To put it simply: Having a mobile-friendly site helps people find you. Google ranks you much higher if your website is properly configured for mobile-readiness, and people who click on to your site from their devices immediately know that your chorus is current.
All of our new designs adhere to current mobile standards, and navigation is simple and intuitive.
After doing hundreds and hundreds of chorus websites, we've come to this understanding about design: people don't usually know what they want until they see it.
That's why our design process is interactive. You pick a starter design from a gallery of designs, give us your notes and any images or logos you want included, and real designers here at Connected Sound will develop several different looks based on your input. You can then give feedback based on what you're seeing, and the designers will come back with another round. Only when you are 100% happy with the look of your new design will we move on to the next phase.
In the process of upgrading your current Connected Sound site to the new platform, we'll make sure all your content on your old site is brought into the new system, and that your menu architecture is totally intact.
We’ll have your new site on a temporary domain, so you can of course revamp your content before going live. But this will give you a good starting point, and should be able to go live right away or work on it later if you prefer.
We are very happy to introduce the Quartz Management System, after 2 years of development. Since opening our doors in 2009, we’ve learned a lot about what exactly choruses need to have a powerful and effective website. And we’ve especially focused on making it EASY to manage.
The suite of new components listed below will give you an idea of the breadth and depth of the new system. And we’re working on more that will be added to your site in the coming months, free of charge. Here are just a few of the new components:
Redesigned InterfaceThe Admin section of your chorus, region or quartet site has been redesigned from the ground up, with specific focus on ease of user experience and workflow.
The admin menus are laid out graphically, and help videos and articles are offered contextually. All elements that can be styled, such as the home page, your sidebar, even your audio players, have a “Style” submenu item, which allows you to fine tune the look of that element.
Quartz StyleOur revolutionary Quartz Styling System gives you the power to style complex content, lists, forms, and even your home page, with the movement of a few dials and faders. Designers have set the parameters so that nothing you do ever looks bad. But it gives you the power to get it to look exactly how you want it.
Homepage ManagerThe first page people generally see when they click on to your website is your home page. Let’s make it a great first impression.
The new Home Page Manager helps you get just the right imagery in your slideshow and “calls to action,” and all the colors and fonts tuned just so.
Updating the content is as easy as putting data into fields, and styling them with controls that are fun and simple to use.
List ManagerThe "About" page on your site has a list of your Board of Directors. Your Quartets page has a list of your Quartets. Your Members Only side has many lists, like your Music Team and other groups. But those pages are notoriously a chore to update and to style to where it looks good. Not anymore. Our List Manager lets you create unlimited numbers of lists, enter them sensibly into fields, and then style them later with the fun and easy Quartz Styling System.
Member ToolsOur new suite of Members tools gives you the ability to track your members’ rehearsal attendance, future event attendence, proficiency on music, and even stats on their use of the learning track player. All members’ music, lyric sheets, and notes are bundled with the audio, and are easily accessed from mobile devices.
4-Part Learning Track PlayerDuet with another part. Omit 1 or more parts. Learning your repertoire just got a lot faster and easier with this powerful tool. And of course you can download your part at any time with ease.
The player is now fully functional on any mobile device, so you can practice your part, changing the mix, from anywhere.
This Fall we’ll be unveiling a complete library of learning tracks, available for purchase through the player itself, an “iTunes” of sorts for the learning track player.
Events ManagerWe have a new event manager that lets you create new events, whether rehearsals or performances, that will text or email your members details and allow them to respond about attendance. The event manager will give leadership a graphical view of attendance by part.
Community BoardsExpanding on our “Shout-Outs,” The new community boards system will let your members easily communicate on a variety of topics, and threads they create. Members can get texts, tweets, or email alerts, or get complete digests of discussions going on daily.
More Features and UpgradesThe new Quartz system makes it very easy to roll out new features and updates to your site. ALL future upgrades will be FREE.
We’ll be taking your feedback on all of our components, and working to improve the system as a whole. Meanwhile we have even more exciting new components that are nearing completion. Due out this summer are several key new components, including a powerful new newsletter system, riser placement module, and a personalized merchandise plug-in that will let you sell your chorus’ or quartet’s brand on a variety of merchandise options (not just cafepress!) -- great for fundraising.
Google announced this year that having a properly configured mobile site now gets your chorus much better search results. And one of the main purposes to a great website is of course getting “clickthroughs” - bringing people into your content, and discovering who you are.
But more than just “getting good results,” we want you to get fresh faces into your chorus. To do that, it’s worth taking advantage of this new site, new look, and new tools, to really take a moment and think about how best to present yourself.
Our new Search Optimization component helps you do that. From getting the right keySounds and layout on your homepage, to the best use of social media, we can guide you to maximum results - new people walking through those doors!