Site Launch: Chautauqua Institution

I'm thrilled to announce the launch of Chautauqua Institution's redesigned site, over at CIWEB.ORG.

I was first contacted over six months ago to make minor modifications to Chautauqua's previous website. I guess we just clicked, because in the fall of 2010, I was asked to submit a proposal to redesign the site. I considered it a huge honor and considering the size of their site, I knew it would be a great challenge.

After months of planning, designing and building, the site is a thing of beauty, that I am extremely proud of.

One great step that the client is taking is to launch this as a "beta" version. This allows them to collect feedback from visitors. We're also planning a series of user tests in the weeks ahead, which is a great way to not only make sure visitors know how to use the site, but also make sure they can find what they're looking for.

"Because we focus on The Arts, we want the imagery to be the prominent feature."

The site features a unique jQuery accordion-stlye slider on the homepage, custom-built for Chautauqua. Each "landing page" has a different type of image slider, allowing the visitor to become immediately immersed in the experience.

I really wanted to let the typography have its own voice on the site, so I selected Proxima Nova, (my personal favorite) font available from Typekit. It's a great modern typestyle with classic angles, which seem to match Chautauqua's style nicely.

Here are a few screenshots of my favorite features. Be sure to Experience Chautauqua and tell them we said hello!

The Arts landing page with a tabbed image slider, intended to give the visitor a mini photo tour of each section.

Bold "print-like" typography, showing Chautauqua's attention to style.

Custom XML/Javascript showing local weather and accordion-style jQuery animated slider.

Quick Tip: Login, Log-on, Sign-in, Sign-on —Which is right?

In my last post, I mentioned a few Member Login tips, and when typing the word Login, I cringe a little. This is because in all my years of web content management (aka being a Webmaster) every organization used a different term.

Here's a content management tip that I've used for years.

When you don't know something, you ask a friend, right? But what about comparing web content terms? You ask Google. It's really true you want to find-out what "the world" thinks, and since Google knows everything, they have to be the best source.

Enter GOOGLEFIGHT.COM

At googlefight.com, you can compare the popularity of anything by waging a battle: MAC -vs- PC, Leno -vs- Conan even web content terms like Login -vs- Logon.

When in-doubt, pick a fight!

Quick Tip: The Faster Login

The login box on Squarespace.comMany of my clients know that they can login to their squarespace sites directly from Squarespace.com. This was actually news to me after one client disabled their login page. I was surprised to find that feature.

I thought I would share three ways to login to your Squarespace site.

1. PRESS ESCAPE

Yes, it's that simple. By pressing the escape key on your keyboard, you will be taken to the site's default login screen. 

This is a command that only works if the login page hasn't been disabled from the site's architecture. (more below)

2. ADD "LOGIN" LINK TO YOUR SITE'S NAVIGATION

I know some people love to have their login link accessible as part of their navigation, but considering the escape key shortcut, I never really knew the point.

OK, aside from this instance— If a site has several editors & members, then the login access should probably be visible at all times.

To add the login link to a section of your site, first select "Add Page" within the section where you want to add the page. Select "Login Prompt", then "Select & Configure". 

You can then name the page, and even assign a unique style to your login page. It's handy that Squarespace has provided the customization of the login page to allow site owners to add whatever messaging is necessary there.

Login is disabledYou'll want to enable the page for it to be visible. 

If the page is disabled, the escape shortcut above will not work. Instead, the visitor will see a Page Not Found message. However, if the page is deleted, the escape shortcut will still work.

3. "Member Login" ON SQUARESPACE.COM

As I mentioned earlier, logging-in to any Squarespace site can be done in the upper-right "Member Login" link on Squarespace.com

I hope you found these tips helpful. When mentioning the Escape shortcut to past clients, there's usually applause over the phone.

Welcome to 2011!

Today, my wife and I sat down to discuss the past year and to map-out 2011. In short, we're thrilled about the months ahead.

Over the past decade, I've considered myself a jack of all-things-web. However, I've never wandered too deeply-into the Nerd Forest (meaning, I've only stuck with front-end design & development).

2010 was the year when I decided to focus 100% on Squarespace sites and this is what led to the launch of Squareflair.com. I'm happy to add that I've never regretted this decision. We've designed and built some incredible sites in 2010, and we've met some great clients who we can now call our friends.

Looking-ahead

One stop on the Creative Component roadmap is to start a blog here on Squareflair.com. What you can expect here in the future are Squarespace tips & tricks, posts on general content management and video tutorials, all of which are aimed at helping you manage your Squarespace site.

If there are things you would like to see covered here, give us a shout and we'll do our best to help.

Here's to a great year ahead!

Alan Houser
President
Creative Component, LLC