A Tour Through the Blog

What is a blog?

Wikipedia succinctly defines a blog (a truncation of the expression “weblog”) as “a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete entries (“posts”) typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first).” At EMC, we have chosen to use blogging as a medium for multiple contributors to dispense relevant, helpful, and meaningful content to a wide audience. Whether it is devotional thoughts, book reviews, or any number of other types of content, we want to reach as many people as possible.

The Family Discipleship Blog exists to provide a variety of resources – from articles and study materials to a fully developed catechism – to assist whole families in the discipleship of their entire home. We want this resources to be as simple to access and utilize as possible. What follows is a brief walkthrough of what we have to offer.

Layout

Like every page of the entire EMC website, each page is laid out with a primary navigation bar at the top and a secondary navigation menu on the right (see image below). The primary navigation bar divides every page of the website into one of six major categories. The secondary navigation menu lists all the pages or sub-categories within each category. Both of these will always highlight the category/page/sub-category you are presently viewing. This helps users know exactly where they are on the website at all times.

You may have already noticed that the Family Discipleship Blog has additional sub-categories. At the time of this writing, all content in this blog is categorized as either an article or catechism entry. In the future, this list of subcategories will expand as we add new types of content, but for now to access these resources you simply visit the EMC website (ecityemc.org), click Resources in the primary navigation bar, and then click Family Discipleship from the secondary menu on the right. Simple!

Landing Pages (Category Archives)

Each category of content within the blog has a landing page. Landing pages are the category homepage that lists the five latest posts within that category in reverse chronological order (newest to oldest, top to bottom). As more and more content is added to a particular category, older posts get pushed off the landing page and no longer appear there. To access these, simply scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Older posts’ or ‘Newer posts’ (see image below) – depending on where you are within that category archive.

Every post within the Family Discipleship blog is located within the parent Resources category and Family Discipleship subcategory.

Searching the Site

At the top of every page is a dedicated search bar for whenever you simply cannot find what you’re looking for. Just type in your request and hit ‘enter’ and you will instantly be taken to a search result page. Our search engine is constantly crawling and indexing our entire website, ensuring that you find exactly what you’re looking for in the blink of an eye.

Interaction

One of the most exciting aspects of a blog is the ability for users to interact with both content creators and one another. Each new blog post has a commenting section beneath the author information (see image below). Users are invited to leave their thoughts and feedback. All you need to do is give us your name and a valid email address and your questions or comments will contribute to a public discussion.

First time commenters require moderator approval. This is our way of ensuring that comments are from real people and not bots. Inappropriate or offensive comments will be removed. Please be patient with us in our efforts to maintain the integrity of the blog.

You can also easily share content via email or social media by using the AddThis share buttons on each page (see image below). This is a great way to get these resources into the hands of others who might benefit from them and help us spread the word!

The Best Is Yet to Come!

We are only just getting started. There are many new features and enhancements coming soon that will making utilizing this online resource both quicker and easier. In the meantime, we invite you to reach out to us with any suggestions or questions you might have. We are always open to your ideas, so please chime in whenever you need to.

Our prayer is that the Lord will use these digital resources to help you and your family in your walk with him.