Our New Homepage - Sneak Peek!

As we dash headlong into the final month before launch (or it dashes into us, I can't really tell), there's a frenzy of activity at NPOC's virtual offices. 

We've completed initial testing of the new site, and Kevin and Gavin are busy working on the various issues we've submitted using Sifter (a great free tool for issue tracking)*. Various legal and procedural decisions are being ironed out. Our first Content Experts, whom you'll be meeting soon, are getting oriented. Matteo has set us up with Ace (another handy free tool) to manage our ongoing site-related tasks. Kenny and I are handling various Outreach and Communications tasks and logistics. Our meetings are filled with discussions, updates and ideas.

Last week we showed you the initial new homepage concepts delivered by Ben and Amelia at Digital Loom. After more discussion and decision making, they went away and did their magic and came back with a final design that we all love. Check it out!

(click to enlarge)

 This image shows some of the hover-over menus in action, and includes a sample Content Expert bio in the footer. We decided to use the vertical tabs to tell the visitor about the different resources and services available to NPO Connect members. Login/Signup links were added to the top, and the previous login area below the image has been changed to talk about our free skills-matching option. Social media and contact links are prominent but unobtrusive. Finally, our logo has been retooled slightly to sit better within the new site design. What do you think?

In other news: Next week we're launching a very cool Facebook promotion. Join our mailing list to be the first to hear about it! Sign up using the top link in the right hand menu -> or text keyword NPOCONNECT to 42828.

* Note: we have no incentive to mention this or any product or service on this blog, unless specifically stated otherwise. We'll just pass on our experiences.

Visuals!

Look what we just got from Digital Loom - shiny new homepage concepts:

Our new homepage is based off a fantastic Drupal theme from ThemeForest that allows our Digital Loom designers, and our Dev guys, a wide range of customizations to meet the needs of our new website. 

It's been a high priority to make sure that the new NPO Connect homepage will be visually spacious, informative, and easy to navigate. Busy new visitors need to be able to see quickly and clearly what we’re about, and members need convenient access to resources and content. And of course, it needs to look great on mobile devices.

These initial concepts use the visual focus, a content slider, to give information about NPO Connect 2.0’s Professional Development tracks. Another possible use of the slider could be to tell new users about the different services and resources 2.0 offers. 

We’ll be doing lots of brainstorming and discussing, as we continue to work with the designers to cement these sorts of options and integrate them with the rest of the site. Stay tuned as we forge ahead – and as always, we’d love to hear what you think!

We’ll be doing lots of brainstorming and discussing as we cement these sorts of options and integrate them with the rest of the site. Stay tuned as we forge ahead!