You may have noticed our web site has had a bit of a make-over! For the technically minded, the website is now powered by WordPress, rather than Joomla. We found that the original version, although quite colourful, suffered poor loading times and in some cases, slightly unusual behaviour on the front page. It was also more technically challenging to manage than we hoped and was a barrier to involving others in keeping it fresh and up to date. Hopefully, this will be addressed in this second incarnation! Be assured that everything that was there before has survived the moving process and the menu structure is almost unchanged. The web address is also the same but if you’ve bookmarked pages other than the home page, you may find those no longer work. Some areas to point out:
Facebook and Twitter
You can go straight to our Facebook page (which is where we left it) using the big ‘f’ on the top right of the website. Similarly, although we’re still winding up the Twitter feed, for those of you who like to tweet, you’ll see a big ‘t’ next door that takes you to our main feed. Additionally, on the right hand side of the home page, you’ll see a ‘latest tweets’ feed and towards the bottom, a quick route to our Facebook page and the ability to join those who ‘like’ us!
Don’t keep it to yourself!
The new website allows for much easier sharing of content on Facebook/Twitter etc than the old and you are actively encouraged to do so. At the bottom of every article or page you will see a series of links that allows you to share that item to Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Just click on the button. The more you are able to share what we do and what we are, the better we can publicise what we do at St Julians and what we can offer. As Pope Francis said recently, ‘our faith is not something that we possess, but something we share.’ I like to think he was checking his facebook newsfeed at the time!
Looking forward to the photos
In the past we have been posting all our photos onto Facebook and ‘linking back’ from the website. Whilst this is convenient for some, it has had the effect of disenfranchising those who do not wish to use Facebook and is something we will address with this new site. From now on, all major photo-based posts will be done directly on the website with the information ‘shared’ to Facebook/Twitter as appropriate. Much of the last year’s worth of photo stories have already been migrated to this site but some of the older content will remain archived on Facebook. You can reach this either by following the Facebook link and clicking on photos on our page, or follow the menu link under ‘Parish Life’ for Archive Facebook Photos.
Get your diaries out
There is now a new top level menu item to go straight to the Calendar. For now, this includes Service Times and Parish Social Events of interest. We are working on availability calendars for the Church Hall and Ty Williams. A weekly view of service times also appears on the front page right hand side.
Ty Williams
There is a new page to advertise the availability of the new build with some pictures of the facilities – go to Our Church, then Ty Williams on the menu. You can also pass on to friends the simple web address of www.stjuliansparishchurch.co.uk/tywilliams or ask them to email tywilliams@stjuliansparishchurch.co.uk
Hymns & Arias
We’re in the process of uploading all of Basil Reeve’s excellent series of articles on hymn sources – you’ll find the first two under the iCatholic/Hymns menu item.
Missed it first time around?
Most of the dynamic content on this website slowly disappears from the front page as it ages, ensuring that only the most recent and timely news and updates draw your attention. However, none of it goes away and you will see on the right hand side of most pages, about half way down, a section called Archives. Pick the month you want and take a walk down (not so distant) memory lane!
I know it’s here somewhere…
If all else fails, you can use the search box at the very top right of every page. This is a simple text search across all the content on the site so if it’s there, it will be found.
Feedback
The changes to the website were very much driven by your feedback in the first place so do keep it coming either informally to me (you’ll find me on or near the organ most Sundays) or via this feedback page. And if you like what you see, please share it!
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