Web Team Onboarding - LawtonChilesRedCrossClub/website GitHub Wiki

LCHS Red Cross Club Website β€” Web Team Onboarding

Welcome to the Web Team πŸŽ‰
This guide is your step-by-step manual for maintaining the club website.
It’s designed to be complete but easy to follow β€” perfect for new members.

🌐 Live Site

πŸ‘₯ Roles & Access

β€’ Owners β†’ Club President + one trusted officer/advisor (full control).
β€’ Web Team β†’ Students maintaining the site (Write/Maintain access).
β€’ Members β†’ Everyone else in the org (read-only).

Add a new member:

  1. Org β†’ People β†’ Invite member
  2. Role = Member
  3. Add them to the Web Team

At least 2 Owners should exist at all times.

πŸ“‚ Repo Structure

/index.html β†’ Homepage
/css/ β†’ Stylesheets
/js/ β†’ Scripts
/assets/img/ β†’ Images
/assets/docs/ β†’ PDFs/flyers
/content/ β†’ Officers, events, announcements
/README.md β†’ Main instructions

πŸ›  How to Update the Website

  1. Create a branch β†’ example: update-events-2025
  2. Edit the relevant file(s):
    • Officers β†’ /content/officers.html
    • Events β†’ /content/events.html
  3. Preview locally: 
    python -m http.server 8000
    Open http://localhost:8000 in browser
  4. Commit with a clear message:
    "Update officer list for 2025–26"
  5. Push your branch and open a Pull Request (PR).
  6. Another Web Team member reviews & approves.
  7. Merge to main β†’ GitHub Pages auto-deploys (~2 minutes).

πŸ”„ How Pull Requests (PRs) Work

GitHub uses branches, commits, and pull requests to manage changes.
Here’s how it works step by step:

1. Branch β†’ Your Safe Workspace

  • A branch is like your own copy of the repo where you can work safely.
  • Example branch names:
    • update-officer-list
    • add-jane-doe
    • fix-footer-links

2. Commit β†’ Save Points

  • A commit is like hitting Save with a message.
  • Each commit records what changed and why.
  • Example commit messages:
    • Add Jane Doe to Meet the Web Team
    • Update blood drive date in Events

3. Pull Request (PR) β†’ Ask to Merge

  • A PR is how you propose merging your branch back into main.
  • It lets other Web Team members review your changes first.
  • In the PR, you:
    • Write a title β†’ short and clear.
    • Add a description β†’ what changed and why.

4. Review β†’ Peer Check

  • Another Web Team member looks at your PR.
  • They can:
    • Approve βœ…
    • Suggest changes πŸ“
  • Nothing goes live until at least one other team member approves.

5. Merge β†’ Goes Live πŸš€

  • Once approved, the PR is merged into main.
  • GitHub Pages automatically redeploys the site within ~2 minutes.

πŸ§ͺ Practice: β€œMeet the Web Team” Page

To practice, new members should:

  1. Create a branch called add-your-name.
  2. Open meet-the-web-team.md.
  3. Add their name + role to the list.
  4. Commit changes.
  5. Open a Pull Request.
  6. Ask another Web Team member to review and approve.

When merged, their name will appear on the page β€” and they’ll have learned the entire GitHub workflow πŸŽ‰

πŸ“‹ Common Updates

β€’ Update Officers β†’ edit /content/officers.html
β€’ Add Events β†’ edit /content/events.html, upload flyers to /assets/docs/
β€’ Add Images β†’ save in /assets/img/, reference in HTML with alt text
β€’ Create New Page β†’ copy existing .html, adjust content, add link in nav

πŸ”‘ Best Practices

β€’ Use RELATIVE paths β†’ href="css/style.css" (not /css/style.css)
β€’ Filenames lowercase + hyphens β†’ blood-drive-2025.jpg
β€’ Always add alt text to images
β€’ Test on both desktop and mobile before merging
β€’ Do not commit secrets or personal student data

πŸ“† Yearly Checklist

At the start of each school year:

  • Update officer names in /content/officers.html
  • Update meeting times & events
  • Remove graduated seniors from org
  • Add new Web Team members
  • Promote President/VP to Owner
  • Verify custom domain + HTTPS still active
  • Confirm club Gmail is accessible
⚠️ **GitHub.com Fallback** ⚠️