Working on web based projects is always consuming and requires a lot of commitment. We launched the new web presence for the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery this week, and journey that has taken us down a road that has lasted almost two years. The site is bay far one of the most powerful we’ve created and is loaded with features. Aside from the sortable events calendar, learning programming tools, blog tools, permanent collection index, downloads and other widgets – this site has a few things that really make it special.
The script that runs the site automatically resizes media for the administrators – a function that frustrates most web content managers – thusly relieving a lot of pressure to learn PhotoShop. It also employs what I call “Edit-in-place” meaning you navigate to the page you want to edit and once logged in, can edit the page right there… no more lists of pages to sift through in a back end control panel.
That said, the things I like about this site are aesthetic. We managed to apply a simple graphic style, but have a lot of graphic imagery packed into the left hand side of the design. the nav bar is integrated with vertical images of the museum. This allowed us to maximize the usable space on the screen. It the funk and the functional all in one.
Check out the site, then visit the museum!