links for 2007-06-14
Posted by delicious on 14 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Delicious
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$19.95
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Straightforward ideas, many of which can be easily translated to church blogs, e.g. “If you are willing to share your experience, expertise and insight … you will gain readers and fans, and they will spread the word.”
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GigaOM
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A press release strategy to gain exposure for your blog or business
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Ministry Marketing Coach ($24.95)
Does Safari 3 Matter For Your Church Website?
Posted by Anna Belle on 13 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Technologies to Watch
Yesterday the web professionals’ world was consumed with talk about Apple’s new version of its browser, Safari. Amazingly enough, it now runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista, as well as Mac OS X. It’s also free and you can download a beta version.
The question is why would you? I did, just to test the sites that I am paid to maintain. But these are very large sites with high traffic, and I needed to know if they worked on this new browser. (Answer: yes.)
For a church website, though, I can’t see why you’d want to, unless you simply enjoy this kind of thing. Safari 3 is full of bugs and security flaws. It crashes easily and often. It’s beta, so I don’t think that’s a big deal, but it does argue against downloading it unless you have a compelling reason. A compelling reason would be your site statistics showing a significant number of visitors using Safari 3.
Steve Jobs says it’s twice as fast as other browsers. That appeared to be true on my PC, but so what if it doesn’t work correctly? According to the New York Times, Mr. Jobs also said “the company was encouraging Apple software developers to use modern Internet software standards to make applications compatible with Apple’s iPhone.” To my mind, this is where Safari 3 has the potential to really matter.
When I tested, I did notice the improved use of standards, particularly in the way it renders forms (which previously have been quirky in Safari). But most important is that WebKit, the engine behind Safari, is being open-sourced, so developers can create apps that will run within Safari on the iPhone.
What this means is that in time (maybe this fall?) church professionals are likely to hear from congregants looking at the church site on their new iPhones. When that day arrives, ask them to show you. That’s when Safari 3 will matter for your church site, and chances are they would love to show off their new toy.
For more information, see Techmeme’s aggregation of Safari 3 articles.
Web Diva Wear: Firefox Messenger Bag
Posted by Anna Belle on 12 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Gear
I was upgrading my favorite browser (Firefox) the other day, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a glorious Firefox messenger bag – the one pictured on this very page to be precise. Those clever Mozilla developers had used the upgrading process as an opportunity to tantalize people like me.
And tantalize it did. My theory is bag-buying is in my DNA. My mother adores bags, as do both of my daughters and I. Mother calls us bag ladies, but I like to think we’re bag connoisseurs.
Of course I bought one, and now have tested it. It turns out it’s a customized Ogio Hip Hop Messenger Bag that’s $15 less than the normal price. Here’s what I love about it (in priority order):
- It fits my very large Mac laptop. I have one of those luscious, but huge, 17” numbers.
- For being as large as it is, it’s quite sleek.
- And for carrying as much it does (laptop, purse, a book or two, and sundry other items), it distributes the weight on my aging shoulders nicely.
- The price is decent ($60) and presumably supports the good people at Mozilla, who “believe that openness, innovation, and opportunity are key to the continued health of the Internet.” (Amen to that.)
- It has the perfect pocket for airplane tickets right on the front.
- It sports a glowing embroidery of the handsome fiery fox.
- The laptop compartment is padded.
- There is adequate space for my purse and books.
- It has a tidy compartment for papers.
- There is the usual wealth of little pockets for cell phones, water bottles, etc., etc. It even has a place for one’s iPod, complete with “headphone exit port.”
There are only two minor flaws:
- The ring that holds the shoulder strap bunches up in front.
- It doesn’t match my glasses.
Up until now, I’ve had to carry my laptop in a backpack. I looked, at best, like Josh Lyman, without the swagger. I’m sure I would have been worthy of PeaceBang’s frump hall of fame, but mercifully I’m not a minister – merely a geek. And now I’m a very happy geek who’s ready to hit the road.
The Delicate Art of the Website Critique
Posted by Anna Belle on 09 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Religious Websites
I’ve been asked to reflect on the redesigned United Church of Christ (UCC) website. What’s a church web diva to do? I could take the sledgehammer approach, like the endlessly astonishing Web Pages That Suck. Or I could do as my mother taught me – if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
In between… hmmm…. I’ve been channeling Emily Post, and it seems to me that having a process is the key. Come to think of it, it might help others in the fine art of assessing a website.
When I critique a site, I invariably look first at three things:
- The quality of the code.
- The architecture, in particular the navigation.
- The look-and-feel.
If I can get past these three, then I evaluate what’s ultimately most important – the content.
So how does the UCC site measure up?
