Our new homepage is designed to spotlight some new features, and to make it easier to find some old favorites. First, what’s new?
Social Networking on Beliefnet Community
Taking center stage on the revised Beliefnet homepage is our terrific new social network. Community has been an essential ingredient in Beliefnet since we launched, but now we offer a full range of tools enabling you to connect with others and express yourself.
- PROFILE PAGES allow groups and individuals to build a spiritual “home” online –customized websites are easy to make and easy to update.
- ATTRACTIVE DESIGNS accommodate a full range of tastes, from classy to funny to religious, and more.
- JOURNALING TOOLS enable community members to express their views, connect with friends and enhance their spiritual lives through spiritual journaling and blogging. Posts can be either public or private. Members can also use powerful "guided journals" for journal prompts and inspiration. Groups can post lessons or inspirational material for online or in-person meetings and discussions.
- VIDEO & PHOTO SHARING areas provide members a place to showcase their favorite meaningful, beautiful, or entertaining videos and photos, and public galleries offer vast collections of religious and spiritual videos and photos for other members to surf.
- FIND KINDRED SPIRITS or old friends with tags and keyword searches that bring together people with similar interests or beliefs. Create virtual groups to study, pray, or just have fun.
- SCHEDULE EVENTS MORE EASILY with easy-to-use calendar and invitation tools that keep group members informed on the latest activities and changes.
- AWARD-WINNING CONTENT FEEDS bring wisdom and inspiration from the nation's foremost spiritual teachers and thinkers directly to personal and group pages. The initial group of feeds includes Religious Joke of the Day, Max Lucado Bible study, Renita Weems relationship advice, and much more.
- DONATION TOOLS can be added to each page to facilitate fundraising efforts for causes and houses of worship.
- PRIVACY CONTROLS permit users to choose which personal information to keep private, and which to share with everyone. Group leaders can control access, edit content, and monitor member activities. And groups which want to meet in complete privacy have that option.
- FAITH FILTERS limit searches to people of a certain faith for those who seek to mingle within a particular denomination.
- SAFETY is a priority. Pornography, violence, illegality, and harassment are strictly forbidden.
Your Daily Serving
One challenge we know most of our users face is finding ways to fit spiritual practice into very busy lives. The Daily Servings area on the revised homepage is designed to give you a simple, quick way to spend a few minutes each day reflecting on a spiritual theme that can enrich your life. If you only have a second, read the day’s quote; if you have another minute or two, follow the link to the day’s activity which, in just a few minutes, can give you a dose of spiritual growth and fulfillment.
In addition to these brand new offerings, we’ve made some design changes simply to make things we know you like easier to find.
New from our Experts
Beliefnet now has such an extraordinary collection of experts and bloggers that we wanted to give a simpler way for you to see their latest posts. We’ve also organized the material more thematically so if, for instance, youre interested in politics you’ll be able to eyeball the full collection of political blogs. These experts will be updating throughout the day, so come back often.
Video of the Day
Since we launched our video channels last fall, the reaction has been enthusiastic. And as our video offerings continue to increase, we wanted a simpler way to be sure new visitors to the site saw our remarkable range of offerings right away.
Photos of the Day
Whether it’s gorgeous images uploaded to the Beliefnet Community, galleries such as 10 Quick Ways to Pray, or incredible user-generated photo galleries such as Your Most Joyful Moments, there’s always something amazing visual going on. We wanted to bring those visual gems closer to the surface for your enjoyment.
We hope the new features & tools will help you meet your spiritual needs. Please tell us what you think – and how we can improve our site further--by clicking here.
Best,
Steve Waldman, Editor-in-Chief & CEO
