HOA website content

Thinking about what content to put on our HOA website.

The cost to host is about $150 a year, so pretty inexpensive. We don't have a lot of volunteers in our neighborhood (although everyone seems to think that someone else is willing to volunteer) so I don't want a website with content that requires much updating. Also, we had a fancy website before and I looked at the usage statistics and found that it was barely used. Maybe 30 - 50 views per year and a good chunk were mine.

I think the primary user of a HOA website would be a prospective homebuyer. Someone who has their eye on a house in the neighborhood and wants to learn a little more about what the community is all about. So I'm thinking some pretty pictures of our parks and community spaces, our CC&Rs, Rules and Regulations, and an ACC application. These are probably the most requested documents by homeowners as well.

Other than that, I don't really want any content since we have to maintain it which I'm not wanting to spend my free time maintaining a complex site.

I posted this on social media, back when I did social media, and was flamed really badly for it. Complaints were - pedophiles will use the pictures of the playground equipment to scout out potential places to find victims, so we need to keep that secret. (Stupid argument - they are on Google Maps as it is) and that it is the job of real estate agents to promote the neighborhood (which of course it is not - it is their job to sell homes not promote neighborhoods). That kind of set me back a bit on designing a website. Everyone seemed to like the idea of a regularly updated and heavily maintained site with a secure place that is located under a password protected customized login, which of course we do not have time for.

Any thoughts about the content?

Our website was informational only per advice from the association attorney - we do not use social media. The website contained:

* Landing page with photo(s) of community, brief welcome paragraph, brief info about the surrounding area with links to important area services

* Public info section with 1) our CC&Rs and bylaws; 2) How Condo Associations Work; 3) definitions of various terms like "reserves" and "proxy"; 4) FAQ

* Homeowners' only section: contact info (board email address, PM's phone number, after-hours emergency number, and email address); copies of meeting minutes, newsletters, etc; calendar; forms; another FAQ with things like whom to call for what problem

With rare exceptions, the only section that needed period updates was the Homeowners Only one, and the updates mostly consisted of uploading new documents and putting scheduled events onto the calendar. It didn't take much time - the hard part was remembering to do it.

Having a homeowners' section added to the cost and upkeep since people had to be allowed to register and create passwords. If you go that route, make sure the web hosting service allows for people to reset their own passwords if they forget them (back in the day, somebody from IT used to have to reset passwords and very few HOAs have IT departments).

Agree, Give the task to someone else.

As for what to include, I included the following on mine:

Open to all:
All Governing docs (except parking plan)
All newsletters (separated by year)
Links to the local schools residents attend (elementary, middle, high)
Links to local parks
Who is serving on Board
Who is serving on Committees
General email for each (example: [email protected])
Brief info about community (with map)
Links to applicable statutes
Link to the State HOA Ombudsman
Info on Trash collection (days for trash, days for recycling, known holiday non-pickup)
Meeting schedule for Board, General Membership and Committees (typically 3-4 months out).
Info on selling your home (reminder to order disclosure package, cost, approx time to receive, etc.)
Info on renting your home (reminder of covenants requirements and to inform Association of members new address)
Fill online form for Architectural request along with info on requirement to make the request
Link to County Permit Office

Members only area:
All Board meeting minutes (separated by years)
All General membership meeting minutes
All Committee meeting minutes
Parking Plan (it assigned parking spaces)
All Reserve Studies
Forum (wasn't really used but allowed us to comply with statute)
Financial Reviews
Arborist Report
Erosion Report
Builders info (historical - gives floor plans as well)

For minimal labor by MichaelT21 (a fine choice) but still having a lot of "bang," I suggest this only (static web site):

-- Downloadable CC&Rs, Articles of Inc, Bylaws, Rules and Regulations and the summary pages of the most recent reserve study.

-- Forms for reports of violations of the covenants and forms for ACC applications.

-- FAQ, including How Homeowners' Associations Work; a little history of HOAs (including why so many subdivisions are HOAs these days); reserve studies; board duties; applicable statute citations; a little history of your HOA, insofar as the developer and land are concerned. (Ask here and I am sure one or more people can throw together a history of HOAs, using articles on google.)

-- Contact information for questions about assessments and anything else HOA related.

Excellent ideas. Simular to how our website is constructed.

Are you an experienced web builder? If not, I would highly recommend spending time watching some wordpress training on youtube. First, there are 2 different wordpress installation options, one is very limited and believe it or not, the most expense. The other install option is more of an "open source" option and you have thousands of "plug-ins" available to you.

I can assure you, that in the 1-hour time you have spent that you have just begun! I assume that on this website that you might need some secure pages that only owners in your HOA can view and that means you will now need to implement user based page security and this isn't trivial, especially for a novice.

My guess is that there is some sort of wordpress forum that might be best for the "how to" once you determine what content to put in the site.

I just actually went through all this last winter.

John

No secure site for us. Our property manager has a portal that they manage as the secure site, so all of the documents are there. The property manager handles all of the IT support for that, and we don't want to duplicate it.

For our basic website, I put 6 pictures of our community and 4 files fine for public viewing, and one link to the portal.

I'm happy with it. It's done in my opinion. No real maintenance aspect, other than to change the pictures now and then.

It's real simple but at least our community has a web presence now.