Pheasants Forever Website Install Guide

As a 3plains customer, your Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever chapter website will fall under 2 categories. If you are an existing 3plains customer, read #1 below. If you are a brand new 3plains customer in 2023, read #2 below.

1. Existing 3plains Customer (Chapter Website Migration)

We have reached the end of the life of our current Pheasants Forever chapter platform since it is on a dying technology that is no longer being updated and supported. We are converting/migrating all chapters at no charge, to our 3plains CMS between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023. Managing your website will be a little bit different. You will have better options for your chapter which are more customizable for your chapter's individual needs. You will have the flexibility and control to add as many pages as you want, change the navigation around, etc. which chapters were not able to do before. We highly recommend you read this entire page of the setup guide which will help answer a few questions.

In the 3plains Portal under "Website" you will see a shorter dropdown menu, where most of your former "website modules" moved to Website > Pages. Keep reading below to read about your new website.

The typical Pheasants Forever website navigation and pages looks like this:

Homepage - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
About Us - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Officers - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Banquets - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Photos/Photo Gallery - Converted to our new photo gallery
Links - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Meetings - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Events and Event Registration options
Habitat - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Projects - Convert to a normal website page
Youth - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
News - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Sponsors - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Raffles - Convert to a normal website page with content blocks
Contact Page/Form - Convert to a normal website page with a contact form
Membership/Form - Removed. Potential members can use the contact form or Join Today link

2. New 3plains Customer (Chapter Website Installation)

Your website is now installed on one of our development websites. Your chapter development will be at https://siteXX.3plains.com which we sent in an email. Your chapter live site will be whatever your domain is https://www.mypfqfchapter.com/ and when the content is finalized on your chapter development website, let us know and we'll flip the switch to your live website. We give 60 days from start to finish to get your site finalized with how you would like it.

Manage Chapter Website Content

You have the ability to edit content, update photos, adjust navigation links, and set things how you want them. Each chapter has different events, projects, and things they want to promote, so we give you a boiler plate setup with the basics. It's up to you and your chapter maintain your new website. Here are a few notes on the configuration, setup information, things to keep in mind, and things to help you get started.

3plains Portal

Default Navigation

Our default installation contains the basic navigation links: About Us, Habitat, Events, Youth, News, Links/Sponsors, Contact Us. You can edit in the 3plains Portal, then click to the Navigation under Website > Navigation

We put a few sub navigation links (dropdown menus) in so you can get a feel for what you can do. It’s up to you on how to configure the main navigation links and the sub navigation (dropdown menus). If you add too many main navigation links, the links will wrap on a browser (size and resize a browser and you will see what we mean). Examples can be found here: https://www.iowapf.net/

Default Physical Address

By default, whoever signed off on the website's info gets added in. Does your chapter have a main mailing address or PO Box? Do you want it on the website? You can edit that in the 3plains Portal by clicking on Website > Settings or we can hide in your website footer as well.

Default Main Contact/Email

By default, whoever signed off on the website's info gets added in as the main contact and email. Who is the main point of contact? Do you have a main email address point of contact? Do you have a main shared email such as mypfchapter@gmail.com? What happens when chapter officers turn over? Let us know if you have a main point of contact name and email address. You can edit in the 3plains Portal, then click on Website > Settings.

Content/Pages

We preloaded your PF/QF website with a few basic pages of content. More examples can be found here at Iowa's state PF website: https://www.iowapf.net/ You can edit in the 3plains Portal, then click under Website > Pages and the Navigation under Website > Navigation.

Events - It's just a page at this point that you can put different events in and that sort of thing.
Habitat - Talk about your habitat projects, tree planting, etc. Every chapter is different, delete this page if it's not needed.
Annual Banquet - This is a dedicated page setup for annual banquets. Most chapters use a annual banquet for fundraising efforts. Read more below under Banquet Tickets.
Projects - Show photos and talk about your past projects.
Youth - Talk about your youth firearm safety programs, mentor hunts, youth shooting programs, etc. Promote events and possibly get youth registered.

Email Marketing/Newsletters

We have Constant Contact installed by default on your website. There are other Email Marketing programs: Constant Contact, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Campaign Monitor, etc. It just depends on what you want. Chapters use everything from A to Z. If you want to integrate constant contact, we will need a login or we can turn it off in settings.

Merchant Account/Payment Processor

Most merchants use PayPal or Stripe, however they prohibit ammunition or gun sales (i.e. even ticket sales for raffles) - read an article at stripe. You can use Authorize.net but you will need to set it up with them and figure it out.

News/Blog

The news/blog works more like a feed producing pages instead of just logging news on a page. It's up to you if you want to use it or not. Example: http://www.gallatinvalleypf.org/news/

Events

There are a several online options for hosting your events such as your banquet.

PF/QF Corporate uses EventGroove. You can check it out here: https://pfqf.myeventscenter.com/browseByProximity/ We don't manage this product, but you will need to check with Pheasants Forever corporate or check with EventGroove on how it works. To integrate on your website, they will just provide a URL link and you can paste that on your website.
EventBrite - Event creation and ticketing tools, Organizer App to monitor ticket sales/attendee check-ins, flexible payouts.
Eventleaf - Simple, modern and affordable online event management platform with online event registration and mobile event apps for supporting in-person, hybrid and virtual events
Other Options - Go to Google and search to find the option that best fits your chapters needs.

Donations

If you are looking for donations to go directly to your chapter online, you will need an account for the funds to go to. PF chapter accounts from corporate do not have online merchant capabilities as of early 2022.

Raffles

A lot of chapters like to sell raffle tickets for Gun a Week, or things of that nature. Depending on the raffle if you have guns/ammo, your payment processor needs to be chosen wisely.

Registration

If you are looking for a registration product for events, etc., there are several out there you can use online that provide a URL link that you can add on your website.

Social Media

Social Media can help drive events and chapter promotions, but ultimately social media should be used as a tool to drive traffic to your website, not replace it. A perfect example is Facebook. People are fickle with their social media and apps. It was Vine, then Facebook, then SnapChat and now TikTok. Truly, you own your website media pretense and use social media as an inbound marketing channel to push users to your website.

Website Goals/Driving Website Traffic

What is the goal of your website for your chapter? Each chapter has different events, projects and things they want to promote. Ultimately driving traffic to your chapter website is up to you, as each chapter is independent of PF/QF National. We recommend running your chapter like a business and expecting officer turnover, but keeping the chapter growing for the future.

Additional Help and Guide

We have more resources at 3plains Help.

Still need help or don't want to DIY?

We have maintenance service and website update packages available. Please fill out a ticket and a 3plains representative will reach out to you with details on pricing and packages.

Last Updated: 2024-03-16

Back to Technical