As many of you know, our neighborhood website was very old and outdated, leading to some crashing issues. So, we recruited a team of neighbors—Bob Calkins (bringing his IT background), Bonnie Schacherer (as a former marketing research executive), and Laurie Hix (an advertising creative director with deep branding and website experience)—to work together to lead the creation of a new website with our current web development partner, Brian Joseph Studios.
What the Team Did
Here is what the team did:
- Audited the existing site to discover what is working, what is not working, and what could be improved.
- Created a site map with thoughtful navigation designed to be intuitive and user friendly, thinking very strategically about our audiences.
- Designed the public-facing Glen Eden homepage to be inviting for realtors, potential home buyers, etc.
- Designed the gated, log-in site allowing residents easy access to information and seamless surfing across pages with enhanced simplicity and functionality.
- Tapped our resident photographer, Paul Williams, for his stunning landscape photography of Glen Eden to add authenticity to our design.
We invite you to click around our new site. We feel confident that after a short time, you’ll be quickly up-to-speed.
Highlights of the New Site
Some of the highlights of the new site include:
- Search functionality: Our new website has a SEARCH field that you can use to quickly find the topic you’re interested in.
- Finding neighbors is easier: Along with the beloved low-tech lot map everyone uses, we now have a high-tech directory that includes Google Maps functionality and allows you to search for neighbors by name, address, or phone number.
- More automation: We tried to automate forms and emails to increase efficiency for all.
- A better user experience: Navigating the website is easier. You will also find intentional redundancy on the site to match how different people consume information.
- Easier to update: Since our site is built on WordPress (the gold standard for websites), it will be easier to make edits. We have designated a few board and committee members to be trained with editor access for certain sections like ARC, Calendar, Directory, etc.
- Compliant: We followed best practices in website design to help ensure the new site meets federal ADA best practices and any Florida HOA requirements.
We hope you enjoy this labor of love and find the content useful.
Happy surfing!