A typical church website will contain numerous Bible references. Devotional resources, sermon notes, blog posts, and “About Us” pages are just a few areas that might cite passages by chapter and verse. Reproducing every cited passage is not always necessary or desired. Often times, we just want to tie an idea or concept to an example from Scripture.

Online Bibles have given us an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between a Bible reference and the idea or concept that it supports. A simple HTML link can help get the point across without forcing the reader to thumb through their physical Bible. Unfortunately, it can be cumbersome to manually link a reference to an online Bible resource. However, a new tool from Logos has the ability to automate that process. It’s called RefTagger, and it’s a free tool written in JavaScript.

Once RefTagger is installed, it will automatically transform Bible references into JavaScript mouseovers and links. It identifies references in a variety of formats (John 3:16, John 3:16-17, etc.) and is even intelligent enough to determine which translation to use (John 3:16 (KJV), John 3:16 (NIV), etc.).

The RefTagger code is customizable and can be installed by pasting it right before the </body> tag on your website. Plugins are also available for major blog, forum and wiki platforms. Check it out!

Every church website should be able to answer a basic set of questions. This “essential content” needs to be easily accessible to anyone viewing the site. If all of these points are included, new visitors will have a better chance of understanding what the church is all about.

Who? The church’s name and a brief “who we are” blurb.

What? The church’s mission statement and religious affiliation.

Where? City, state, and street address.

When? Times and dates of worship services, Sunday school classes, etc.

Why? A statement of faith, clearly defining theological distinctives.

How? A concise overview of some programs and ministries the church offers.

Authors tailor their prose to specific types of readers. Businesses develop products and market them to a particular segments of consumers. In both of these examples, success depends on understanding the needs and desires of the target audience. This principle can be easily applied to church website design, where there are two main constituencies to consider.

Visitors

Say you’ve just moved to a new town, and you’re looking for a church to attend. How do you go about this task? Years ago, you would have picked up a phone book and thumb through the yellow pages. These days, you’d probably open a browser and perform a Google search.

It is very important for churches to understand the role of their online presence. With the pervasiveness of the Internet, church websites are often responsible for a visitor’s first impressions. Outdated, clumsy, confusing websites will frustrate a first-time visitor. If the experience is particularly bad, people might reject the church without ever setting foot inside the building! On the other hand, a clean, clear, and welcoming website may encourage a potential visitor to make plans for a Sunday morning visit.

If you’ve never done so before, take a look at your church website and assume the role of a first-time visitor. You might be surprised by what you see. What sorts of things stand out? In a separate post, I explore some suggestions for essential church website content.

Members

While visitors will navigate to a church website seeking general information and an overall impression, current church members will be interested in more detailed particulars. They should be able to regularly check the site and be presented with current events and opportunities. When is the next church potluck? What are the current Bible study and home group topics? Which passage of Scripture will the pastor be covering this week?

A church website should allow members to remain connected throughout the week. It should help encourage them to participate in the Body of Christ.

It seems that most church websites do a relatively good job when it comes to serving the needs of visitors. However, most of them fall short when it comes to the audience of current members. Where are the features that allow user interaction or real-time participation? In this age of social networking, churches have a great opportunity to build online communities that can supplement and strengthen the real-world relationships of their members. There is so much that can be done in this area! In future posts, I will explore some of my specific ideas. What are your thoughts on the church website member experience?

Church websites come in all shapes and sizes. Some are good and some are bad, but what separates the two? Does it matter? What does it mean to have a successful church website? What can be considered “essential content,” and what kind of information should be left out? Is it worthwhile to create and maintain a social/interactive component to your church website? Who should be in charge of a church website’s content?

For the past few weeks, I’ve been quietly working on a new project. Along the way, I’ve been considering these questions and more. Hopefully I’ll be able to share more information with you soon. In the mean time, what are your thoughts regarding these issues?

I’m not much of a graphic designer, so many of my websites are quite rough around the edges. Rounded corners can do a lot to improve the look of a site, but they’re not very easy to implement. A CSS-only, cross-browser solution usually involves a fair amount of Googling and trail-and-error. However, I recently ran across a neat little tool that eliminates most of that complicated guesswork.

Border Radius, a service by Jacob Bijani, allows users to design their rounded corners with an easy-to-use web-based interface. The corresponding CSS code is generated on the fly, ready to be copied into the target stylesheet. This neat little tool is perfect for casual website designers like me.