Food for thought- consider the purpose of the links, their relationship and the ease of updating, adding and deleting them over the course of time.?
I recently read a GMF post about how to enter links into a database. The process seems to require a very specific series of events. I don't know how easy it would to be to manage arrangement, changes and additions to links in a GIO database but from what I have gathered in reading posts, many seem to be using the database for their links.
In my group, I opted to group our links into Wiki pages. I feel they are more organized, easier to find by members searching for a specific topic or "how to" and easily edited/managed by members so that they remain current. I made a TOC so the relavent wiki page of links can be readily found.
I am considering a third way of presenting links using our files. I haven't yet done so but I know that PDFs can be hosted under files and opened directly in a browser.
What I have in mind is to build PDFs containing resource links helpful to each volunteer's job description so that an individual member can opt to download it from our files area and tailor the page for local distribution to their committee members in their respective chapters. (Our GIO group members represent non profit chapters across the US.)
I currently have in place a formatted Google drive spreadsheet with an extensive number of links. It was created 5 years ago and is updated annually by each chapter's web manager or president. It contains the URLs of our 150+ chapters who have an online presence (websites, social media, forums and groups) along with contact information for the person who is responsible for maintaining their online presence.
Given that it is quite already in place and understood by our members I see no reason to bring it into a GIO database. Instead, the spreadsheet link is in the appropriate Wiki page and also sent annually in a post as a reminder for our members to update their chapter information.?
In summary, this may be a good time to evaluate the purpose of your aquired links and think about the best way to present them to your group members with minimal ongoing management effort.?
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Sandi Dickenson
Moderator of ASG Volunteers Group
