New Look Being Unveiled for Church of God Web Site
A completely new look for the Church of God Web site is slated to be unveiled at 12:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, November 16, 2011. The overhaul will give the denomination’s Web site a completely new design with new features and functionality.
“It has been several years since the Web site has received a major update,” stated Cameron Fisher, coordinator of communications and internet ministries for the Church of God. “It goes without saying that technology is changing every day, so it was time for the site to be upgraded. As with any change there will be tweaks that need to be worked out, but overall this will be a very positive new look in image and functionality for our denomination’s Web site.
Fisher said the front-page features of the site are still there, so users can find the resources they use most frequently without having to hunt for them. Some of the changes include the addition of Google maps integration into the church location finder. Searches can be done by church name, zip code, or even city and state. It will return results of churches within the general area of the search.
The home page now includes the latest Faith Newscast video, and an improved caching system to be sure the latest information is being viewed at each visit to the site. The front page no longer includes a flash player, making it better for those viewing on mobile phones. There is also a new video center that puts all Church of God videos in one easy-to-access location. New videos will be added to a podcast feed for iphones and androids in the coming weeks.
The Calendar, one of the more popular links on the Web site, has been broken into multiple pages making it easier to see upcoming events.
The biggest improvement is the system the Web site is built on. According to representatives from Winters Technology Group (WTG), the new site is “an enterprise level content publishing system called Expression Engine that will be easier for the WTG team to expand in the future and include new features. The graphics and files of the Web site have also been placed on a content distribution network for faster downloads and site loading. The new site uses state of the art technology. It will also support newer browsers and the new advanced features of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome resulting in a better experience for everyone.”
This means the site is not built for browsers that are outdated.
“All visitors experiencing issues that are using outdated browsers (from 2007 and before) are encouraged to upgrade their browsers,” Fisher said. “Most browsers prompt them to do this automatically, and the vast majority (more than 90%) of people will be in a newer browser and will not have these kinds of issues.” It should be noted that older browsers have security flaws that put those using them at risk. In addition, older browsers do not work well with new features such as Ajax, which improves the user experience.
Fisher stated that anytime there is a change of this magnitude it offers an opportunity for viewers to upgrade browsers to accommodate it. The following are helpful hints in creating the best experience for viewing the Church of God and other Web sites.
The site is viewed best by using one of the following browsers: Firefox 5.0 or newer (Version 8 is now available); Internet Explorer 8 or newer (Version 9 is now available); Safari 5.1 or newer; Chrome 13 or newer (version 15 is available).
For the best internet experience it is strongly suggested to try Mozilla Firefox. Firefox is faster and has fewer security problems than other browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer. Firefox can be downloaded for free by visiting: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/.
Those who prefer to use Internet Explorer can update to version 9 for free by going to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/products/ie/home.
Google Chrome, a very fast web browser, can be downloaded for free from http://www.google.com/chrome.
The video player on the Web site still uses Adobe Flash Player. If you need to download or update flash player you can get it by going to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/.
“We look forward to the added functions and innovations this upgrade will bring us,” Fisher concluded. “It will be one more way for our church to reach the Harvest and do it in a technologically impressive fashion. The Internet is such a part of the mainstream of today’s society, and the Church of God needs to stay on the cutting-edge. This is a big step in keeping pace.”
