By the time this
publication reaches your hands, the new NACCC Website may be
on-line. Our
target date is January 15, 2003. You will find it at
www.naccc.org.Our site has a new look and feel as well as
new functions and features. Web designer, Rachel Jensen, has
created a clean, navigable, consistent model which several
programmers have brought to life. The color scheme is pleasing and
inviting, even enhancing the content, making each page easy to
read.
Rachel has incorporated "breadcrumbs" throughout the entire
site. Breadcrumbs are a navigation tool which offers a return
path. By clicking on a "breadcrumb" link, you can step back page
by page or jump to any preceding page along that section in the
site. A new site-wide search feature will aid in finding what you
need on the site.
The home page of our new site features selected articles from
The Congregationalist and the NA News as will as
special articles written by the clergy and laity of our
association. Because of the ease of posting on the new site, our
staff will be able to update the material on a regular basis.
One of the most dramatic new features is the Open Forums. Our
previous forums were difficult to navigate and not very stable.
Frequent errors occurred, forcing several rebuilds of indexing
which allowed the site to work. The new forum software is highly
flexible, extremely stable and feature rich. It even looks
appealing.
The forum is open to all who wish to browse and read messages,
but in order to post a message each user must register. The
registration process is simple and offers users many features such
as the ability to "subscribe" to a specific area of the forum. For
example, when a user posts a question or comment the user may
subscribe to that thread which enables the forum to send an email
notification when someone has responded to your post. Registered
members now can edit their own posts, even deleting them
altogether. Message text formatting features includes fonts,
colors, justification and bullets. Messages may be spell-checked
and images inserted. Additionally the forums have site wide search
features as well as individual forum search features. Moderators
have been assigned to each forum to answer questions via email and
assure the appropriateness of posted material. These are just a
few of the available features for registered members on our new
Open Forum.
Our new site sets the stage for many new features, including
expanded capabilities for the clergy search process,
Congregational History and Polity, Mission awareness and
contributions. We are excited about the possibilities and are
working to bring them to completion for your use.
Ever wonder where the minutes went?
www.nachurch.org is the repository for Executive Committee
minutes. The office no longer uses the postal service to
distribute official NACCC minutes, except by individual request.
The advantage of posting our minutes on line includes a huge cost
savings and the flexibility of electronic media. On-line you can
search the text of individual meeting minutes for
the specific information you want. You can also search several
meetings at once to track a topic as it is discussed. The
www.nachurch.org website is also the first place meeting dates are
posted (including the Annual Meeting) and announcements are made.
This unique site is also the home of "worksites" for all the
volunteers who serve on our various divisions, committees and task
forces. You may want to check it out.
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