Welcome to Our New Website
After almost a year of working together to learn what we wanted to accomplish together, how we might do it, and what we want to say in it we've finally arrived with our our new Fenton United Methodist Church website. Many new features and functions have been added and we're really excited to talk about what we've accomplished.
The new website has been designed to be easily navigated and searchable. Main navigation menu options appear at the top of each page, along with left sidebar navigation on the interior pages. Breadcrumbs are used at the top left corner of each page to show the user where they are in the site. A supplemental navigation menu appears in the upper right corner which provides links to utility information. Most importantly, the site is designed so that the content is entirely searchable. The user may enter a search term in the box provided in the upper right corner of each page and click "Search". All references to that term within the site will be displayed on a clickable list. As new content is added to the site it is automatically indexed and added to the search engine so search remains constantly up to date.
In addition to designing for ease of use and searchability we've implemented a number of other great features:
1. The site is built using a content management system which allows for users' to maintain their own content. Even members who are not web experts will be able to keep their portions of the website content current and up to date.
2. Users may subscribe (or unsubscribe) online to receive the Mainspring newsletter via email. This direct email function will allow the church to develop their email address lists and to blast communications more easily, frequently and effectively. In addition, to subscribing to receive the Mainspring online, users will still be able to open versions of the Mainspring directly on the website. Click here to go to the Mainspring Subscription page.
3. Using configurable forms we've added a "Contact Us" feature which allows users to submit questions concerning the website directly via email. This configurable form function may be used for many types of online sign-up forms which may be required over the course of a church year. Click here to go to the Contact Us page.
4. A photo gallery page has been added which allows for the church to create many individual albums which might be specific to events or seasons and to display them all through a common insterface. Click here to go to the Photo Gallery page.
5. The site has been built be used along with an analytics tool which maintains click details about what users do on the website. Which pages they visit most frequently, where visitors come from, what they do with our site, etc... Using this analytics solution we will be able to learn about how people interact with our site and how we can continue to refine our site to continue to be a helpful resource to our user, church members and our community.
We encourage everyone to spend some time clicking through the new website. If you have questions or suggestions you may forward them directly via the Contact Us page or by clicking here. We are very excited to be taking this step forward and feel it is just the beginning of what we can acomplish together.