Web Catholic-Catholic Webmasters Blog

Great Church Websites

The founder of this valuable Web resource has reviewed thousands of sites associated Catholic, Protestant and nondenominational churches and has compiled a list of “the very best.” Learn good Web site design through these examples as well as design tips (things you should and shouldn’t do). Also, take time to browse the forum for webmasters (a great place for site makeover advice from the GreatChurchWebsites.org president). Also, learn the importance of making sites accessible and how to improve your existing church site so that it is more user friendly for visitors with vision, motion or hearing impairment.

St. Mary Immaculate Parish (Diocese of Joliet)

If you  have chunk of time to get lost in a good Web site, the online home of St. Mary Immaculate Parish in Plainfield, Ill., is a highly recommended link.  You’ll not only get to know the church’s community, but also pick up great ideas  for bringing your own site into the world of Web 2.0. You’ll find an online poll,  readings that change daily, a place to submit prayer requests, a  video gallery, homily and missions podcasts, an online forum and newsfeeds.  What makes this site effective is that all the fun stuff—the videos, the  podcasts, the interactive calendar—doesn’t interfere with the essentials that visitors often want to grab in a hurry. All  of the “standard” information (Mass times, directions,  etc.) is easily accessed from the homepage. Last, but certainly not least,  parish members have the ability to share St. Mary Immaculate news and podcasts  with the rest of the world. Click here to see widgets that can be posted on MySpace, Facebook, LiveJournal and  other social networking and blog sites. What a great way to spread the word  about your parish site!

Web Catholic Site of the Year Winner

Our judges have met and picked the winner of our 2007 Web Catholic “Site of the Year” contest. It’s the online home of Christ the Light of the World Parish (Diocese of Pittsburgh). Congratulations!

First off, the “Site of the Year” judging panel rated entrants in four areas: effective design, timely content, technical functionality and a “wow” factor. Many of the reviewed sites were strong in one or more of these areas. Ultimately, though, christthelightoftheworld.org scored high in all categories. (Entrants could earn up to 10 points in each, 40 points total.)

The first thing that catches the eye is the site’s simple design. A clean masthead on every page contains pertinent church information: address, phone numbers and pastor’s name. The horizontal navigation (made with Flash) below the masthead has attractive links that change color when moused over. This Flash navigation is complemented by a text navigation at the bottom of each page. Why is this useful? These text links help Google crawl the site’s pages, for one. Second, they also help the visually impaired browse the site.

Next, take note of the color scheme, which is coordinated to the liturgical calendar. This is a wonderful, yet simple, way to observe the Church seasons. The parish webmaster noted in her e-mail to Web Catholic that during the Lent and Christmas seasons there are “creative animations on the homepage displaying the specific theme our Parish has chosen for the year.” (Make sure to take a look at the site this upcoming Advent!)

A site's homepage is very valuable, providing a first impression of the church it represents. While a parish webmaster might be tempted to cram everything possible onto a homepage, our winning site shows that putting a few key elements up front is the way to go. After taking in a warm welcome, we can find links to the latest bulletin, a photo gallery, a calendar and a suggestion form. Also check out the link to “map and directions” that opens a useful pop-up map with options for zooming in and out. This is powered by Google Maps, which is free to use on any free site. (Learn more about that here.) Perhaps the most important link on the homepage is to a form where you can sign up to receive parish e-mail announcements. That’s an invitation to a deeper commitment to learning what’s happening at the parish.

More content is to be found browsing through the site, but in small pieces—that’s the key. Click on the links at the top (or bottom) of the homepage to read a brief parish history, a message from the pastor and Mass information. You can also submit a personal prayer request, a feature popping up more and more on parish sites.

The site works easily and effectively, even on an older computer, thanks to its conservative use of Flash, JavaScript and art. Parish webmasters should avoid loading a site with animations, high resolution photos and multiple movie and audio clips. Such things can bog down a site, and even cause a machine to freeze or crash. Furthermore, while browsing Christ the Light’s site, we found that it functions beautifully in all current versions of major browsers (Explorer, Firefox and Safari). Remember, don't alienate Mac or Mozilla users by using code or design programs geared toward Internet Explorer!

Last but not least, the “wow” factor: On this site, it’s the simple animated ribbon that flows gently across the top of each inner page as one travels through the site. This simple use of Flash animation continuously engages the viewer while tying together the Web site’s content and design.

Again, congratulations to Christ the Light of the World Parish—and to all of our “Site of the Year” entrants. There was great showing of creativity and skill in all the sites we judged!

