How Do I Make a Website for My Homeschool Co-op?

With Famlo's Website plan, you build your co-op's own website in your console and put it on a web address you already own. Your classes, teachers and reviews are on it from the start, and families book and pay right on your site. This guide takes you from the plan to a site that shows up in Google search.

Quick answer

Get the Website plan in School settings › Plan & billing. Open Website in your console and select Start to run setup: pick a look, add your logo, a welcome photo and your contact details, then publish. Add pages in the editor, set Who can see this page for anything only members should read, connect your domain in Website › Domain, and turn on Show in Google search when your pages are ready.

What you need

You need	Notes
The Website plan	$99 a month or $990 a year. It includes everything in the Scholarship plan. See Famlo plans.
A web address you own, like yourcoop.org	There's no free famlo.co address for your site. Famlo doesn't sell or register domains, so buy one from any domain seller first. You can do this while you build.
School settings set to Edit settings	Needed for every Website screen. The Owner and Co-leader presets have it.
Stripe connected, for paid classes	Families pay by card on your site, into your own Stripe account. See Set up getting paid with Stripe. Free classes don't need it.

Step 1: Get the Website plan

1. Open School settings, then Plan & billing.
2. On the Website card, select Pay monthly, $99 or Pay yearly, $990.
3. Finish the payment.

You can also start from Get Website on famlo.co/pricing. Paid plans have no free trial and no setup fee.

Buying the plan and building the site can be different people. Buying, switching and cancelling the plan in Plan & billing needs School settings set to Edit settings, which by default means the Owner and Co-leaders. A Bookkeeper can see the plan but not change it.

Step 2: Run website setup

Setup takes about five minutes, and nothing changes for families until you publish.

1. Select Website (1) in your console. The Pages tab opens.
2. On the Set up your website · about 5 minutes card, select Start (2).
3. Select Start with a look and work through the five steps: Look, Logo & colors, Photos, Details and Publish.
4. On the last step, select Publish my site.

Each step saves as you go, and Save and exit keeps your progress for later. Your contact details are filled in from your Famlo listing, so remove anything you don't want public. Step-by-step detail is in Set up your website.

You can publish before your domain is connected. Your site goes online as soon as the address works.

Step 3: Add pages and sections

Your site starts with a homepage, a Classes page that Famlo fills from your classes, a page for your teachers, and an About page. To add your own page, such as a FAQ or "How our co-op works":

1. On Website, select Edit your website.
2. In the Pages list on the left, select Add page, type a Page name, then select Add.
3. Select Add a section and pick what goes on the page: a heading and text, photos, your classes, questions and answers, a contact form and more.
4. Click any words or photo on the page to change them.
5. Open the page menu at the top, choose Page settings…, and turn on Show this page on your site.
6. Select Publish.

New pages start hidden, so step 5 matters. Editor changes are a draft until you publish, and everyone on your team who edits the site shares that draft. See Edit your website on the page and Sections you can add.

New classes need no extra step. A class set to Famlo + your website or Your website only shows on your site's Classes page on its own.

Step 4: Keep some pages for members

Co-ops often have pages only their families should read, like a handbook, a volunteer rota or a supply list.

1. In the editor, open the page and choose Page settings… from the page menu.
2. Under Who can see this page, choose Members only or Signed-in families.
3. Optionally, write what Everyone else sees, a line or two shown to people who can't open the page.
4. Select Publish.

Choice	Who can open it
Everyone	Anyone, including search engines.
Signed-in families	Anyone signed in to your site. A Famlo account is free, so this keeps the page away from passers-by, but it isn't private.
Members only	Your team, plus families on your roster, or, if you charge membership dues, families whose membership is active.

warning

A page is public until you publish its new setting. Keep anything private off the page until then.

Your homepage and the pages Famlo fills (Classes and your teachers) are always open to everyone. More in Pages, your menu, and who can see each page. To charge dues, see Membership dues.

Step 5: Connect your domain

1. Open Website, then the Domain tab.
2. Type the address you own in Web address, then select Next: connect it.
3. Sign in where you bought the domain and open its DNS settings.
4. Add the two records Famlo shows, exactly as shown. Delete any older record with the same name.
5. Back in Famlo, select Check now.

Changes usually show up within an hour, sometimes up to a day. Famlo checks every hour and emails you when your site is live. It holds the address for you for a week while you add the records. Once both records are found, Famlo sets up the padlock (https) for your address, which takes a few minutes.

Full instructions, including steps for common domain sellers, are in Connect your own domain.

Step 6: Show your site in Google search

A new address starts hidden from Google, so half-built pages don't get listed. When your pages are ready:

1. Open Website, then Domain.
2. Turn on Show in Google search.

The notice says "Your site can now show in Google search." Turn it off again any time to hide the site. Members only and Signed-in families pages stay out of search either way.

How families book and pay on your site

Families do everything on your own address. They browse your classes, select Register (1), sign in with their free Famlo account, and pay through the same checkout as on famlo.co, in your colors. The Parent portal (2) in your site's header shows their children, bookings and payments with you.

• Prices already include the booking fee. Families pay a booking fee on paid bookings (3.7% of the price plus $1.79 a ticket, plus Stripe's processing), so you receive the full price you set. You can choose to pay it yourself instead. See The booking fee.
• One account everywhere. Families who already use Famlo sign in with the account they have. Their children's details are the same on your site and on famlo.co.
• Emails in your look. Once your domain is connected, the booking confirmation for a checkout on your site comes in your site's look and under your name.
• Your famlo.co page stays. Families can still find and book you on famlo.co.

The family's side is in Organizations with their own website.

Try the looks first

Your site can use any of eleven looks, and switching never loses what you've written. To see them on a made-up co-op before you buy, visit demo.famlo.co. Nothing can be booked there. Once you have the plan, each look's Preview on Website › Theme opens the same sample.

Troubleshooting

I don't see Website in my console. Your organization needs the Website plan, and you need School settings set to Edit settings. Check School settings › Plan & billing, or ask your organization's owner.

I published, but my site isn't online. Your site goes online only at your own address. Open Website › Domain to see whether it's still connecting. See Domain troubleshooting.

My new page isn't on the site. New pages start hidden. Open Page settings…, turn on Show this page on your site, then select Publish.

Families can't pay for a class on my site. Card payments need Stripe connected in School settings › Getting paid. Only the person who created or claimed the listing can connect it.

My site shows "This website is taking a short break". Your Website plan isn't active, for example after a failed payment or a cancellation. Nothing is deleted. Pay for the plan again in School settings › Plan & billing and the site comes straight back.

What's next

• Your Famlo website: what you get
• Set up your website
• Connect your own domain
• Your site's look: theme, colors, logo and details
• How Do I Start a Homeschool Group?