Wednesday, February 28, 2018

New Antiochian.org facelift not up to Joan Rivers standards

So the new website needs a bit of attention. Wide browser windows break the navigation bar, there are some trackers I wish weren't in use, the top bar cuts off content because they aren't clearing the top of the pages correctly, and many of the things I've had linked to for years are now broken. It's also rather "mobile friendly" in organization at the expense of the usability for people on normal desktops.


(Antiochian.org) - Beloved clergy and faithful of the Antiochian Archdiocese:

Greetings in the Name of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. We pray this letter finds you well at the start of our Lenten journey. Wednesday, February 28, 2018 marks a new beginning, a relaunch, for the Archdiocesan website: www.antiochian.org. We have a much cleaner look and feel, and are now friendlier for mobile devices for faster access to its wealth of materials, news and resources.

Without doubt, the most-accessed resource on the website is the Online Liturgical Guide, which provides weekly – and sometimes daily – word-for-word texts for the divine services, along with imbedded hyperlinks to corresponding sheet music. The OLG is now part of something bigger and better: a liturgical calendar that also features daily readings and listings of saints, as well as fasting guidelines and the popular spiritual “Thought for the Day” from the Church Fathers and our own Metropolitan JOSEPH. The Daily Liturgical Texts of the OLG now appear, as available, on the liturgical calendar. Accessing all of these resources takes just a few simple steps.

Start with scrolling down on the homepage to “Liturgics,” and click that link.

​This takes you to all of the liturgical resources available for that day. Click on what you need.

If you want to find future resources, especially the Daily Liturgical Texts, click on “select date” at the top of the screen. Then, click on the calendar date (e.g., Sunday, February 25, 2018). Those texts will stay posted on their calendar dates for reference.

It’s that simple! All of these liturgical resources will remain constantly updated, so check back frequently. Be sure that the clergy and laity (especially choirs and chanters) see this letter to ensure a seamless transition with the new website.

If you have questions about the new www.antiochian.org, write to Dn. Christian Manasseh. For questions about the Department of Liturgics, write to Fr. Thomas Zain. And for questions about the Online Liturgical Guide and the Daily Liturgical Texts, write to Subdn. Peter Samore. We wish you a blessed journey to Great and All-holy Pascha and our Lord’s empty tomb.

Yours in Christ,

Dn. Christian Manassen
Fr. Thomas Zain
Subdn. Peter Samore

8 comments:

  1. Yup. Just took a look and was decidedly underwhelmed.

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  2. I agree that there are some issues with the new site. I know the webmaster, and I've shared some of my concerns. I saw some improvement on day 2 (top bar doesn't cut off content anymore). If you're going to use the site, I encourage you to give the webmaster feedback (dnchristian@antiochian.org)
     

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  3. As a web developer, I can say it's not all terrible. It is definitely built in a Mobile First approach, meaning the desktop likely took a back seat and didn't get enough testing prior to rollout.

    The majority of the problem is with the header which could be resolved by reducing the left and right margin to 15px (or preferably switching PX for a responsive measurement like REM) and size of the font, but all of the 404s appear to be a result of some Angular errors. They're not mapping correctly. I am sure he is working hard to fix those errors and the site functionality will be back to normal in no time.

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  4. Most people use iphones or android today so its a mobile only site. You can download and follow along with the services much more easily than bringing your desktop to church. :)

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  5. Should tell the webmaster to look at 301 redirects, will fix the link issues

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  6. First rule of a website update should be: DON'T BREAK EXISTING LINKS. Also, have a mobile version of the site for phones , and a real website for computers.

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