D.A.R.E Kids Web Master FAQs  

1. Why are you giving us this site?
1. D.A.R.E. is so excited about all of the D.A.R.E. sites currently online, but we know there are some PDs that would like to have a D.A.R.E. Kids site but don’t have the time or resources to do it.  So, we heard your pleas and came up with a basic site you can use to get started.
2. If you don’t currently have a D.A.R.E. Kids site, we thought it would be a great way to help you get started.  This is only a start.  We would love to see you make it your own.  You can add your own local content and send your D.A.R.E. kids there to get homework assignments or extra credit. 
3. If you already have a D.A.R.E. site, but not one devoted to kids, what a great way to increase traffic to the site, by attracting a whole new audience.

2. What are we supposed to do with it?
1. You first must fill out a web master registration form.  You must have knowledge of HTML in order to post and maintain the site.  No technical support will be provided.  Copy the main folder into your existing web structure, place the D.A.R.E. Kids icon on your homepage and link it to the index.htm file in the 'PD_Kids' directory which is automatically created when you extract the .zip file.  You will need to add your department name and homepage link to the Police_Department.txt file which is also located in the D.A.R.E._kids directory.
2. It is also very important that you update a couple pages with your e-mail address. These pages have the e-mail field left blank. So you'll want to fill in this information before you post the site. The 'readme.txt' file in the 'PD_Kids' folder contains easy to follow instruction on doing this.

3. What if we already have a D.A.R.E. Kids web site and we still want to use it?
1. If you don’t want to add the content you currently have to this site, you can add some of this content to your current site.
2. Or, you don’t have to use it at all.

4. Can I add my current web site’s content and graphics to this site?
1. Yes, you can add your site's current content and graphics to this site, plus you can create new content to add to the site as well. Just pick the main area of the site you would like to add content to, open the corresponding folder and in the Content Pages folder you will find a template you can use for your content. You will need to make a link in the section's navigation file (nav.htm) for any pages that you want to add.

5. Can I add content, games, and graphics from this site to my current site?
1. Yes, all of the content and games are located in the section's corresponding Content Pages folder. Just copy the html document and any of the linked elements into your existing structure.

6. I don’t want to have the same site as everyone else?
1. Although the homepages will be the same, the content within the site can be customized with your own local content. 
2. For example:

i.      You can add your D.A.R.E. class homework assignments in the 411 section. 

ii.      You can add your own puzzles, games and fun stuff to the fun stuff section.  Wouldn’t it be fun to have the kids design their own crossword and word search puzzles for that section (careful of coppa). 

iii.      D.A.R.E. Cars - You can add your own D.A.R.E. vehicle.

iv.      Speak Out - You can add D.A.R.E. poems and essays.

v.      D.A.R.E. Box - You can add an email link “ask a D.A.R.E. officer” if you D.A.R.E. to accept and answer email questions.

vi.      Be Aware - You can add to the curfew and truancy information to make it specific for your town.  You can add other safety tips regarding your home town.

vii.      D.A.R.E. Box - You can add kid's frequently asked questions and answers, either received via classroom or email.

viii.      D.A.R.E. Box – you can develop a panel of officer, parent or teacher, and student to answer FAQs – we’ve given you a start.

ix.      Think First – you can add other words of wisdom taught in the D.A.R.E. program.

7. Do we have to use it?
1. No, we hope that you will find some useful content inside, if you at least want to implement it into your current site.
   
   
8. What if I don’t know HTML or Flash?  Do I have to know Flash?
1. The person who is going to implement this site does need to know HTML.  If you don’t know it now, wouldn’t it be fun to learn?
2. You don’t need to know Flash at all, the Flash home page and the Flash files in the Fun Stuff section are read only files and cannot be changed. No Flash files need to be edited in order to add content to the site.

9. Is there technical support?  Who do I call if there is a problem?
1. No technical support will be provided for this site.  If you have questions or suggestions, you can send them to webmaster@dare.com. 

10. Will D.A.R.E. send me content and graphic updates?
1. There may be times when D.A.R.E. will send content updates, or new content pieces.  They will be sent to the email address that you enter on your registration form.  If that address changes, please make sure to update our files.

11. What if I want to change, delete, or add things or new sections, on the home page or within the site?
1. We’ve tried to make the section titles general so that you could add more content.   For example, if you want to add homework assignments, you don’t need to add a new section called homework assignments, you can add it under 411.
2. Adding new sections within the second pages in the site is easy, just add the section name to the nav.htm in the corresponding section folder and then add your content pages in the Content Pages folder.
3. If you want to delete pages from the provided content make sure you delete any links to those pages from the corresponding nav.htm file.
   
   
12. If I wanted to add homework assignments, where could I add them?
1.  We suggest the 411 section.

13. What if we don’t want to use Flash?
1. There is a HTML version of the web site in the Home folder. It is titled “index_html.htm”. Just point to this file as the homepage instead of the index.htm file in the D.A.R.E. kids directory and all your viewers will view the HTML homepage. You will also have to redirect the home button from the secondary pages in the Top_Nav folder.
   
   
14. What is ADA compliance; do we need to have it?
1. The D.A.R.E. Kids site is compliant with the American Disabilities Act in regards to accessing the site's content by individuals with disabilities. The Laws on ADA compliance vary from state to state, but we want as many children to be able to access the site as possible.
2. Compliance with the ADA requirements does not interfere with the standard viewing of the site. Most ADA requirements involve items like Alt tags and Frame names, things that aren’t usually viewed anyway.

15. What size is the site?
1. The size of the entire site is 2.3 MB. The Flash homepage is 400K and it has an option to view a non-animated Flash page (under 100K) so the kids with low bandwidth can view a fully navigable homepage while the animations are loading in the background.

16. Why don’t you have any information on drugs in the site?
1.  We really debated over this issue.  We decided we would let you decide if you wanted that content included in your sites.

17. What is the target age group?
1. Elementary age.
   
   
18. What if I want to change the text for a section, button icons, or on the street?
1. The D.A.R.E. Kids site was created to give kids an exciting media experience as a gateway to informative concepts and ideas. We kept the content areas fully flexible so you can add anything you like. We also took great care to make the main menu item names as generic as possible so no matter what information you have you will be able to find a relevant section.
2. The Main menu item names on the street match the corresponding secondary page headers so changing one would mean changing the other. This would require advanced skills in both Flash and PhotoShop. Since it was our goal to make a site that could be edited by any web master with basic HTML skills, the Flash and PhotoShop portions of the website are fixed.