Richard has announced that the Sketty Methodist chuch web site is on-line. I'm particularly interested in the fact that they are using WordPress to power the site as I use WordPress to maintain our congregation's web-site. I'd be interested in getting some feedback on how suitable they —and perhaps others— find blogging platforms for maintaining this type of web site.
There has been much discussion around the web on the (un)suitability of using blogging software as a CMS. There are WordPress features that I find particularliy useful for this task:
- Ease of updating —Once the initial installation is complete, adding content is relatively straightforward. As Richard mentions, any number of authors can be set up in WP, allowing individual groups within the congregation to add their own content.
- Static pages —Certain types of information doesn't change frequently: address and driving directions, group membership lists, weekly schedules, etc. Static pages can be created and then updated only as needed.
- Categories and sub categories —Church congregations generally have a lot of things going on. Categories allow the webmaster to manage the organization of the site. Individual groups get a sub-category, which is further organized under a category. (E.g., band, choir and worship team all have their own sub-categories, which come under the category of music.) Everything flows through the front page, so that visitors to the site can see at a glance what is happening at Edmonton Temple. Those who are interested in a specific activity, say ALPHA, can find the details they need in that category.
I've been using WordPress at the Edmonton Temple site for a little more than six months now and am happy with the system and the results. The response to the site has been good and our traffic has slowly been increasing.