The LCMS has redesigned its website at www.lcms.org to make it easier for visitors to find the information they’re seeking.
“There was a definite need to rethink the way the website was organized and streamline its content,” explained Becky Cummings, manager of Internet affairs with LCMS Communications and one of the project’s leaders. “Visitors often 
expressed difficulty in finding information unless they were very familiar with how the church was organized. We wanted to change this and make the information easily accessible by everyone.”
The redesigned website supports the Synod’s emphasis on “Witness, Mercy, Life Together” while retaining the much-used features of the former design, such as Frequently Asked Questions; worship resources; and church, school and church-worker locators.
Highlights of the new site — which was launched April 25 — include:
- easier navigation, with Web pages organized in a more consistent way.
- a centralized location for all resources for work, home and church.
- a new media gallery, with all photos, videos and audio files in one place.
- a consolidated newsroom, with the latest news and information about LCMS people, missions and ministries.
- direct links to LCMS social media pages and blogs, plus the ability to “like” articles and share content with others.
- helps for donors, such as an improved online giving catalog and the ability to view contributions and print receipts.
- more customization, so that visitors may create an online account, manage subscriptions and flag their interests.
The website redesign took more than two-and-a-half years from inception to completion. Although the site underwent “cosmetic” changes and added some new features in 2009, the recent redesign was the first major overhaul of the site since 2002.
Additional new features and improvements are expected to be added to the website in the coming weeks and months.
“In a communication or technological sense, websites are the public faces of many organizations,” said David L. Strand, executive director of LCMS Communications. “They are critical — the first place people go to learn about a company’s news, resources, opportunities and more.
“Our website is no different, and we believe our new one offers an array of attractive features for LCMS members and nonmembers alike,” Strand said. “Of course, we’ll make adjustments and otherwise improve the site as we go along, but we believe it sets us on a very good course.”
Designers of the new website offer one caveat: If previously-saved “bookmarks” related to the lcms.org site do not work, please visit the Web page you are seeking and save it again. Some earlier links are no longer compatible with the new system.
Posted May 5, 2011
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