- Peeking under hood, the code is not accessible and it does not validate. It doesn’t even have a doctype. Yikes! It’s a virtual certainty it will break cross platform and cross media. It’s not extensible, so it’s going to be particularly difficult to adapt for the future. Think the iPhone.
- From a quick look at the architecture, I’d say the search engine is good, but the rest needs an overhaul. The use of Flash for navigation seems wrong for a site like this. [For more on this, see the update below.] Also, I don’t understand most of the labels in the primary navigation, and the parts of speech used are inconsistent. Then on secondary pages, I don’t see an obvious way to get back home.
- Look-and-feel is the most dicey to assess. Me – I like the curves and simple palette, but continuous animation on the home page is off-putting. I love Flash, but even I don’t get why so many sites make this same mistake over and over again. See, for example, the recent bru-ha-ha about the 2012 Olympic site, which reportedly triggered epileptic seizures.
- The content, I suspect, is excellent, but since I couldn’t get past the first three, nor do I belong to the UCC, that’s only a fuzzy sense.
In the end, what matters most is how well the site works for its primary audiences. In other words, how usable is it? When usability tests are well done, the results are invisible. When poorly done or not done at all, users trip — the site breaks in their browser, they can’t find what they are looking for and so on.
The UCC leadership clearly cares about their web presence, and they have a wealth of information and resources to share. If they asked me what to do, I would say run as fast as you can to hire a well-regarded website shop. Look for one that is solidly rooted in accessibility, standards and usability, e.g. Happy Cog Studios. Work with them first on a short-term coding band-aide, and then develop guidelines and procedures, rebuilding the site with an eye to the future.
Note: as this little post goes to press, I see the UCC home page has changed, now offering a choice for low vs. high bandwidth users. I guess it’s a band-aide, but I fear it’s the wrong one. At least, though, they are trying to get off the merry-go-round of poor code. Godspeed.
6/10 Updates: A quick clarification – it was the Rev. Scott Wells who requested my thoughts on this redesign. For those who are having problems accessing it, you might want to try some of Scott’s browser adjustment suggestions.
Also, the navigation issue which I had thought caused by Flash, Bill Siddall clarifies is caused by the Flash and menu animation competing for CPU cycles.
links for 2007-06-08
Posted by delicious on 08 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Delicious
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Lovely palettes based on butterfly photos
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Written 3 years ago, but still a very helpful overview
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Google has just improved the documentation
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$34.99
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Concise summary of the rules of English punctuation writing
Great News for Church Blogging: Movable Type Is Back
Posted by Anna Belle on 05 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Church Blogging
Once upon a time, Six Apart’s Movable Type was the premiere blogging platform. That era ended when they changed their licensing. After that many people, including me, migrated to WordPress.
Now the word is out that Six Apart is about to release Movable Type 4 – and it will be open source. This is great news.
It’s funny, but just a few days ago I’d been pining for Movable Type, wondering if I should cough up whatever it cost to use it. The one thing it has that WordPress doesn’t is the ability to publish any number of blogs with one just installation. For my personal blog, i.e. this one, that’s not much of an issue. WordPress is fabulous.
However, for a church, it’s a different story. And now it’s in the air. My church is gearing up to do multiple official blogs for things like Children’s Religious Education. That’s why a few days ago I started pining for Movable Type.
Now that it’s returning as open-source, I will be able to put Movable Type within our already well-established domain, and then issue as many blogs as people in the church need.
If all goes according to plan, I will keep you apprised of how well our blogging church does, what works, what doesn’t, etc. Meanwhile, here are a couple of other posts with more detailed coverage of this news.
Of Websites and Garden Patches
Posted by Anna Belle on 04 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Web Reflections
“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics; to appreciate beauty; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived — that is to have succeeded.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Yesterday our service began with this beautiful quote. It was one of those Sundays when I’d woken up feeling the tug of things to do, and hadn’t much wanted to go to church. But thank goodness my conscience prevailed. I recalled how almost without fail, church reorients me and keeps things in perspective. It’s a tune-up for my spirit. And I’m so glad I went.
Listening to these glorious words, I realized the church’s website is my garden patch – a place to putter around in, to share with others, and to enjoy its fruits. By nature, it’s evanescent, with a half-life that’s much briefer than your average publication. So does a well-tended website leave the world a better place? One can but hope.
Get Going with Google Analytics In 5 Steps
Posted by Anna Belle on 03 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Church Websites, Metrics
One of the Best Things You Can Do For Your Church’s Website
If you have any responsibility for your congregation’s website, chances are you need Google Analytics — the analysis tool for website statistics. I don’t say that about many things, so what’s so special about Analytics? It’s the fast track to understanding how and why people are finding your site, what they are doing there, what pages interest them, and what set-up they use. In other words, it’s very revealing – and it’s free, unlike most other good website number crunchers.
