As mentioned in an earlier post, I am helping a friend to build and deploy his new website.

We decided to use WordPress, a content management system, as the platform for updating information on the site. The look and feel of the site will be independent of the content.

We moved his site to myhosting.com, an excellent hosting company based in Toronto. I put up an under construction page and I also installed and tested the latest version of WordPress. Everything works as expected.

The next steps will be to build out the information hierarchy for the site and enter the content. After that, we will apply the new design elements and open the site.

My friend is a very talented musician and he is also active in ministry and teaching. In terms of presenting on the web, I suggested that he review 15 or 20 similar websites and make notes on what he likes and does not like about their designs. I also suggested that he think about his target audience and what they would need from his site.

I gave him links to a few sites of the top Christian artists in Canada and the United States. Some very interesting designs although I must admit that they range from the horrible to the acceptable. Take a look and draw your own conclusions. In particular, think about the message that their sites present. From selling cruise vacations to shirts and hats, it is often difficult to find out whether they have a ministry or just a business.

Michael W. Smith
Chris Rice
Steve Bell
Chris Tomlin
Steven Curtis Chapman
Mercy Me
Jars of Clay