External Working Group – Website development: Linda Lan (Western Regional Councilor), Paul Harris (CDSPI), Dean Smith (CDA Systems Manager)

Preamble

The Federation of Canadian Dentistry Students’ Association (FCDSA) wishes to develop a comprehensive webpage to connect with and advocate for Canadian dental students, offering news and sharing best practices.

Sample Home Page

ABOUT US - General, Mission/Vision, Executive, Contact Us

Brainstorming – As designed by Paul Harris

Below, each website area (major tab) is indicated by a main number, with the decimal representing the subpages under that area (pull-down list or sub-tabs).  When a major area of the website is selected, by default the user goes to the first subpage. The “0” elements lists are not a page – they are elements of the design that remain on every page.

0 area (constant elements):

Links at top:                     

  • Home (to 1.0)
  • Contact us (to 2.3) 
  • Français (to same page in French – on that page link is “English”)     

Graphics at top:

  • FCDSA logo, rotating pictures of dental students

Tabs at top:

  • Home (to 1.0)   
  • About Us (to 2.0)      
  • News (to 3.0)           
  • Resources (to 4.0)   
  • Login (to 5.0)              
  • Supporters (to 6.0)

Links at bottom (many sites repeat tab headings at bottom):

  • Home (to 1.0)   
  • About Us (to 2.0)    
  • News (to 3.0)             
  • Resources (to 4.0)    
  • Login (to 5.0) 
  • Supporters (to 6.0)

Copy at bottom – helps make site searchable (small print):

The Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations is the forum for a nationally integrated community enhancing the student experience in the dental profession.

1.0 area (home page): “Home”

Main copy:

The Federation of Canadian Dentistry Student Associations (FCDSA) connects dentistry students across Canada to:

  • share common interests;
  • advocate for optimal dental education and patient care; and
  • involve students in organized dentistry.

Graphic representing “connecting”

Box with links:

  • FCDSA News
  • News head 1 (to 3.0)
  • News head 2 (to 3.0)
  • News head 3 (to 3.0)

Box with links:

2 area: “About Us"

2.0 General                        A summary of what the Federation is, what is does etc.

2.1 Mission/Vision              The formal mission statement and vision.

2.2 Executive                     Names, photos and descriptions of executive.

2.3 Contact Us                   Email, phone or whatever contact information you want to include (French and English).

3 area: “News”

3.0 Briefs                             Short announcements such the Annual General Meeting date, new programs etc.

3.1 Articles                           Articles written by the Federation, other contributors, links to references in press.

3.3 News letter                   Links to newsletter PDFs, including back issues.

4 area: “Resources”

4.0 Organized Dentistry Links to CDA, provincial associations, regulators, student councils, universities, CDSPI etc.

4.1 Other

5 area: “Login”

5.0 Message Board         

5.1 Member Website

6 area: “Supporters”

6.0 List                               

  • Thanks and two lists of supporters (Financial and Assistance) with links to individual        pages as appropriate

6.1 CDA                           

  • Copy about CDA and link

6.2 CDSPI                            

  • Copy about CDSPI and link

Next Steps:

  • At the AGM:
    • Short term planning: Get council feedback on proposed layout & design, brainstorm items on pages, resources and news items that would be pertinent to Canadian dentistry students
    • Long term planning: What do we eventually want our audience to do? What do we want the audience to feel about the Federation as contributed by the website?
  • Recruit more council members to set up bilingual website in stages, working with Dean Smith and Paul Harris
  • Develop materials for “news” section