Triratna Links system
Pretty much every Triratna website will have a ‘links’ page to other Centres around Triratna. The details keep changing and need to be kept up to date – but that’s quite a job. So we’ve got a central ‘Triratna Links’ database which can be referenced directly by your website; this lives at http://thebuddhistcentre.heroku.com/. You can access the html links list directly here: http://thebuddhistcentre.heroku.com/links.text (there’s also a link to it in the menu of the app itself). If you'd like some instructions on how to use it, please get in touch via support@thebuddhistcentre.com.
Contact details for Triratna website hosting
The team at The Buddhist Centre Online is now the contact point for all technical queries if your website is hosted with Dharmachakra on the Triratna server. You can reach us on support@thebuddhistcentre.com. If your website is not hosted with us, you might like to know we offer free hosting for all Triratna-related websites and currently host well over 100 sites for our community.
How we present ourselves on the web
Any website is a mixture of words and images. The choice of images will have a profound effect on the impression communicated and therefore on the types of people who will be attracted. In recent years Triratna webmasters seem to have gravitated towards more and more ‘feminine’ images for the Dharma and meditation: click here for the results of some research conducted by Vajragupta during the summer of 2010. He asks, are these the best choice of images for us and for the Dharma?
Web Literacy for Chairs
Web Literacy for Triratna Chairs is an easy-to-understand guide to basic internet jargon and concepts, by Lokabandhu, written especially for Chairs of Triratna Buddhist Centres. You'll also find a copy attached to this post. You can see it as “the 51 Mental Events of the Internet”! It includes the following sections –
– A brief history of FWBO/Triratna on the web
– Functions of a website
– What happens when you click…
– Things to consider when making a Website
– Going Mobile
– Triratna Resources and Projects
Web-Friendly Text
This is an excellent article by Satyadarshin on Web-Friendly Text. Contents include:
– Why should text be ‘Web friendly’?
– Why human readers need special attention
– General compositional principles
– Software visitors: Robots and Spiders
– Writing for a new website
– Acquiring links
– Further reading
Findability and Search Engine Optimisation
Another fine article from Satyadarshin, looking at some of the intricacies involved in making sure your site ranks as high as possible on Google AND is easy to use by your human readers! Download the Findability and Search Engine Optimisation article here.
Website Management
Also by Satyadarshin, the more technical Website Management article gives an overview of the major issues that affect website management. It covers:
– vocabulary and jargon;
– email issues;
– Search Engine marketing;
– some of the major do’s and dont’s to consider during site design;
– administration;
– registration and renewal of services like domain names and websites;
– and finally the roles needed to effectively manage a website.
Three Jewels logo and other Triratna logos
Satyadarshin has re-prepared the three jewels ‘logo’ that has been in circulation for some years. No one seemed to know what had happened to the original artwork, and a few of us use it in various places – notably on Triratna News. We've attached the logo in various sizes and versions, as well as the Order logos, The Buddhist Centre Online and Free Buddhist Audio logos.
Satyadarshin's Three Jewels logo has been copyrighted by the European Chairs Assembly, it is free for use in any Triratna venture but nowhere else.