So, we have been working on the site a lot, and I thought to myself, our logo is only in one spot...So I thought about this and thought about other sites and then thought maybe I could add it a couple other places without being obtrusive.  The question then is where would I put it, and would it look out of place...Well, I don't want to have a logo detract from the overall feel and look of the site, that would be counter-intuitive, so I decided to add some banners and logo's to the bottom of the page.  This simply let's people know they are at the bottom of the page, and oh yea this is our logo.  Hopefully it's no intrusive and doesn't detract from the site.  You can let me know if I accomplished my goal by making comments here or in the feedback forum.

Now, on to the Member Directory.  We have been doing a lot of new updates to the Member Directory page, we have been adjusting the layout of the page to make it simpler to navigate.  We are also making the Member Directory a more complete, well rounder page.  There is now more info being displayed in more logical places.  We have also decided to make similar minded menu's the same color.  So, our menu is always the same color on every page, the default blue.  However, to differentiate the user related menu's we decided to make those a red hue, and the Member Directory menu's are a green hue.  This way, even if you don't notice that they are the same color, sub-consciously, you may make the connection and be able to navigate more intuitively.  I hope this makes things easier for you, the user.  That's all for know folks.

One of the things that I have been working on for quite some time is some sort of How we work page.  Lot's of people may look at our site with all the enhancements we have made and still not quite understand how we work or have questions about our purpose.  So, what I am trying to do is set up a page where we can visually demonstrate how our site operates.

The things that are holding me back from releasing something right now is I want to make it visually appealing, while also keeping the functionality as the top priority.  So, how do I do this?  Good questions, it's going to take some time, just know that it's in the works.  Lot's of the preliminary work has already been completed.  For instance, the page is created, the menu's have been updated to reflect the changes, and the content is in the organizational stages.  Once this is completed we will be releasing our finished product to everyone on the world wide web to see.  When will this be?  I have a feeling it will be later than sooner, sorry.  Just know we are working our best on this.

In case you have missed it, our server transitions have been successfully completed, and we have no begun to go full steam ahead on all of our planned site improvements.  So, what have we been doing?  We have completely changed the look of our site, have updated all the modules, redesigned some of our articles, as well as re-written some aspects...of some articles.  Where does that leave us?  It leaves us with a much improved, much more stable, and more eye-pleasing site...I hope!  What do you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts, you can do so by posting your comments or by posting in the feedback forums.

By the way, you may want to check out our improved Member Directory.  Lots of members have listed themselves as resources for you.  And while our forums don't seem to be real active right now our members do respond rather quickly.  Not only do they respond fast, but they are also very knowledgeable in their field.  try it out, you may just not want to leave.

Ok, I know we just did this, but some un-expected things came up and our current host isn't going to be able to fit us into his game plan, so we are out...for now.  So, what are we going to do?  We are moving, to a larger, more stable...let's say..situation.  This will be better for everyone in the end (doesn't everybody say that?) it will decrease load and stress off our current provider, provide a more stable situation for myChristianConnection, and provide another customer for our new provider, so...no hard feeling right?

What does this mean to you?  Well, good question.  It means some more, small, minor delays in our new release, and it means that overall, it will eliminate hassles for us in the future.  So, where do we go from here?  Another good question; once up and running (you actually shouldn't notice to much of a difference) we will begin our work in releasing our new site design, it should be exciting.

One last comment about our server situation, part of this transformation will help our site overall.  When we got hacked we had some unforeseen errors in our site that needed to be dealt with.  By moving servers we are also starting with a fresh install of Joomla with the new security update.  This should help insure that this type of thing doesn't happen in the future, as well as help fix whatever errors we may not have caught when the site was hacked.  End result?  A much smoother running myChristianConnection, one that should provide for a better user experience.