July 24, 2013 // Local

Diocese to launch new website

Todays Catholic

FORT WAYNE — The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend will launch a brand new website with its current address, www.diocesefwsb.org, on Aug. 1. The site has been completely overhauled, while preserving some of the basic structures in place.

“We’re using a new platform and working with a new vendor,” said Sean McBride, Secretariat for Communications, the lead in the project. “We were very cognizant from the beginning of the project that there were certain areas in need of great improvement, while some aspects that were already in place were quite sound. Overall I think we struck a great balance and hope for positive feedback from the people we serve.”

The diocese has moved from a WordPress format, into a custom platform provided by JH Specialty Inc. Nick Murray, project leader for JH Specialty, said, “Wordpress is a great platform for the creation and management of blogging sites, but clearly the diocesan site is much more than that.”

The site has a new color pallet, is scrollable, and uses larger fonts for an easier read. It also includes better navigation tools, and the search function has been significantly improved.

It is also a responsive platform, which means the view will respond to whatever device is being used, whether a desktop personal computer, tablet or smartphone. Responsive website design is crucial to ensure that the growing number of people who utilize the diocesan website for information from mobile devices have a quick and intuitive experience. The site includes better access to the diocesan social media outlets it currently employs as well.

The new website contains a quick link at the top right for those wishing to view the page in Spanish.

This routes the page through Google Translate. McBride noted, “That new functionality, while not perfect, is certainly an upgrade for those preferring Spanish text.”

It was a very intensive process, and staff members continue to learn the nuances of the new system, but the graphics, fonts, prominent calendar, and color pallet should lend themselves to a much better experience for users.