Screenshot of Bristol European Jazz Ensemble website. Click on image for bigger version.
This is my second case study; the first was about Hope for the Future. The Bristol European Jazz Ensemble was a coaching project mainly. I should have taken a screen shot of the site before we started work on it. The one on the right is how is appears at the time of writing. The project was to equip David, the client, with the skills to maintain the site. I also carried out some changes to the site.
Bristol European Jazz Ensemble is a WordPress.com site. WordPress.com is really an enormous website hosting thousands of websites and blogs. The analogy is perhaps Facebook where, instead of hosting profiles, WordPress.com hosts websites and blogs. The alternative is WordPress.org, where WordPress has an independent host and so each website/blog stands alone.
One big difference is .com does not have plug-ins. This makes it less flexible than .org. It is possible to extend functionality of .com but at a price.
The main market for the client’s site is promoters and venue organisers. The by-line in the header makes this clear. Also the home page includes a contact form and invitation to the market to make contact. The public may also be interested in the site and so the site publicises events featuring the band through the blog. Promotion of events is usually carried out by other means and so is not a priority for this website.
What We Did
I worked on the site with David, using Skype and email. It is possible for two people to be logged into the WordPress wp-admin panel simultaneously, although only one can work on the site at a time. We are a few hundred miles apart and this is just as good as meeting in a room with a digital projector! I also did some work on the site:
- The original site had the blog as the home page. There were no blog posts and so this was messy. I created a page to use as a home page and the blog, on its own page, is now populated.
- The logo existed but it was not installed in the header. I installed the header with the logo and tagline.
- The video was present as a bare url on the page. I installed the video properly, so that it can be viewed on the site without going to YouTube.
- I sorted out some issues with the navigation, so that events on the blog have their own page.
Outcomes
Here are David’s comments on my coaching work with him:
Chris is a meticulous mentor who helped me define what I wanted from him and from the web site. Just articulating the questions and goals was helpful. Even more, it helped motivate me to actually get on and do it in my busy schedule. Chris’s style is unflappable, approachable, analytical, non-judgemental, clear – and clear about what he doesn’t know but can find out. It’s a co-learning exercise as Chris himself improves on his already well-developed skills and I learn to use the website. I recommend Chris to anyone in the creative or voluntary sectors.
Do you like the site? What additional information would you like to see on it?
