Well, no one told me they noticed the April Fool's day banner picture this morning. Yes, the Titanic graced our home page before noon. Shortly after noon, a mysterious force invaded all of SNAME.org. I call this force "renovation".
I am happy to report that the blue wallpaper sank like this morning's banner picture, never to be seen again. Other changes to the site include a home page auto-feeder for blogs and a personalized feeder for your eGroup messages (you see yours - others see theirs based on committee/section/community membership) on the bottom of the home page.
Check out the new areas on the home page, and also the April
Member Spotlight featuring Jane Louie. Jane has been a core member of SNAP, the SNAME Committee leading the charge on the website and database infrastructure improvements over the past year. If you like what you see, be sure
SNAP Members like Jane know. If you don't like what you see,
tell me - we are always improving the site based on member feedback.
But what I am most excited about is the top banner. It is cleaner. It clearly states the name of the Society. It is shorter so more bottom page content can be seen. The navigation items are on the bottom of the banner - much easier to see and more intuitive). And best of all it provides a VISUAL CONFIRMATION of logged in status and links at the far right. I have been waiting to get these things added, today is the day. 'Bout time!
Sure, there are somy ugly spots (login pages not yet updated, banner image jumping when not logged in, landing page for banner image not accessable) but these rough edges will be knocked off next week.
More good stuff is just a litle further down the road. Of course, all good websites mature over time. Coming soon are:
- Industry news feed -- LIVE NEWS - auto refreshing at the bottom of the home page
- More feeders to help you use the home page as a single-glace indicator of how your Society communities are engaging
- Login and eCommerce pages of SNAME.org will be updated with new template (early next week)
- Much more, your comments and suggestions are welcome
So, stay tuned. Let me know your thoughts, and look forward to more great changes in the future.
Thanks to all and Happy Easter Weekend!
Best, Mark
Mark Eichler
Communications & Web Strategist
The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
601 Pavonia Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306
201.499.5069 (phone)
201.798.4975 (fax)