Do you think every Mosque needs a Website?

[sdfaheem]

I am coming out with a directory of Indian Mosques and would like to know your suggestions and opinions of what to include in the directory.

Also, i would like to hear out the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Mosque having their own website.

Looking forward to your replies.
Faheem

PS: Also, i would appreciate if any of the Web Designers are ready to volunteer for this project please send me an email.

[tango92]

websites are kinda expensive to run arent they? and mosques are mostly privatley funded ie collection bag at jumma. i dunno if every mosque can afford it

if you have a large mosque with many programmes and a large community then its worth it, otherwise a website wont find much use.

[Fuaadh]

websites are kinda expensive to run arent they? and mosques are mostly privatley funded ie collection bag at jumma. i dunno if every mosque can afford it

if you have a large mosque with many programmes and a large community then its worth it, otherwise a website wont find much use.

Well they don't cost that much.. My mosque idcuk(.)org runs on a brother who is hosting it for free so I guess we were lucky, may Allah reward that brother ameen.

------

Advantages

e-Timetable (you can save paper
Posters of Upcoming events
Raise funds
Videos of events

Disadvantages

Need a person who can update it regularly
Cost to run maybe a prob for some masjids

I dont think there is any disadvantages other than the ones that are above.

[Life_Is_Short]

I think a website would be pretty helpful. Many mosques have different Jamat (congregation) times so to have those timings on a website (which are easily accessible by most people) would be very useful. If someone wants to donate some money to the mosque that can be more easily done on a website which involves a simple bank transfer than filling out a donation form or going to the bank to transfer money, etc. Upcoming lectures and events could also be presented on a website. There is a lot of info that can be put on a website for anyone to access. Instead of going to the mosque and tracking events or info, it is easier to access a website from the comfort of your own home.

Overall a website would be very useful.

Apart form the ones mentioned above, the only disadvantage i can think of is that elderly generation don't know how to use the internet. They much rather prefer "the good old way". :X

[Snowflake]

if you have a large mosque with many programmes and a large community then its worth it, otherwise a website wont find much use

Totally agree with this. I voted yes.

websites are kinda expensive to run arent they? and mosques are mostly privatley funded ie collection bag at jumma. i dunno if every mosque can afford it

They're quiet cheap actually. The main cost is to make the site, which again there are so many hosting companies which let you make your own site with them. It costs next to nothing unless you're selling from it. Even for that there's packages starting from £2.99 a month.

[Asiyah3]

I voted yes, because how can I otherwise know of them? I was recently searching for a mosque which has a place for women. If there wasn't info on it on the net then how would I have found it..

It doesn't necessarily need to have it's own website. It could be a joint website where there are the mosques listed and some info such as location an whether there's a place for women etc...

If they can't afford it, then it's better not to al-hamdulillah.

[aadil77]

yh it is needed in this age, theres loads of stuff they should have on their site:

-prayer timetables
-dates of upcoming talks/lectures
-contact numbers
-info on services such as nikah etc
-info on madrassah classes
-history of masjid - names of imams
-audio/video of recent lectures

and loads more

[Dagless]

I think its a good idea but probably only for larger mosques as bro tango92 said.
It may not cost much for the smaller ones to make a site, but I doubt they would keep it up to date. Maybe the smaller ones could get together and just share their info in the directory but not have their own domains.

Btw maybe I have a weird sense of humour, but this made me lol:

My mosque idcuk(.)org runs on a brother

[sdfaheem]

Exactly, i am also coming out with such directory where i would be listing all the Mosque's of my State and then later give them the option to have a Free or a Paid Website.
In the Free website, their website would be built on a sub-domain and on the Paid, they will have their own domain. The designing, hosting and maintenance will be on us Inshallah.
I am starting with this cause, so please pray for me.
Our domain is www dot masjids dot in

[seek-paradise]

I think it is important and needed for large masjids or even small but has activities but I want to say some points I think that sure you know but good to hear it:
1-before go to a hosting company read well the reviews about it and its technical support especially in the bandwidth issues and if ther is any complains of shutting down other clients website
2-try to choose a hosting company that if you want to grow with your website it can allow you as containing hosting plans,vps,dedicated servers...etc
3-try to make a simple good easyloading design
4- take care to not overload your website by unneeded things to help you making it always organized to can easy find your contents
5-use cms (content management system) as joomla or other scripts that you will find many on website
6- be sure that your daily backups you save it in a good accessible place that if hacking happen not loose anything
7- try to not enter the ftp from many computers or have many accounts through it

Allah help you

[sdfaheem]

Jazakallah for all your suggestions.

