Welcome! The new Mahone Bay Quilters’ Guild web site is now live and waiting for you to explore. In this post, we’ll offer you a guided tour – but don’t hesitate to explore on your own. Plans for the new site have been percolating for a bit, and we are very pleased to finally invite you to take a look. More important, we hope that the work we’ve done to reorganize the Guild’s information – along with new features we’ve added – will make it easier to find the information you need. Technology has come a long way since our former web site was created and you will find that this new site takes advantage of those improvements.
SO, let’s get started!
You’ve already seen the home page above in this month’s newsletter. Check out the top navigation bar – this will appear on every page in the site and will guide you to where you want to go. Any time you want to come back to this page, just tap or click on the Guild’s name and you will be there. The home page is really the Guild ‘at a glance’ – we will be highlighting important events as they come up (currently the Quilt Show), and providing quick links to recent blog posts and to social media. Scroll down the page and you’ll find upcoming events from our calendar and recent photos from Instagram and Flickr.
Time to explore further! Let’s go back to the navigation bar at the top and see what’s there.
About briefly describes our Guild, and also lists our current Executive Committee members.
Join is an invitation to prospective members to find out more and encouragement to fill out the Membership form – on line or in paper form.
The Calendar is an exciting new addition – you’ll see a list of events by date but look closely – you can also search by event name, or on the far right side, you can click on Month for a view of everything that is happening month by month. If you click on an individual event, you’ll be taken to a page that includes full information on that specific event – date, time, location (even a map!), what you need to bring, as well as any documents that are being provided. We’ve only just begun to explore what the Calendar can do so stay tuned – we think you will find it handy.
The Quilt Show 2022 page will grow as more information is released – but check out the promotional artwork and the countdown clock. You’ll want to check this page often as the show gets closer – asnd we will continue to highlight it on the Home Page.
After you leave the Home Page to explore other pages, note the right hand sidebar on those other pages. You will find a short list of upcoming events with a link back to the Calendar. If you scroll further down the sidebar, you will find links to Guild Member blogs, and to Quilting Destinations – just as they appeared on our former web site. We’ll refine the list over time, but it will remain as a quick way to reach links important to all of us as Members.
There is more to discover under the next two navigation buttons, which lead you to drop down menus.
Under Special Events, you will find:
- Workshops – where you will find any upcoming events, with posters, material supplies, and other important information
- Cuddle Quilt Day – while over for 2022, there are good tips here on free patterns and other material to help you prepare for Cuddle Quilt Day 2023
- Extraordinary Quilters – our list of EQ teachers is here
For Members – pages that provide the tools and information that Members rely on are now located in one section of the web site.
- Membership Application/Renewal – check out the new on-line application form – just fill it in and press submit.
- Guild Newsletter Archive – yes, they are all there, listed by year as they were on our former site.
- Charity Patterns – if you are looking for information on preemie quilts, pillowcases, or Bravery Bead bags, here they are.
- Guild Merchandise – information on Guild pins and aprons is here.
- MBQG Library – you can still download library lists but even better, there is a searchable database on this page. You can search by title, or search and sort by title and author.
- MBQG Ruler Library
- MBQG Bylaws
Last, but not least, is the Blog button. All of the Guild’s blog posts reside here – starting with the most recent but extending back to the earliest post in 2008. Just tap on the post title to access the full post, Clicking one of the Categories (on the right) will take you to a list of blog posts about that subject.
The biggest change is that all new Blog posts will be sent to you automatically from the web site. No more need to have the Membership Chair alert you when a new post is published. If you’ve received this post, then everything has gone according to plan. However, because the site is new, your first email might be diverted from your InBox to your Junk or Spam folder. Just retrieve it, and identify the source – Mahone Bay Quilters’ Guild – as a safe sender or put us in your Contacts list, and future emails should find their way to your Inbox. If you’d rather not see new blog posts as they are published, there is an Unsubscribe button in the email for you to use.
And there you have it. A big thank you is extended to the team of enthusiastic and dedicated Guild nembers who worked with me to develop the plan for this site – Krista, Elizabeth, Barb, Jill, Bev, Tara, Gail, and Nina. Nina put her considerable technical expertise to work to make the site’s outline come alive. We hope that you find it useful – and please let us know what you think or if you uncover any errors or problems. In the meantime, go explore and enjoy!
Colleen Paton, Communications Chair
mbqgcommunications@gmail.com
