Scott Radcliff
Faith United Methodist Church
The Initial Phase
The members of Oregon Faith United Methodist church knew that they needed to embrace technology and that a successful website would help them to achieve that. Pastor Doug Dean who is a gifted photographer had a clear vision of what the website should do. Along with the features that the website should have, he also had plenty of content for the site in the form of images and text.
Armed with a clear vision, a solid grasp on the feature set, and direction; I set out to find the best solution to reach the goals of the organization. Keeping in mind the church would like to edit their own website, I decided on Expression Engine for it’s ability to be extended easily and the flexibility it possesses.
Technical Considerations
Due to the large sets of images that were to be incorporated into the website, a method was needed to display those images without being overbearing for the user. Javascript via jQuery was selected to produce several slideshows throughout the website.
Another factor that was considered for development was the fact that part of the target market could be accessing the site on a sub-standard internet connection. With this in mind, I bundled as many aesthetics as possible into CSS.
The end result is a website that the members of the church can use to get information quickly, read updates, and participate with.