermons that run contrary to your church's views.

Communion: Eat. Pray. Love.

Sometimes we can get spiritual messages from the world around us. That's what happened to me recently. While reading "701 Sermon Sentences" ideas, a possible church sign message related to communion popped into my head ...

COMMUNION -
EAT PRAY LOVE

You could even add a tag such as "Join us Sunday". The message is accurate, relates to the modern world, and is spiritual.

We don't really give much communications "push" to Communion. Maybe we should! Perhaps we  could develop a graphic and then add color posters or flyers (mini-posters) around the church "advertising" Communion in addition to using the words on the church sign that week. That's how the above graphic was born.

If we treat a "Communion Sunday" as one at which we expect lower attendance, it will likely happen. What would happen if we instead treated and advertised a Communion Sunday as a special one.

This reasoning does not exactly fit those few churches that have Communion every Sunday, of course. But in any case, perhaps we shouold "advertise" communion better.

Sentence Sermons - part 1

When I cruised through a local Cokesbury store, I noticed a paperback titled, "701 Sentence Sermons" by L. James Harvey. The cover showed a church sign. After a quick skim, I added the book to a small pile for the checkout.

Harvey stresses that the book is about a lot more than just church signage. He coined the phrase "sentence sermons" because he says that church signage should be short sermons. Also, he didn't title the book about church signs because he strongly encourages churches to use the sign "sentence sermons" in several ways, not just on signs.

In our modern multimedia world, some churches give less importance to the non-computer, non-video variety of media that is available. But excellence in communications means that churches need to employ a wide variety of media.

Types of "sentence sermons"

• Advertising of upcoming events (keep to a bare minimum, Harvey says).
• Bible-oriented messages.
• Wisdom messages [a famous quote, for example]. These may reach a currently unchurched person better than quoting scripture.

Places to use "sentence sermons"

• On the church roadside sign (duh!).
• In church staff email sigs.
• In Sunday bulletins.
• In church newsletters.
• In a tweet.
• In a blog entry.
• In sermons!
• As a teaser in an ad.
• [your idea here].

If you have a church sign that allows for messages, you may also want to pull ideas from Volumes 2, 3 and 4 of this Sentence Sermons series by L. James Harvey.

Another book that looks interesting is "Signs for These Times" by Ronald Glusenkamp. That one includes chapters oriented on themes and seasons. The book also includes a topic an scripture index. That could come in very handy for finding a sentence sermon that relates to an upcoming Sunday sermon.

Sermon planning
Sermon planning should include planning sentence sermons. Plant them on the church sign, in email sigs, and in the bulletin. Then watch them bear fruit.

Ask congregation members to suggest a brief "sentence sermon" about the Sunday sermon. Post an accepted idea on the church sign for the next week. Then announce (in church or in the Sunday Bulletin or newsletter or news blog) whose idea it was.

We're baaaak

After a long hiatus, the Webs4Churches blog posating has now resumed. Work, home and health all dovetailed to reduce time available and keep me exhausted.

I hope to post about once a week or so. That may seem infrequent, but that schedule should also help me keep postings a higher quality.

91% feel church insensitive

According to research conducted by Barna, 91 percent of non-Christians believe that the church isn't sensitive to their needs. Why? Jargon ("insider terms"), incomplete information, information that doesn't address daily concerns.

Tip: Design and write "for the least" among potential visitors. Avoid "churchy" language.

If your site contains a lot of churchy language, start editing now.

Source: http://www.pastors.com/

Blogs influence traditional web sites

"Increasingly, web users also expect ordinary websites to have blog-like fresh comment and news too."
- Christian Blog Evangelism

A church with a small web site may do well to use a Blog plus a few static pages.  The free Google Blogger now lets you add up to 10 static pages to a blog.

If your church has bought a hosting package that includes RSS feeds , consider adding a teasers to them on the home page to blogs (pastor, youth director, ..)

If you have static web pages for your main site, consider adding home page links to any dynamic content you may have -- such as blogs or photos.

Desktop publishing basics

Putting out an appealing newsletter, brochure or other print publication for your church is often not simple or easy.  Most people need some level of training on how to do it well.

Your information needs to be in an easy-to-read, eye-catching format. Good publication design delivers news and messages effectively. Take the time to understand and follow simple fundamentals of design. The end result will be a publication that is easy to quickly understand and easy on the eyes.

Layout basics

It may be fun to use the variety of colors, graphics and fonts offered with many design tools, but remember tha readability is the most important aspect of your piece. Due to the web, more people now "scan" even written text rather trhan read it.  So we need to adopt new techniques to help people find what they want and read it easily.

