How to Run a Website for Small Firms and Solos St. Mary’s University School of Law Wilhelmina Randtke November 11, 2014.

How to Run a Website for Small Firms and Solos

St. Mary’s University School of LawWilhelmina RandtkeNovember 11, 2014

• URL and hosting – ownership is totally separate

• Texas Rules of Professional Conduct – you need to know these

• Common website features; working with a developer

URL and Website are different

• Show www.randtke.com (registered with GoDaddy; hosted with Dreamhost)Show GoDaddy registration with nameservers.Show Dreamhost info.

URL and Website are different

• Set up www.chinacabi.net (registered with Namecheap) Show pageEnter nameservers in Namecheap (transfer DNS to Webhost).Enter URL into Dreamhost.

Like a cooking show… we wait…

Lesson 1: You need to own your URL

• Always, you, personally, register your URL.• Buy the URL and hosting from different

companies.

• Good registrars: GoDaddy, NameCheap

Texas Rules of Professional Conduct

• Advertising rules: http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=What_Types_of_Advertisements_Must_Be_Submitted_1&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=11897

29 pages long

• “best”Rule 7.02

• “Specialist” Rule 7.04

Rule 7.07 Filing Requirements for Public Advertisements and Written, Recorded, Electronic, or Other Digital Solicitations

Exemptions from filing are in 7.07(e)

http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=What_Types_of_Advertisements_Must_Be_Submitted_1&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=11897

Exemptions from filingRule 7.07(e)(1):“The filing requirements of paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) do not extend to any of the following materials, provided those materials comply with Rule 7.02(a) through (c) and, where applicable, Rule 7.04(a) through (c):

(1) an advertisement in the public media that contains only part or all of the following information,(i) the name of the lawyer or firm and lawyers associated with the firm, with office addresses, electronic addresses, telephone numbers, office and telephone service hours, telecopier numbers, and a designation of the profession such as “attorney,” “lawyer,” “law office,” or “firm”;(ii) the particular areas of law in which the lawyer or firm specializes or possesses special competence;(iii) the particular areas of law in which the lawyer or firm practices or concentrates or to which it limits its practice;(iv) the date of admission of the lawyer or lawyers to the State Bar of Texas, to particular federal courts, and tothe bars of other jurisdictions;(v) technical and professional licenses granted by this state and other recognized licensing authorities;(vi) foreign language ability;(vii) fields of law in which one or more lawyers are certified or designated, provided the statement of this information is in compliance with Rule 7.02(a) through (c);(viii) identification of prepaid or group legal service plans in which the lawyer participates;(ix) the acceptance or nonacceptance of credit cards;(x) any fee for initial consultation and fee schedule;(xi) other publicly available information concerning legal issues, not prepared or paid for by the firm or any of itslawyers, such as news articles, legal articles, editorial opinions, or other legal developments or events, such asproposed or enacted rules, regulations, or legislation;(xii) in the case of a website, links to other websites;(xiii) that the lawyer or firm is a sponsor of a charitable, civic, or community program or event, or is a sponsor of a public service announcement;(xiv) any disclosure or statement required by these rules; and(xv) any other information specified from time to time in orders promulgated by the Supreme Court of Texas;”

Lesson 2: You check Rules of Professional Conduct. The web developer does not.

Reminder: URL and website are different

• Look back at www.chinacabi.net

Web Developer: What’s cheap? What’s easy?

• Pick a one-click install for www.chinacabi.net Like a cooking show… we wait….

One click installs

• This is usually what a developer is selling you.

• Dreamhost• HostGator• Bluehost

(Also a list of reputable hosts.)

Expectations

• Show www.lawlibrarian.org site

– Login– Browse to page, and edit page– Change theme– Show widgets– Make an editor account to just change pages.

Lessons

• It’s east to edit the words on the site, with no special training. Updates don’t have to go through a developer, and simple changes don’t have to cost money.

• Developer implements layout with colors and photos you choose. The more concrete plans you have, the less time it takes to do, the less you will pay.

• Most developer time is spent trying to get the client to say what they want.

• Back to www.chinacabi.net

• Lesson 3: Layout and colors take time. Changing the words on the site is fast, and something you should have the option to do.

This is to help you know what you are paying for when you buy a web developer.

Recap

• URL and hosting – ownership is totally separateYou need to own your URL.(Good registrars = GoDaddy or Namecheap)

• Texas Rules of Professional ConductYou need to know advertising rules.

• Common website features; working with a developer

Concrete instructions save the developer time, and you money.

You should be able to make simple edits.

How to Run a Website for Small Firms and Solos

St. Mary’s University School of LawWilhelmina RandtkeNovember 11, 2014