I already have a good web hosting and i am planning to use Wordpress MU, technically the stage is set, i am just confused about the design though, taking suggestions.

But the main problem is to convince the elderly people here (the Masjid's members) in order to get the approval for website, for that i plan to come out with informative posters and banners. Could you please help me out with the points to mention?

Regards

[seek-paradise]

Jazakallah for all your suggestions.
And you too brother

I already have a good web hosting and i am planning to use Wordpress MU, technically the stage is set, i am just confused about the design though, taking suggestions.
Unfortunately I have no idea about working with word press but do you mean about suggestions? designing ideas? or the items you will talk about it in your site?
Can I have a link?

But the main problem is to convince the elderly people here (the Masjid's members) in order to get the approval for website, for that i plan to come out with informative posters and banners. Could you please help me out with the points to mention?
these posters will be printed. right?
1-first of all your domain name should be short as possible and easily guessed if they forgot even if you buy a new domain it is not a big deal at all I think from 7- 12 $ a year
2- the most important info and activities the elderly like should be in the frontpage of the website or at least can be clearly seen and be direct pages not a page after page to reach what they want
3- If they will react with your site or give info try to be the least and simplest you can
4-make the design the same in all pages and make it easy loaded or they will not wait for the site till it loaded and let eye catchy designs that may be little bit large in size in other pages
5- the info in poster must be with easy readable text and appear clearly and ni need for lot of words and at the same time say all the info they want to know
what are the info you need in the posters? what is the size? do you want some specific ideas?

Regards

[sdfaheem]

Yes bro, i am checking out some good and aesthetic Islamic websites to get an idea.
I have already registered the domain, its MASJIDS dot IN
I will also be making the site in English as well as Urdu.

The website content is almost final, i need to work on the poster and banners for print purpose.
They should serve the purpose of awareness, why a Masjid needs a website, what could be done, etc. etc. in a simple language so that people who are not net savvy should understand that.

[seek-paradise]

I hope masjids will be easy for them to memorize
I understand now what you want but I think I cant help you in choosing these words because my english is not good and will not allow me to help you and you should make your poster to appear professional
I can think in arabic words but not in english

[Beardo]

I think Masjids do need a website... That's updated FREQUENTLY! Not just for the sake of having a website!! It's really annoying to go to a Masjid website and find that it was last updated in 2004. >_< It happened quite a few times to me.

Anyhoo, that's why we have Jannah Studios | Sponsor-A-Masjid program for businesses. They just sponsor a website for $15 a year and the Masjid gets a free website under the condition that they keep it updated and have someoen in the community manage it.

[cat eyes]

yes it would be good for a mosque to have there own website however the danger of that is you don't know what sect in islam the mosque is run by. it seems to me sadly imams here are careless when it comes to implementing the correct sunnah of the prophet (saw). lots of dodgy mosques practicing bidda and even encouraging it.

so this is a major disadvantage

[Somaiyah]

Assalamo alaykom,

The importance of having a website isn't more important than the mosque itself. And we shall be glad for just having the mosque. Still I voted that I believe every mosque should have one because I have found it very necessary when me myself have been trying to find a mosque in the city where I live. They have a website but it hasn't been updated since 2008... And that makes you wonder if the mosque itself is truly active or not. Alhamdolillah this mosque is active but it would have been much easier with a homepage which has information about prayers, opening times, maybe lessons, gatherings etc.

People who belong to a mosque for a long time or who have relatives going to a mosque, for them it's very easy to know the times and things happening in the mosque by the word. But for alone people wanting to visit or start visiting a special mosque fluently you want to be able to get the information easier.