Archives For Resources

Stay Productive

Stay Focused – 8 Apps That Will Keep You Focused

Jesse Orndorff —  July 11, 2012 — 1 Comment

We live in a busy world. Endless amounts of data are being presented to us, and all of them are fighting for a small piece of our attention. If you are like me and spend a decent amount of time online, it’s easy to find yourself distracted by constant interruptions. Not only interruptions, but I am discovering that I am always wanting to do more “things”. These things might be hobbies, building a new web app, discovering something to do in the area, or just spending time with my wife.

I find myself looking back at a day, wondering where the heck did the time go? If I am honest with myself, I find that this time creep comes in when I am highly unfocused during my day. So how do we become more focused? How do we build habits that keep us focused on our jobs, our families, and our activities?

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In Productivity , ,
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The Old New Project

The Old & New Project

Jesse Orndorff —  March 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

The Old & New Project launched last week and it is an amazing showcase of illustrations from the bible. The Old & New Project features three new illustrations a week which you can order as prints. All of the proceeds go to the blood:water mission.

Very soon my office will be decked out in illustrations from Old & New, the designs are fantastic!

Check it out: http://oldandnewproject.com

In Illustration , ,
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User Experience

Why I Removed Search

Jesse Orndorff —  March 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

I am running a test. Something that might drastically change how a user interacts with Church Website Ideas. Last night I removed the search field from this site in a effort to test an idea I had. It all started when I wanted to find an old blog post I wrote, so I did a quick search using a keyword and, nothing! I couldn’t find the post, or anything really relevant. Not a good user experience.

A Quick Look at the Numbers
I thought that if I am having trouble finding things, then I bet others are too. I took a quick look at my Google Analytic data and noticed in one week, 21% of people searching this site we bouncing off as soon as they hit the results page. This can mean a few things, but I read it as: 21% of our users are not finding content and leaving the site. Not something I want to be known for.

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In Resources, UX
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Wordpress for Churches

8 Best WordPress Themes for Churches or Non-Profits

Jesse Orndorff —  March 5, 2012 — 7 Comments

I love WordPress. When done right, using WordPress for your website is a great choice for a CMS. Unfortunately for churches, there are not a lot of choices when it comes to beautiful church WordPress themes. I spent some time digging for quality themes churches could use, and I found 8 that stood out over what is out there. All of these are paid themes and their features very.

Have a theme you love? Share in the comments! Enjoy!

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In Wordpress , ,
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Responsive Web Design

6 Tools for Responsive Web Design

Jesse Orndorff —  February 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

It seems like responsive web design is here to stay. I recently started designing and developing my new projects around the responsive web design methodology. Designing and developing with multiple screen sizes in mind, presents a whole new set of challenges for designers and developers.

I have put together a list of some great tools I have used to help make my new responsive websites work.

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In Responsive Design , , ,
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Server Setup Guide

8 Things You Need to Setup Your Own Web Server

Jesse Orndorff —  December 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

Original Server Photo by: Tom Raftery via Flickr

For some of us, paying a hosting service is worth the monthly cost. Being able to hand over control to someone else can remove potential headaches. But 3rd party hosting isn’t for everyone. I use a local server for testing out web apps I am developing, which cuts down on hosting costs for a dedicated server for testing, which can easily run $100+ a month!

This is the first part of an on-going series that will walk us through the process of setting up our own web server. First thing we need to do is look at what you will need in order to get your own server up and running!

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In Hardware ,
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The Apple Guide Guide

Holiday Apple Gift Guide for Church Creatives

Jesse Orndorff —  November 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

It’s coming up on the holiday season, and it’s time to start thinking about gifts for family and friends. It might also be time to look at upgrading your hardware to something newer. Being the Apple fanboy that I am, I wanted to share with you some thoughts on the current Apple line and where it might best fit for your uses.

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In Hardware
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Featured Blogs Hero

Ministry Related Blogs You Should Follow

Jesse Orndorff —  November 17, 2011 — 2 Comments

I often get asked, what type of blogs do I follow? As part of my effort to stay in touch while living outside of the states, I try and follow as many blogs as possible. I believe that it is important to be consuming quality ministry content that I can put into use right away. These blogs are quality and are some of my favorite blogs.

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In Resources
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How I Screwed Up My Twitter Account

Jesse Orndorff —  July 26, 2011 — 4 Comments

I have to make a confession. I hate Twitter. Hate is such a strong word, but Twitter is a blackhole, sucking the life out of me. For months I have been trying to figure out how people have time to tweet, as I hardly even have time to check my email most days!

A few months ago I shared some Twitter tools that can help your church. I finally had the time to put these tools to use, and now I am making a move to become more active and deliberate with Twitter. But the first thing I needed to do, is fix my Twitter account that I screwed up years ago.

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In Twitter
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How To Setup Your Facebook Fan Page

Jesse Orndorff —  June 7, 2011 — Leave a comment

Most churches are just starting to get their presence built on Facebook. Getting your Facebook fan page is the first step. This short tutorial will help you get your static page setup. We will be using FBML, which is the easiest to setup and use for our simple church page.

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In Tutorials
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