Easy-to-read pubs use

• A serif font for text and a sans serif font for headlines and subheads. Serif fonts have extra strokes at the end of the lines that form the letters; sans serif fonts have no extra strokes.
• A type size of 11 points or larger.
• Left-aligned margins, not justified.
• Text in columns and boxes -- not spread wide across a page.
• Grouping of related stories on a page.
• Graphics or photos that visually describe the story and draw interest. It's OK to use up to three fonts in your publication — one for text, one for headlines and one for your banner or nameplate. But suing more than three can cause clutter and look "circusy".

Headlines

Headlines (and even subheads) need to quickly tell tyhe reader what the text is about.  Avoid "cute" headlines or ones that allude to the text but don't rteally describe what's important. Articles at the top of a page normally should be larger than those lower on the page. Size and placement relates to importance.

White space

White space — the space not occupied by text or graphics — makes the page easier to read. Don't avoid it -- treat is as your friend. Cramming a page full makes it look like a tough read.  Some people avoiud tough reads. Use white space on all four margins, between columns and within text itself.

Simplify text

A rule of thumb when writing for the web is to try to delete 50% or more of the existing text. After boiling down the text to the essentials, look for "lists" of things and change them to bullets. Then break up the longer articles with subheads.
[reference: Technology for Ministry, UMCom]

New, smaller PDF Reader

Adobe products, even the free Adobe Reader, are getting attacked pretty heavily these days and experts say it's likely to continue. The security patches are coming out much too frequently for my piece of mind. So what's a great solution if your church needs a free PDF reader? Nuance PDF Reader.

Nuance now offers the free PDF Reader. It's much smaller, fast, and full of features. I have been waiting for this to come out, as my favorite PDF editing software is from Nuance also -- PDF Converter Professional. I've been testing PDF Reader ever since it was announced a few days ago. Last night I removed Adobe Reader from my computer.

Keep your church office and personal computer safer -- remove Adobe Reader and use Nuance PDF Reader instead.

PDF Converter Professional -- Acrobat replacement
Nuance was originally called ScanSoft. They are well-known for the industry-leading OminPage OCR software and for the PaperPort software  that comes with some scanners. They also produce the Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition software. I first learned about Nuance when researching a replacement for Adobe Acrobat for work. I am very enthusiastic about the quality and features of Nuance PDF Converter Professional. Their conversion from PDF back to an Office type file such as MS Word, is exceptionally good.

I recommend replacing Adobe Acrobat if not for the security considerations as well as pricing. My replacement is PDF Converter Professional from Nuance.

The Nuance folks tell me that Microsoft hired them to provide the file-to-PDF converter for Microsoft Office ... you may notice a "printer" called "DocuCom" or "DocuCom PDF driver" -- that's done by Nuance.  Out of that PDF Converter program grew PDF Converter Professional, a full-blown, powerful PDF editor as well as converter.

PDF Converter Professional is much less expensive that Adobe Acrobat and has the features that businesses and churches need. Why pay the outrageous amount Adobe asks for Acrobat? Even with a church discount through the UMC TechShop, Acrobat is twice as expensive as PDF Converter Professional.

Making websites that are evangelistic

Websites offer us incredible power to share the Good News. But to make use of this potential, we must understand
these six issues:

• The nature of the Internet -- It is a pull medium.
• There is no automatic audience for any website.
• There are only three ways that someone will find a site:
• using a search engine
• following a link from another website
• by a personal recommendation – in an email, on a contact card, in print, TV/radio etc.
Read more ...

Selecting a web hosting service

Web Designs From Scratch has a near-realtime comparisons of hosting services' uptime and support.

This could prove quite helpful in selecting a web host.

While checking out web hosting companies recently, I noticed that it pays to carefully compare options by any one company. In one case, a Linux server hosting would get you a free blog or two compared to the Windows server option. But then you lost a feature or two that got offered with Windows hosting.

Also, make sure you check on whether web statistics come with a package or not.  You'll want the stats to help you learn where you are effective, what people are searching for, and more.

Church web site templates

Finding really good web page templates for your church can be frustrating. You want one that is strict XHMTL 4.01, pure CSS -- no use of tables for layout, one that is attractive, yet a look that accurately reflects your congregation.

Depending on your web hosting service, you may not be able to change the menu links area other than to specify the name and URL for the existing "buttons" or links.  Make sure to check out all aspects of any website building software offered by a web host.

Using stock photos may add eye appeal but actually be misleading. Here are a few of the templates I've been checking out when looking for a possible new, reasonably priced web hosting solution.

• http://church-webs.com/new-templates.htm
• http://readychurchwebs.com/rcw/startdesign.htm?catid=religion

Church web site design change

Avondale Pattillo United Methodist Church recently updated the design of its web pages. Some of their decision-making process may help other churches.

Why a design change?

• Inconsistent design across all 140 pages on their web site.
• Inconsistent use of sidebar content.
• Inconsistent color scheme across all pages.
• A desire to use less clip art and more photos on pages.
• The HTML code contained elements that were on the list to be outdated (deprecated) by the World Wide Web Consortium.
• A desire to keep the whole home page content visible on a 1024x768 pixel resolution screen.

