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If you’re reading this you’ve most likely already noticed that things look different on The Network.  On February 27, just after our 4th anniversary, we launched the newly re-designed site. We’re still collecting feedback and would love to know what you think. And we’re willing to make it worth your while.

Want to know how easy it is to enter the drawing which starts today and runs through the end of April? Just post a comment on this blog. You can let us know what feature you like best about the new site or which feature you miss most about the old one. Or you can just say “hi.” Your comment automatically enters your name in a drawing for free stuff. Here’s what we’ll be giving away:

  • $25 Amazon Gift Card (1)
  • Network Coffee Mug (5)
  • Limited Edition Network Shoulder Bag (3)

If you haven't had a chance to test drive some of the new network features, this is your chance. Look for:

  • Posting a blog or an article or uploading a resource (yup - now every member can post),
  • Filtering by topic, type and/or author (zero in on resources you need),
  • Clicking on the link “Was this useful?” (help others find good resources),
  • “View” by Posts, Comments and Users (see top contributors on each section), and
  • Join a ministry section and get notifications of all new activity (blogs, comments & more).

We’ve built our online community on the idea that sometimes the best help comes from people who are doing similar work and struggling with the same questions. As we share our experience and our resources, we help strengthen the church for ministry. If you’re not already a member of The Network, we hope you’ll become one today and share your thoughts about the new site with us!

Comments

My favourite (and least favourite!) part about the new Network is how easy it is to lose several hours just moving from one post to another of really relevant ministry stuff...almost no matter who you are. This stuff affects and effects us all! Thanks for all the hard work.

I appreciate the larger font and cleaner look.  Yes, it takes time to see everything each week (and I do see everything), but it's worth it.  Thankyou for giving us this forum to share/learn with/from each.

I love how user-friendly your new site is. It's very interactive for the reader and within a couple clicks, I can get to the topic or information that I'm looking for. I just became a member and I'm thrilled at how much information there is available. I had no idea. 

My complaint would be about the imagery. There is a lot of potential for appropriate and dynamic images in the posts. The thumbnail images are quite small and I've noticed that if the images are too busy or dull, then I may pass over the article even if the title is active. 

Perhaps you could also arrange the front page to highlight your best articles front and center with the list of topic just below instead of dividing up the space? 

Overall, it's a wonderful new layout. Congrats! 

I really like how you can subscribe (once again) to individual topics, because the overall summary email was just too overwhelming. Thanks for brining that back.

The search features are also quite helpful.

Noah Kruis

It's been feast or famine with my Network participation.  It always seems like there is more interest than time to keep up to date.

 

Keep up the good work!

I like the clear navigation of the new site. There is so much information (good!), so the ability to sift and sort effectively makes it much easier to find what I need.

I hope to utilize this site much more now that I took the time to register for the weekly email about new postings. Thanks for making it so easy.

Under Church Admin and finance? I would never think to look in there for it. It would be great if that could be a direct link from the front page where the list of topics is...that's my two cents worth.

I appreciate what you do and the opportunity to comment. Thanks for all your hard work.

I like the new look. Larger font makes it easier to read. And I really hope that the navigation by topic and type will help people find their interest more easily. Kudos to the Network team. 

I enjoy the network and the new look.  I'm also one who browses occasionally, but usually find at least one thing of interest.

I enjoy getting to read and post on the "Tech" part of the site, and hopefully it helps other people that read what ive wrote.

It's a real shame that the CRC has to resort to 'FREE STUFF' in order to attract people. If we are true to the Word then we should know that our God, Yahweh, supplies all our needs. We should not be going this route, we're barking up the wrong tree!! This is a lottery in the real sense of the word, and will not be blessed by the One we say we serve.

I agree with others you described the difficulty of sorting through the noise to find the signal. So much great stuff available that it challenges my discernment and I tend to default to using my confirmation bias as a guide. I have thought about this in other arenas where the same problem exists and the best that I seem to be able to do is rely on a few trusted curators to guide and challenge me.

It seems the new design is much more intuitive and user friendly. Along with many of the others, I also appreciate the clean and "minimalist' design. 

so clean, so inviting and yes, simply can spend hours reading, learning, browsing and reflecting on who we are as a community and larger church! thank you for the use of giftedness and calling us to a stronger purpose and learning. May God be praised in it all.

 

I've really been enjoying the CRC Network.  Keep up the great work!  As an office administrator I have my fingers in many church 'pies'.  It is great to see how others are dealing with various issues that develop or how other churches manage, encourage and sustain the different ministries and function groups.

I think this new Network is fabulous.  It always had great resources and input and now it is easier to manage and customize to your interests. 

In our church we have a website and a link to the Network.  The website does give information to the community about us and links to audio sermons, etc.  However, it was decided that we need a place for those who would like to join a community on line so there is a link on our website for that as well.  At the moment we have started doing this through a website called "the city" which allows a group (our church) to set up a "campus" in which we can set up groups, discussions, a calendar, do prayer requests, etc.  Although this is good, in my opinion, it would be much better if this could be an extension of the Network.  That way we could seamlessly be part of community within the network for such things as service or other groups locally, share prayer and other needs locally and at the same time be part of the big network and all the resources and opportunities that there are in the wider community of the CRCNA.

Anyone interested in more information about what I am talking about can get more information by going to our website at www.immanuelcrc.ca

Actually, Peter, that's something we've wondered about as well - giving each church their own "private" discussion area on The Network for their members. We just weren't sure how many churches would want that. It's very do-able, although it would require validation by the church office of who is/isn't a member of the church (currently, users self-report what church they belong to - but if it's private it needs to be stronger than self-reporting).

Or...to make it easier and almost (?) as good, we could set up a public discussion area for each church. That eliminates all the security/validation workflow and still gives each church their 'own' area, but would require people to use good judgment about what and how they post. I suppose large churches already have this need, since any 'private' discussion area is really 'semi-public' when the church is so large. Giving each church a separate, public area would be pretty easy to do.

Anyway, you've got the wheels turning here. And I'd be very curious to see if any other churches would like this. To assess interest, you might want to post this idea as a separate discussion topic (e.g. in the Church and Web area) to give the idea more visibility and get more people to weigh in on it.

Thanks for your interest in The Network, for spreading the word, and helping make it better!

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