Transition in Communion – and Beyond

The LWF Web Presence – 1997–2010+

June 2010 update

The Lutheran World Federation

The LWF Web Presence

First site created for the 1997 LWF Assembly in Hong Kong, China; very limited content.

First full site in 1999.

Redesigned and expanded in 2002

Towards a New Web Site

• Issues:– Limited staffing and budget;

– Static Web site, difficult to upgrade.

• Requests:– Better reflect the “Communion” aspect of LWF;– Easier updating, especially of content;– Enhanced tools.

Towards a New Web Site

• The LWF Web Task Force– 14 Web, Internet and IT specialists, representing all

seven LWF Regions, plus World Service Field Programs.

– Feedback on the Web Site and a few reports on structure and engine.

• The LWF Web Roundtable– Task Force Members and other IT and Web experts

from the Communion met in Geneva to discuss the future of the web site.

The Web Roundtable said…

• “Communio Garden”– One portal to rule them all…

• Institutional Web Site– Tighter, better, stronger

What the LWF Did…

• Hire a Web consultant;• Revisit Web strategy in view of

Roundtable result;• New institutional Web site;• Plans for the Communio Garden.

Institutional Site

• Early beta: Summer 2009 – improved in parallel with then-current web site

• May 2010 : soft launch– only available in English (with news releases also

in German)– some content only visible via dirty hacks– some content only on the static web site

Institutional Site

• Big push to place remaining content on the new site– some content will still only be accessible via dirty

hacks for a while…

Institutional Site Powered by Wordpress

• Pros:– Easy to use;– Large community;– Flexible and poweful;– Free, open-source blog engine.

• Cons:– Not that flexible;– Does not play too well with legacy content.

Lessons learned

• It always takes longer than planned– MUCH longer…

• Planning to adapt the content at the same time was a mistake;

• Legacy content (News, Member Church directory) are a big problem;

• Wordpress is incredibly flexible – to a certain extent.

The way ahead

• Adding missing functionalities – For example: Member Churches directory

• Staff training;• Reorganizing the content;• Cleaning up the code for easier

maintenance– Wordpress motto: “Code is Poetry”– LWF Web site is very bad poetry…

Nurturing the Communion– The Communio Garden

Status update 2008-2010

Communio Garden

• Behind the Communio Garden : 2008 Web Roundtable – “How can the LWF online presence become an

authentic expression of a communion of churches: spiritual, sacramental, confessional, witnessing and serving?”

Communio Garden Basics

• Single Web platform;• Share content;• Link existing online communities; and• Strengthen online presence.

Communio Garden Features

• Search engine for Lutheran-related Web pages, images and other resources. – User-contributed referencing, commenting and

ranking (“Digg for Lutherans”).

• Digital Asset Management platform to share images and other resources.

• Website creation and hosting services for member churches or field offices.

Communio Garden Project

• Project submitted to the Edith & Godtfred Kirk Christiansen’s Foundation (a.k.a “Lego Foundation”);

• Early approval;• Prototype developed by Danmarks

Kirkelige Mediecenter (DKM).

Communio Garden

• Future steps– Hopefully by the end of 2010– Work on the web creation/hosting tool in 2011