The investigation at the beginning of this year on Internet uses by members, allowed the Technology and Communications Working Group (NTIC) to review the role of the Internet portal cister.net analysed by numbers of members. The redesign of the Charter website was announced at the last AGM at Valmagne Abbey in April. This website has now been launched.
By logging on to cister.net or to cister.eu you will discover this new site. What is launched today is the first module of the redesigned Charter website which has three components. As announced, we wanted this new version of the Charter website to be public-focused, to assist our members with their on-line communications, and to increase the traffic of Internet visitors to their website. The site is in three languages: French, German and English. The number of languages will evolve as soon as we have the human and financial resources to do so. With this new version of the Charter website, we wanted it to be a real bridge between the public and our abbeys. It is a gateway to our Cistercian milieu. And this door must lead the user to the websites of members and to the abbeys themselves. We therefore simplified the website, and focused key information on the home page of the websites of our members. Today, this information is what you find in the “Newsletter” published in PDF format and sent by e-mail periodically. The information provided is basically that for each abbey, a link is provided enabling the user to access the description of the abbey referred to. In the future, we hope to go still further. Watch for further details. The most recent information is always at the top of the list. The older ones are categorised and easily accessible. Our aim is to make it a dynamic site. This home page is made for you and by you. Clearly, it will be what you make of it. You will find on the other pages of the site, the tools to find an abbey and read the key information about it. We have updated and harmonised these abbey key pages relying on the text and images you submitted for the book “Cistercian Sites of Europe.” You will also see the changes at the level of site plans and maps, and many other items.
The second module will be a version of the site suitable for smartphones. It will be on-line soon with a user interface and services specific to these devices.
The third module is the Intranet site. Accessible from www.cister.net, it will be exclusively dedicated to the internal workings of the Charter and provide a space for members. It will be on-line hopefully in 2013.
Do not hesitate to give us your feedback. Everything can be improved. It is a collective undertaking, which can only succeed with the support of all the members who want to improve the visibility of their abbeys (info@cister.eu).
Before concluding, I would like to thank the team of the Abbey of Villers which spared no effort to bring this website into existence, and whose contribution to this new version has been essential.
Also thank you to our volunteers Markus and William for their translations.
With every good wish to you all, and many visitors.
François Launay, Vice-President,
Technology and Communications Working Group (NTIC)