131 – How’s Your Website Looking?

This week on the WELSTech podcast we talk web design and hear from long-time listener Perry Lund about his Joomla church web site.

The discussion:

• Graduation and Call Day season has arrived – If you can’t be there in person, plan to tune in to the special services via live video stream.  All events except the MLC Graduation Concert will be broadcast on WELS Streams – wels.net/streams/live.
  • Martin Luther College
    • Graduation Concert – Friday, May 14 at 4:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. via the Chapel of the Christ uStream Channel – ustream.tv/channel/mlc-chapel
    • Graduation – Saturday, May 15 at 10:00 a.m.
    • Call Service – Saturday, May 15 at 2:30 p.m.
  • Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary
    • Vicar Assignments – Tuesday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m.
    • Graduate Assignments – Thursday, May 20 at 10:00 a.m.
    • Graduation Concert – Thursday, May 20 at 7:00 p.m.
    • Graduation – Friday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m.
• Web Design – What message does the look of your church or school web site convey to those who visit for the first time?  Listen as Martin and Sallie share ideas to improve your site design including color choices and CSS tweaks. WELSTech listeners can even take a sneak peek at two new FinalWeb templates!
  • Martin’s Websites and Missions paper (PDF) is posted on the WELSTech Wiki > Church/School Websites page
  • kuler.adobe.com – generate a color palette to match your logo image
  • CollideMagazine.com
  • View sample church site designs
    • ChurchBeauty.com – Chapel.org
    • MinistryCSS.com
    • 2pc.org
  • New FinalWeb templates – a beta preview
    • Good Shepherd, West Allis, WI
    • St. John’s, Sleepy Eye, MN
  • Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) are the key to web design
    • 8 Free & Best CSS Editors for Web Designers
    • The Best CSS Editors for Mac
    • CSS Tutorial
    • Check out Lynda.com for CSS training

The interview:

(20:30) Joomla at Grace – Perry Lund, lay member and web developer from Grace in Oskaloosa, IA, chats with Martin and Sallie about the development of their church web site, Grace-WELS.org, on the Joomla Content Management System (CMS) platform.

• ChristianTemplatesOnline.com

News in tech:

(41:00) Skype Video Conferencing

Picks of the week:

• (43:47) Richard Byrne, ed-tech blogger at Free Technology For Teachers, recently released a free guide called Making Videos on the Web
• Aliph Jawbone Icon Bluetooth Headset

Of interest:

• (50:25) WELSTech is going on a virtual summer Road Trip to all 12 synod districts, and we want to visit your church or school to learn about the tech-in-ministry solutions you are using to further your gospel ministry! Contact Us to schedule your stop on our travel itinerary.
• FinalWeb Training in Milwaukee, WI and New Ulm, MN
  • FinalWeb for Teachers – July 19 – bit.ly/fw4teachers
  • FinalWeb for Dummies – July 20-22- bit.ly/fw4dummies

Community feedback:

• (53:58) Tweeting teacher Jason Schmidt from Gethsemane in Omaha, NE shared …
  • Microsoft Mouse Mischief
  • Is it time for a face-to-face #WELSTech tweet up/technology conference??
  • Google Tools for the Classroom Wiki
• Martin shared several links via the WELSTech group on Diigo
  • Ning announces free pricing for teachers
  • DIY kitchen cabinet iPad
  • How Non-Profits Are Using Social Media for Real Results
• Kudos to Christ the King in Palm Coast, FL.  Pastor Phil Huebner (a WELSTech listener) was recently featured in an article on the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary web site about the formation of his congregation.

Coming up on WELSTech:

(1:04:03) Episode 132 – Pastor Steve Bauer joins Martin and Sallie for “Macs in Ministry” week on WELSTech. (Release date 05/19/10)

The featured artist:

(1:05:03) We close the podcast with the music of Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Revelation music ministry (www.revelationwlc.com) – Three Men on a Mountain from their CD titled “Once For All”

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