Website evaluation

[Fr. George]

Hi folks.  Our parish's technology committee is undergoing a review of our parish's website (and I'd like some "outsider" - i.e. your - comments, too), specifically:

1. Overall design/appeal
2. Ease of use
3. Availability of commonly needed information
4. Depth and breadth of overall information available

If anyone here feels like evaluating the site using these 4 categories, or any general comments, I'd appreciate it - and if, while evaluating, you're deciding whether to be honest or nice, I'd prefer "honest."  You can reach the site by clicking the globe icon under my avatar.  Thank you!

[LizaSymonenko]

I would be happy to!

However, my home connection is just a bit on the slow side....and the web page isn't coming up! 

I'll do it tomorrow when I have the use of a faster connection to the Web.

[jewish voice]

Hi folks.  Our parish's technology committee is undergoing a review of our parish's website (and I'd like some "outsider" - i.e. your - comments, too), specifically:

1. Overall design/appeal
2. Ease of use
3. Availability of commonly needed information
4. Depth and breadth of overall information available

If anyone here feels like evaluating the site using these 4 categories, or any general comments, I'd appreciate it - and if, while evaluating, you're deciding whether to be honest or nice, I'd prefer "honest."  You can reach the site by clicking the globe icon under my avatar.  Thank you!

I liked the overall design I would of liked to of seen more Icons

it was easy to use

info was good were the church was the maps only thing I would suggest would be what language DL was in Greek/English or just English

Over all info was good Just side note  for me I love to read the news letters and stuff from the church so pls keep current I come across many church web sites with there last news update 5 yrs ago.  I also love to see pic's of the inside of the church as well when I surf church web sites

[Melodist]

The only thing I would add would be a brief description of Orthodox beliefs and history for those who may be unfamiliar with Orthdoxy.

Also, I know it goes without saying that being a greek church, it is eastern rite, but specifying the liturgy as being that of St John Chrysostom (or St Basil depending on the day/season) would be helpful for newcomers. I know it's pretty obvious for anyone familiar with Orthodoxy, but not so for those who aren't. It definitely bothers me when I see a WR (I know you're not WR but using it as an example) web site that doesn't say which liturgy they use when there is more than one possibility.

That would be my only criticism, aside form the "12 things" article, I couldn't find anything about Orthodoxy in general for those who may be coming to the faith. I'm not saying a whole library of in-depth articles covering everything is necessary, only a basic rundown of Orthodox history in general and basic beliefs.

Other than that, it gives service times, info about the history of the parish, directions, ministries, contact info, and is overall pretty good.

[LizaSymonenko]

Loved the site!

1. Overall design/appeal - very clean and easy on the eyes (good color combination)
2. Ease of use - very easy to navigate
3. Availability of commonly needed information - I liked that you could easily find contact information, all the schedules and events, etc.
4. Depth and breadth of overall information available - lots of good information

What's missing?

As was mentioned above, it would be good to have a synopsis of what the Orthodox Church is, her history and beliefs, etc.
I am also very visual.  I would love to see some photos!  Photos of the church, services, clergy, events, etc.  A picture is worth a thousand words!

It's a great website!  Kudos!

(One more thing...when I clicked to read the Parish History Part 1....the text is sooooo tiny, I could hardly read it. )

[IsmiLiora]

(One more thing...when I clicked to read the Parish History Part 1....the text is sooooo tiny, I could hardly read it. )

That was going to be my exact comment. I think increasing the text size, using probably an extra paragraph break, and breaking up the text even more might make it user-friendly.

[Fr. George]

Thank you to those who have given their feedback so far.  Great suggestions!

[Carl Kraeff (Second Chance)]

Here are my recommendations:

- The banner's color is so dark that it obscures the icons, giving them a ghostly quality. I'm running IE 9.

- I love the way you have either a photo or an icon for each of the highlighted stories. However, there is lots of white space and little content associated with the headline. Strongly recommend adding the lede under the title and then adding the "for more" link. For example, theYoung Adult section could have: Title, followed by "Currently reading the book, "The Apostolic Fathers," (Jack N. Sparks, ed.). Any young adult is invited to attend. For more, click here."


- It may be useful to have tab just for visitors and inquirers. I also agree with the other suggestions regarding photos, and content.

- Our church site was just revamped and a photo slide show was added to give the visitor an idea of the church, parishioners, clergy and activities. You may want to check out the idea at http://holyapostles.org/wordpress/

[bogdan]

1. Overall design/appeal
2. Ease of use
3. Availability of commonly needed information
4. Depth and breadth of overall information available

1. I think the design is a little dated. It's not a killer, because it is well-organized and functional, and consistent in appearance (i.e. there aren't 30 different font/color/size combinations), but if your parish wants to refresh the site I think aesthetically it could be helpful.

2. Everything is well-organized throughout the site. I think the major thing hurting usability is the amount of information that is on the homepage and in the sidebars. It's a sort of like the Laffer Curve: if there gets to be too much quick-access information on one page, it becomes overwhelming and counterproductive. I would improve this by reorganizing things and keeping only the current day/week's info on the front page (thereafter directing people to a sub-category), and a few top news stories.

3. This is done well, and as I said above, perhaps too well. If the amount of information was narrowed a bit and having less stuff in the sidebar, it could help. Because of the amount of information of the site, it would help to move the search field into the header so it's easier to find. And I love that people are able to submit names for proskomedia, that's great.

4. A+. You guys are utilizing it well and are keeping things maintained and updated. I am sure the site is a great resource for your parish and inquirers alike. I would echo what someone else said, though: having a prominent link to a section for new visitors would be good to add, explaining the services a little and such. You might also explain what "Annunciation" means, because I'm sure even the majority of Protestants don't know.

A few random things I would consider changing if your parish did decide to re-design the site (in no particular order):

- wider format (960 pixels is kind of the current standard, although wider sites are becoming commonplace)
- larger type and a fresher typeface
- using imagery to drive the site more, at least on the homepage, and integrating imagery into the design
- updated color scheme and navigation styling
- reducing the amount of material on the homepage and directing people to relevant sub-categories

While I certainly would not copy them in all things, getting layout/design ideas from the websites of popular megachurches can be helpful, because they pay buku bucks to have cutting-edge websites, which most Orthodox parishes just can't do. "Good artists copy, great artists steal."

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