APUMC made many changes in order to give a consistent, "professional" appearance, help navigation, and speed findign information:

• Adopted one design for all web pages, with two exceptions:
• Pages that were part of a prior years' training sessions. (That whole training section may be revised or even eliminated later).
• "Resources for United Methodist Leaders" pages.  These had a different look deliberately and are aimed at a different audience from most of the site.
• Placed "utility" links at the top right, above their header.
• Used the specific "APUMC" instead of the common but generic "Home" as the link to their home page.
• Used the clearly understandable "A-Z Index" instead of the more geeky "SiteMap".
• Placed the search box to the right right above the header.
• Placed links to their main sections (Calendar, Ministries, Resources, Services, and Visit Us) in a horizontal bar just under the header and used unique hover colors for these links.
• Placed sub-section menus (in Ministries, for example) to the left of the central content and used unique hover colors for these links.
• Used a standard footer that included:
• Church name, address, and church office phone number.
• "This page was last updated: "
• "Contact Us" link
• "Notice & Privacy Policy" link
• "Share this page" (using AddThis.com) link area
• Used standard formatting for varied HTML elements, via an updated Cascading Style Sheet.
• Used two "QuickLinks" boxes on the home page ... one with links for visitors and one for members.
• Added photos on most "special section" pages for Lent through Easter and for Advent through Epiphany.

More web empowering of the church

More bullets of points made by Mark Stephenson (Ginghamsburg Church) in his online video

Empowering sermons

• Video
• Audio

Empowering discipleship

• E-learning
• Teaching the staff
• Bible Study
• Sunday School
• WEC Flash allows video plus slides

Empowering connection

• Blogs (pastor, youth leaders ... "All youth leaders should think about having a blog", ...)

Devotions, Journaling

• Daily scripture
• Devotional or study
• EMail option

Web Empowering Your Church

Mark Stephenson at Ginghamsburg Church, Tipp City, OH, gives an online Video and synchronized slide presentation, "Web-Empowering the Church".

It's quite good, but plan on spending time -- it's over an hour of streaming video.

Church website beauty

Church Beauty is the Church web site equivalent of CSS Beauty.

Most of the designs are very heavy on graphics and have a "slick" look. Many of the included webs seem to have a home page that's less functional that I'd like to see for visitors and members alike. A few have some uniquer approaches to presenting information that are worth considering. But remember that Church Beauty is about the look, not the content.

Personally, slick looks make me nervous and I cringe at the jarring, over-saturated colors of some church webs -- they have an "circus" atmosphere. I prefer a "good" look with outstanding content over a flashy look with mediocre content.

The Web-Empowered Church

I pulled some key points from the online video by Mark Stephenson about the Web Empowered Church (WEC) ...

The big 3 pluses of WEC

• Automate ministry processes.
• Store information for easy, immediate access.
• Connect with people anytime from anywhere in the world.

WEC Goals: expand, increase, extend

• Expand evangelism, discipleship, and care.
• Increase ministry efficiency and effectiveness.
• Extend ministry beyond the church walls.

Other points, tips, and ideas

• Web be more cost-effective communication than nearly any other media type. You can fund a web site for a year for the cost of a few mailings from the church.
• You can start with volunteers. The first 1,000 pages at the Ginghamsburg site were done by unpaid servants. The site is now at 4,000 pages, including several years' of text and video of sermons.
• You can minister to people worldwide 24 hours a day.
• You can get the word out immediately.
• Easy 24 x7 member participation (emails; online discussions -- IM, chat, discussion boards, "communities", blogs; ).
• The Web-empowered Church (with a capital C) is NOT a replacement for a physical church. The Internet cannot hug, love, or think.
• Connect people in need with those who can address the need, including requests for help in the community.
• Community Prayer Exchange (Prayer Line = one-to-one). In a community Prayer Exchange, you'll need to address the need of some people to submit a prayer request anonymously.
• "Post a thought or Prayer" -- adds to online display. This is most posted-to page on the Ginghamsburg site.
• Servant connector. List opportunities, then let people check blocks and submit -- match talents to needs.

Branding - advertise your web site

Some people get annoyed when asked to adopt "standards" for church print and electronic publications.  But churches need to use such "branding" to establish a standard church "identity".

Here are some places you really need to make sure your web address is on all communications, including:

• Business cards
• Church bulletins
• Worship inserts
• Emails (add in the "signature" area)
• Church publications (brochures, newsletters, flyers, ...)
• Letterheads
• Promotional materials
• Advertising
• Signs

Also remember that if you do not need a "www." at the start of your web address, leave it off! Keep it as simple as possible.  A shorter address is easier to recall.