• The creation of FFA chapter websites will highlight chapter activities, the agricultural programs, strengths of members, and inform the public of chapter news.
• The development of quality FFA chapter websites will help promote the chapter, the agricultural education program and FFA in Oregon.
• Chapter websites will give students an opportunity to develop valuable job skills in web design.
• Chapters with the top websites will be recognized with banners at the State FFA Convention.

Download Important Documents

The Website CDE Rules- .pdf
The Website CDE Application- .pdf
The Website CDE Score Sheet- .pdf

Important Dates

• Applications are due by EMAIL to Reynold Gardner (Reynold.Gardner@oregonstate.edu) no later than Wednesday Prior to State Convention at 5 pm.
• Saturday of State Convention Websites will be finished and ready for the judges viewing (Changes are not allowed after the Saturday 8:00 am.)
• Recognize FFA Website CDE winners at the Oregon FFA Convention

Procedures

1. The chapter website must be created and maintained by high school students, that are FFA members. We understand that teachers will provide guidance, but members should contribute a minimum of 80% of the work. PROFESSIONALY DESIGNED SITES ARE PROHIBITED!
2. The group of students must complete the application and submit by email to Reynold.Gardner@oregonstate.edu by 5:00 PM on the Wednesday prior to State Convention or the chapter website will not be judged.
3. The website must be available for the judges to view Saturday at 8:00 am. Changes are not allowed after the Saturday 8:00 cutoff. The website needs to remain up and running for two weeks following convention.
4. Content should be original or permission to use the content must be secured. Any non-original photographs, graphics, text, or trademarks that are used on the site must be supported by proper documentation and permission (this does not include the FFA Emblem, because it is not being used for profit). Chapters are expected to follow copyright laws and may be disqualified if items are used inappropriately.
5. If you have won in recent years, your site must be at least 50% different than it was the year you won, in order to be eligible to place in the top three chapters.
6. Permission forms, signed by parents or guardians, should be held on file by chapters for all children under 18 years of age that are shown in photos on the website.
7. The websites will be judged on technical components, agricultural education content and visual appeal.
8. The top four chapters will be recognized with banners and the remaining chapters will be ranked in the Gold, Silver, or Bronze divisions based on their overall score.

Some Helpful Links
Here are a few sites with tips on creating good websites.

http://www.marketing-magic.biz/archives/archive-internet-marketing/ten-ways-to-build-an-effective-website.htm
http://www.marketing-magic.biz/archives/archive-internet-marketing/how-to-annoy-your-visitors.htm
http://learninfreedom.org/technical_notes.html
http://www22.brinkster.com/beeandnee/techzone/articles/betterweb.asp
http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2001/june/29.html
http://www.comedy-zone.net/guide/awards/awardtips.htm

Example of Quality Websites

Oregon State University Collegiate FFA - Oregon
Rock Creek FFA, - Kansas
Jefferson West FFA - Kansas

Tips & Suggestions from the Kansas State FFA Website CDE

Some general and selected feedback to help with future websites.
Use a clean design, especially for home page.
Use good pictures.
Did not include any FFA history.
Include SAE information, as well as more ag-related links/resources.
Judges liked the chapter picture on first page (but keep the size small, 20-40K)
Keep all graphics small, unless you tell people that they will be loading a large file photo. Eg. Chapter Photo (800K)
Some backgrounds are distracting.
A school scanned the banquet program (judge liked it)
Have contact information on each page.
Well thought out navigation is helpful.
Captions would help photos. (Get permission to include names.)
Have a navigation menu on each page.
Try to be consistent on pages. This does not mean the same, but similar in design.
Course descriptions are nice. (Helpful to prospective students)
Sites should work on both Netscape and Internet Explorer.
Keep sites up to date. (Better to be a little smaller and current)
Links to National FFA, Kansas FFA, and KSU Ag Ed are good.
Advertisements can be a problem on some service providers.
Use darker fonts on light backgrounds. (And visa versa)
Consider using your site to tell stories (short) about your activities, SAE, etc. with photos and words.
Trailing letters can become annoying.
Need to incorporate committees/POA.
Consider using a program like Adobe Photoshop elements ($59 academic price) to edit and size photos.
Use good spelling and grammar.
Tell your story in the application
“Think about content and what people desire in a fun and effective website.”
Italicized text can be difficult to read.
Don’t use distracting graphics or fonts.
Looks like plenty of work went into all these sites.
Would like to see a group picture of officers with official dress.
Don’t use too many photos on one page.
People don’t want to scroll more than 2 pages (2 screens are optimum).

Overall I think the students did a great job. I hope you get more entries in the future!
Looks like plenty of work went into all these sites.
I am impressed by the efforts of the students. Certainly better than my first efforts!
Would like to see a group picture of officers with official dress.
Try to include pictures of several activities.
Good overall quality on sites.
Keep the file size of graphics smaller.
Don’t use too many photos on one page.
People don’t want to scroll more than 2 pages (2 screens are optimum).
Use correct terminology such as CDEs (not contests), don’t refer to FFA as a club, SAEs, etc.
Keep elements tied to a theme or style. Use elements relevant to agriculture and FFA.
The trailing letters can quickly become annoying.
Some sites lacked significant history.
Would like to see committees and their efforts.
Develop the sites within your ability to maintain it.
Think about the first page, you want people to desire to explore more.


References

Event format and guidelines developed from the Original Work of Dr. Clark Harris of Kansas State University.
Harris, C.H. (2004). KSU Agriculture Education Website Competition, http://coe.ksu.edu/ageducation/Websitecompetition.html