Here’s a sampling of things I can tell from Analytics about my church’s site:
- Many visitors (as opposed to church members) find us from our Association’s site and vice versa.
- Aside from the home page, our most visited pages are “About Us: An Invitation to Visitors,” “Meet the Minister,” the sermon archives and the calendar.
- 69% use Internet Explorer and 19% use Firefox, usually with a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher, although 8% are still at 800 x 600. Only 4% use dial-up.
- Wednesdays are the most popular day, and Saturdays the least.
One note: Google Analytics isn’t perfect. It can’t count pages unless they include its script in their code. For example, on my church’s site, it overlooks our current newsletter. That’s a page I know is viewed frequently, but it’s in PDF, so it can’t have the Analytics script embedded in it.
Given how much Analytics does reveal, and the likelihood that you don’t have access to a better tool, missing some pages seems a minor issue. However, if Analytics does have a shadow, it’s that it’s intimidating for the mere mortal (as opposed to an analytics geek). To get out of this shadow, it’s just five steps – four that are easy, and one that might or might not be.
How to Start Using Google Analytics
Step 1: Get a Google Account
In case you don’t already have an account, it’s easy. Here are some directions.
Step 2: Get the “tracking” code
Go to the Analytics home page, sign in and “Create a New Website Profile.” Once you fill in the required fields, the form will give you six lines of code. Hang on to that code. It’s your key to the kingdom.
Step 3: Copy This Code Into the Site
Paste the code near the end every page you want Analytics to count. This is the one step that can be problematic. If you have easy access to your site’s code and host, and use include files, it’s a breeze. You just copy and paste it into your footer include and upload that file. Even if you don’t use includes, though, chances are it’s worth the extra effort.
Step 4: View the Reports
In a few days, check back to see if things are starting to happen. Go to your Analytics page. When you first sign on, you don’t go right to the statistics. There’s an intermediary page, in case you track multiple sites. The important link to click on is “View Reports” (right now “View Reports - New Beta”) — near the bottom, next to your site’s URL. Once you’re starting to get some results, then sit back and wait for at least a month.
Step 5: Explore
After you’ve got some real data, the main thing is to just explore and enjoy. Don’t get overwhelmed or off-put by the odd numbers and charts. There’s a lot to this data. But you don’t have to be an expert or even close to it to find lots of great information. For now, the thing to do is look around and see what you find which makes sense to you. Be sure to explore the links in the left navigation (Dashboard, Visitors, etc). And be sure to tell others in the congregation who might be interested, which brings me to….
One Tip
From the Dashboard page, click the “Email” button near the top. You can create a PDF of your site’s data to send to others. You’ll be amazed how much interest this can provoke in the site. There’s a good chance most of the church staff will enjoy seeing it at least once, and some may want to get a report routinely, which is equally simple to set up. In fact, it’s just this kind of thing that makes Analytics well worth the effort.
How Chocolate Improves a Church Website
Posted by Anna Belle on 01 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: Church Websites, Communications
“The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”
– George Bernard Shaw
Chocolate plays a pivotal role in my church’s Communication Committee, the mother of our website. In case you don’t believe me, check out the foreground of this photo of us from three years ago. The back row is my co-webmistress and me. It’s not the greatest shot of either of us, but then we’re not the front row stars of the show. Chocolate duties are even in the “Comm Comm” Chair job description.
The worst (or best, in my opinion) are our retreats. Twice a year, we gather on a Saturday morning and indulge in a chocoholic smorgasbord. Our drink-of-choice is coffee, but being good Southerners, we also feature Yoo-hoo.
The point is that once tanked up, my, how the ideas do fly. One of our most helpful and thus successful web pages (A FUUN Guide to Getting the Word Out) is a good example of the results of our idea fests.
Also, as you might expect, our committee size and number of volunteers climbs steadily. At last count, our ranks have doubled since 2005 – from six to twelve. That includes expanding the number working on the website.
To share the wealth, here’s my contribution to our most recent meeting. Enjoy.
Amazingly Easy From-Scratch Chocolate Chip Brownies
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 t. vanilla
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. flour (flour is for sissies; I’ve even done it with 1/2 cup)
1 c. chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 pan (though they have so much butter I often wonder if this step is needed).
Melt the butter and chocolate together. Put sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl and add the chocolate mixture. Let this mix cool a bit, and then add the eggs and flour. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Cut with a plastic knife. (Oddly enough, it’s much easier than with a regular knife.)
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