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    Church Website Best Practices - Entries from February 2010

    Home - Blog - Church Website Best Practices - Entries from February 2010
    ThuThursdayFebFebruary25th2010 Christian Tabernacle Church
    Posted Thursday, February 25 2010 @ 9 PM byTravis Hickox Tagged Baron3 Custom 0 comments Add comment
    Christian Tabernacle Church in Roselle, Illinois wanted a custom, unique look to their church website––a look-and-feel that reflected the personality of their congregation. Baron3, the designer of other custom skins, put together a sharp look using violets and pinks and incorporating their logo.

    A church of around 200 attendees with no Flash expert on staff, they wanted an easy way to manage the rotating ads on their home page. This initiated the development of the Rotator Feature. So all that use this feature in the future have CTC to thank.




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    ThuThursdayFebFebruary18th2010 Potter's Field Ministries
    Posted Thursday, February 18 2010 @ 9 AM byTravis Hickox Tagged Quote Semi-Custom 0 comments Add comment
    Potter's Field Ministries wanted an updated look and better control of their content. So they called us.

    We took one of our free skins, Grunge, and made a few custom tweaks for them, including changing the menu color to red. They added a new header themselves with their updated logo and utilized our new Rotator feature to display scrolling ads on the home page.



    After their ministry website launched, we asked Potter's Field Ministries' Steve Venable, "You've worked with different website companies in the past. In your mind, what makes us different?" 
    "Yeah, I have worked with a few. iMinistries customer service, administrative interface, and ease of overall use is what makes it a much better choice for setting up and maintaining a website! Customer service is top-notch and the set-up experience, especially your willingness to port over existing content, was great (as usual). Also, the follow-up on issues and other related site specific needs was timely and consistent."
    Nothing makes us happier than seeing another satisfied customer with control over their ministry website.
    MonMondayFebFebruary15th2010 Your Church Media: Widgets
    Posted Monday, February 15 2010 @ 9 AM byBryan Young Tagged Best Practices for Church Websites Church Media 0 comments Add comment

    What is a Widget?

    A widget is a “chunk” of HTML code which commands content to display on a page. The great thing about a widget is you don’t have to know anything about HTML or writing code to utilize it. You just plug in your information and the Web site embeds content for you.

    What Can I Embed?

    With widgets you can embed (click the links for examples):

    Blogs

    Post entries from any of your ministry website's blogs on any page.

    Blog entries posted on a website's homepage

    News and Events

    Add a widget to your homepage to display your website's latest news and events. Or add a widget to a page or blog entry listing a specific ministry's news and events.

    News and events embedded into a website's homepage

    Photo Galleries

    Show off your ministry website's photos on any page with a gallery slide show.

    Photo gallery embedded in a news item on our demo website

    Products

    Embed your site's products (CDs, T-shirts, DVDs, etc.) inside news items or blog entries.

    Products embedded in a blog entry on our demo website

    Flickr Slideshows

    Incorporate your Flickr photos, sets, and collections into your iMinistries website.

    Flickr slideshows embedded in a ministry website page

    Twitter Feeds

    Display your most recent tweets in an ad and show it site-wide. Or embed it in any page. You can limit the number of tweets shown and add a custom heading ("Pastor Dave's Tweets").

    Twitter feed embedded in an ad on a ministry website's homepage

    Interactive Google Maps

    Enter your ministry location's address to add a Google map on any page (About Us, Contact Us, Ministry Information). Users can zoom in and out and get directions to and from this location, making it easier for visitors to find you.

    Interactive Google map embedded into a ministry website's "Service Times & Directions" page

    YouTube and Vimeo Videos

    Gone are the days of pasting embed codes into your HTML editor. With widgets, just paste your ministry video's ID (found in your URL) and embed vidoes on any page. You control the size of your video, making it possible to embed them into ads.

    Vimeo videos embedded into a ministry website's "Videos" page

    MP3 Players

    Turn any page into a jukebox, a spot for your latest sermons, or a host for your new Podcast. Just upload your MP3 file through Content Administration and paste its URL into this widget and add anywhere.

    MP3s embedded into a ministry website page

    How do I use the Widget Feature on my iMinistries Site?

    You can embed widgets on any page that uses an Editor (news, events, blog entries, pages, ministry descriptions, ads, etc.). Here are the steps to adding a widget:
    1. Create or edit the desired page or item.
    2. Click on the widget button in the editor toolbar.
    3. Select the type of widget you want to embed.
    4. Fill in your information, choose your preferences, upload any files (MP3), and click Add.
    5. Save your page or item. To preview the widget, click on the green arrow next to the item in Administration.

    Free Trial

    We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

    Create Your Free Trial Account

    MORE INFORMATION ON WIDGETS

    "Web widget" – Wikipedia.org
    Widgets in Action – iMinistries.org
    MonMondayFebFebruary1st2010 Your Church Media: Video
    Posted Monday, February 01 2010 @ 9 AM byBryan Young Tagged Best Practices for Church Websites Church Media 0 comments Add comment
    The modern website visitor is one with a short attention span. They want information, and they want it immediately. They want news, and they want it the second it occurs. And the less effort they have to put forth, the better.

    Video is a great medium for spreading information, giving updates, and sharing stories. It engages the viewer without requiring anything on their end but the ability to push "play" and watch. Video combines the power of images with the authority of audio.

    Embedding Video with YouTube and Vimeo

    The best way to add streaming video content to your website is by uploading it to to a video hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo and embedding it into your desired page. Each video posted on these sites displays an embedding code. By copying this code and pasting it onto your site, you can add video to any page.

    Even easier, you can add your video by using our Widget feature. Just edit or create your page, click the Widget button, type in your video's location, and add.

    YouTube or Vimeo?

    Even though YouTube is more popular, we suggest using Vimeo to host your ministry's videos. Why?
    • YouTube limits uploading videos 10 minutes or less (unless you pay extra). Vimeo only limits you in amount of Mb of video uploaded per week.
    • Vimeo allows you to choose the videos your video links to. YouTube gives you the option to turn off the links, but only on the embedded video. The video on YouTube still displays links to random videos (some may have inappropriate content).
    • Vimeo allows you to password protect your videos to limit its viewability.
    • With Vimeo, you can limit which sites can embed your videos, limiting them from being posted on other sites.
    • You can create "Channels" for your Vimeo videos for better organization.
    • Your Vimeo videos or channels can be grouped into a slide show or badge widget for easy access to your video library.

    Free Trial

    We believe the best way to describe our tools is for you to try them out yourself. We offer a 15-day free trial account which will give you a few days to use all of the features available to our paying clients. There's no risk and no obligation. Who knows, you might even enjoy the new control you have over your very own website.

    Create Your Free Trial Account

    MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ADDING VIDEO

    Vimeo Basics - Vimeo.com
    "Upload a Video" Tutorial - Vimeo.com
    YouTube Help Center - YouTube.com
    "Embedding Video" Tutorial - iMinistries Support Video
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