Firefighter Web Page Templates

Fire departments have enough to worry about without having to spend a lot of time and money on firefighter web templates for their website. Here are some suggestions to make the process easy, efficient, and painless.

In a time when budgets are getting cut and volunteer organizations aren't making as much as they used to in donations, you can't count on municipal IT people to create sites for you. They're more likely to say "here is your domain name; put whatever you want on it." In their minds, it's easy to put up a web page, regardless of your experience on the web.

The fact is that it is fairly easy. Especially with a template. There are many kinds of web templates. There are templates specifically for businesses, schools, teams, non-profits, and yes, there are even fire fighter web templates as well. All the template does is lay out the website in easy-to-read files that accommodate the web's traditions:

• Pages have clear titles, clear subheadings, and text that is formatted in paragraphs.
• Navigation is clear and consistent – usually a left-nav or horizontal bar.
• Every page has a placeholder for the organization's name and contact information
• Common web pages such as "Our Staff," "What's New," as well as blank pages for your own customized pages are included with most templates.
• Background images, headers, and other incidental graphics are usually included and optimized for the web.

Basically, the template is a framework that you customize to the needs of your department. Some things you might want to add to your own site could be:

• Information on seasonal fire safety, such as grilling outdoors or camping tips for example.
• Social media tools such as Twitter or blogs that your firefighters (or the department) might use.
• A Google map to your station, or links to a calendar of community events.

And while it may seem obvious, it might even be a good idea to put, in large letters near your contact information, a message about emergencies: In an Emergency, please dial 911 immediately – do not use email or chat!. In this information age, it's possible that someone might actually try that.

Many web design firms are aware that fire departments need templates, and some will simply put those keywords Firefighter Web Templates on their pages without having anything directly related to the occupation of fighting fires on their site. These are, in fact, web design firms that could be hired to design your page.

However, other companies such as Brobst Systems have very professionally designed templates for sale. You can easily preview the templates, which include several pages as described above and also would include detailed directions for filling the template with your own content.

Of course, on the web, many things are simply given away for free. One department went onto Free Website Templates and just asked for one of the designers there to create a template for the department…and sure enough, a couple of moderators not only created the template for that department, but made it available (even with some customizations) to other departments.

Why would they do that? Because, as the moderator Ishkey wrote, "Anytime, for the fine fire fighters of the world. You people are in a world all to yourselves and most others do not realize what you contribute to society."

Of course, with a little bit of study and a free copy of Dreamweaver or some other web design program, you can create your own "template" consisting at the very least of your department logo and colors. While there is a learning curve in becoming a web designer, a simple static page is something that anyone who can use a word processor should be capable of. There are many tutorials on basic web design, and Dreamweaver even comes equipped with ready-made templates to use on your website.

These tools make the task of getting the department's website online quick and easy, so that firefighters can continue with their primary mission of protecting their community.

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