Six Steps to Better Website

A few of us were sitting around some days back, talking about what makes a good parish Web site. Truth be told, out Web Catholic Parish Web Site of the Year competition got us to thinking again after all these years of parish Web site development. What have we learned? What makes a good parish site? Is there any “secret formula”? For starters, we came up with with six ideas to share with you, and we’d welcome your additions—you can post them in comments here.

Before I pass along our six suggestions, I’d like to tell you about a few features that our Web team has prepared for you to help your Web ministry with coming Church events. First is the feast of Blessed Mother Teresa on September 5. All signs point to this woman, whom many knew as a saint, being someday canonized by the Catholic Church. She remains immensely popular. Our annual feature has been a boost to many sites.

There’s also our back-to-school Web feature, where students and teachers can learn about popular patron saints of education, and send e-greetings to celebrate the new school year. There are also great ideas for teachers and catechetical leaders. This year, we've got a new graphic link for the feature that you can put on your site.

Finally, I’d like to remind those parishes that are holding pet-blessing ceremonies in honor of St. Francis’ feast (October 4) to contact our Web team and get your ceremony added to the Pet Blessings 2007 list.

And don’t forget to send your nominations for the 2007 Web Catholic Parish Web Site of the Year. The deadline is September 1. That brings us back to our opening question. What makes a good parish Web site? Here’s our take:

Six Suggestions for a Great Parish Site

         1. Skip the animated GIFs. It’s a tempting trick, but it gets old quickly on your site. It remains there, flailing about, annoying your visitors.
         2. While you’re at it, skip the audio background music. Yes, we all love Ave Maria, but it loses a little something on the midi sounds, and it also gets old after a short time, especially in the repeat format by the second or third loop. And consider your parishioners checking out the parish site from their cubicles at work—perhaps they didn’t know their volume was set on loud. You get the idea.
         3. Did we mention the background pattern, the one making your text illegible? Once again, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Better to stick to background colors that don’t compete with the message you’re trying to get people—of all ages and various sight abilities—to read.
         4. Lose the “under construction” signs. They don’t exactly deliver a message of confidence, especially when they are on the site week after week. Wait until your page is ready to publish, then publish it. Then announce the new page on your home page with a link to it!
         5. No crammed-full pages! I admit, this is an ideal for many of us who have so much information. But it you have to scroll and scroll and scroll to read a page, it likely has too much information. Pace yourself and deliver your content in pleasing, digestible amounts.
         6. Do more with less. The best parish Web sites aren’t necessarily the biggest; they are the ones that present what they set out to present in an attractive, simple manner. It is better, in our opinion, to do a small Web site well, than to put in everything you can think of with little care for design or user-friendliness.

Now, tell us your ideas and reactions! Post a comment here!

Web Catholic Site of the Year

We want to use this issue to explain our new blog and a new, friendly Catholic webmaster’s competition we are launching as we try to improve our efforts for you. Through our new Web Catholic Blog, our Web team wants to open up the “two-way street” among parish webmasters, so we set up a blog where people can share ideas, hand out practical advice and maybe dream a little. Check out the Web Catholic Blog. You’ll see it’s just getting started. This will be your space—please add a comment!

In addition to comments, on the blog you’ll find an archive of this column, plus an ongoing list  of the best of parish Web sites we’ve found, and an ongoing list of each month’s “Worth-a-Click” selection.  We’ll also include links for seasonal Web features, repeated from this e-newsletter.

I’m fond of calling parish Web sites “the parish bulletin on steroids.” Now I might think of our blog as “the Web Catholic e-newsletter on steroids.” The blog format provides an opportunity for a whole new way of interacting. And it will provide a valuable archive of ideas for the best in the Web for Catholic parishes.

Now, about the competition. The “Web Catholic Parish Site of the Year” will be an award (nothing fancy, we promise,) given out each October, to an outstanding parish site. That site will show us a good example of what a parish ought to do on the Web by combining form and function through pleasing design, handy features, good communication , regularly updated content—basically the things that go into what makes a parish site worth having. It need not be the most expensive, professional Web site; it’s more important that the site reflect an inspired sense of how a Web site can serve the life of a Catholic parish.

Submission deadline is September 1, 2007. There is no fee. Submission is as simple as sending an e-mail to webcatholic@americancatholic.org or  posting a comment on the blog. The winner will have the privilege of bragging rights—we’ll provide a fancy emblem that tells the world that your efforts have been recognized! We’ll send you a printed certificate, too, and some other small token of honor.