The Blog! The Blog!

Screenshot of our new blog design. Tell us what you think.

Having recently gained Heritage Lottery Fund support for the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project, one of the jobs we're now doing is redesigning our blog.



We are going to want to accommodate  the new content we'll be developing over the next year or so. We also want to incorporate our new logo which has been designed by our latest partner, Derby Cathedral Quarter.



We've already consulted with a handful of people, but now we want to invite everyone to comment on its appearance before it goes live, and to make constructive suggestions for changes or improvements.

This new design (shown opposite) is intended to give us a number of extra  features, though not all will be in use or available immediately.
These are:

• Better brand identity by prominent use of our new project logo and roundel.
• Brighter, friendlier appearance.
• Better navigation
• Direct and obvious links to key pages by use of permanent Tabs at top of the home page (e.g. to webcams and FAQs) 
• Introductory multi-lingual content (in Polish, Urdu and Punjabi to reflect three of Derby and Derbyshire's most frequently spoken minority languages). Could you help us with this task, or translate content into other languages for us?)
• Clear links to our new Twitter feed: @DerbyPeregrines.
• Clear links to resources for Schools and for children.
• A FAQ Tab for those Frequently Asked Questions.
• External links to other webcam projects and peregrine resources.
• Access to a gallery of work created by local schools, community groups etc.
• Retain and build on links to everyone's photos or screenshots posted on Flickr.
• A single, scannable QR code which recognises the language of a user's mobile phone and takes them to a Wikipedia entry on peregrine falcons in one of 70 languages!
• Allow some of you to become 'Peregrine Champions' and help us blog, tweet and otherwise engage with new communities around Derby with help, support and resources provided by the Project Team. And not necessarily in the English language!

To comment, first visit our demonstration blog here.

The questions we'd like answers to are:

1. What do you like about it?
2. What don't you like about it? 
3. Is it easy to navigate?
4. Does the colour scheme work for you?
5. Does it display OK in your browser or mobile phone? (Simpler template for phone users)
6. Are there important features missing that we should include? 
7. Is the right side of the home page too full, or do you find it helpful?
8. If you speak another language fluently, would you be willing to help create content in that language for us?
9. Is the 'comments' box enough? Is there a need for a built-in discussion forum for users to sign-up to? 

We are simply seeking your thoughts and suggestions on making our blog look and work better. So please ignore the content of the homepage posts themselves -  they're just there to give it a 'bloggy' look.  Feel free to leave a comment below this blog post, or on the demonstration sandbox site itself. Or email the Project Team directly with your thoughts.

Our new email address is peregrines@derbyshirewt.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you.

Nick Moyes
(Peregrines & People Technical Advisor)

Nick Brown
(Lead Volunteer for Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project) 

Our new roundel, designed for us
by Derby Cathedral Quarter