It’s been one month since we launched the new and improved WordOnFire.org and the reaction has been overwhelming. Over 150,000 visitors have explored the new site, racking up nearly 1,000,000 pageviews–essentially doubling the monthly views on our old site. In the past month, visitors have spent over 21,000 hours (!!) browsing Fr. Barron’s evangelical resources.
But despite this extraordinary response, we’re not resting contentedly. We’re continually exploring ways to make the site even better for you. Thanks to your own feedback via email, social media, and the comment boxes, we’ve come up with several new and exciting features. Here’s just a sampling:
RSS Subscription Feeds
Probably the most common request we received after going live with the new site was to create RSS subscription feeds for our blog posts, homilies, videos, and other resources. Well, the subscription feeds are now all in place, and you can subscribe FREE to Fr. Barron’s content via the following channels:
Email List
Word on Fire Blog
Homily Podcast
Articles
YouTube Videos
Facebook
Twitter
Browse Homilies by Liturgical Week
After going live, we heard from several priests, seminarians, and deacons who requested an easier way to navigate Fr. Barron’s homilies by liturgical week. Many of them use these resources when preparing their own homilies, but they found it somewhat difficult to quickly find the resources they needed.
To fix that, we’ve added a new “Week” filter on the “Browse By >> Liturgical Reading” module, so that after you choose your liturgical season, you can drill down to the specific week you need. You’ll then see all the homilies Fr. Barron has ever preached on a particular liturgical week (e.g., the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.) Watch the video below to learn more about this simple but powerful feature:
We’re convinced this new feature is a game-changer for Catholic preachers, and for anyone who want to prepare better for Sunday Mass.
Body Text Font Change
Many visitors have lamented the current body text font, which is the medium-sized, grey serif font you’re reading now. They find it very difficult to read, especially on smaller screens. In response, we’re exploring alternative fonts and plan to change it within the next 1-2 weeks.
New Microsites
We’re currently working on new microsites for each of our Study Programs which will be elegantly designed, mobile responsive, and more user-friendly. They’ll also share a more consistent look and feel.
In addition to the Study Program microsites, we’re also planning to launch microsites targeting specific search phrases. For example, when someone searches on Google for “does God exist” we’d like that user to find a link, high in the search rankings, to a Word on Fire microsite containing all of Fr. Barron’s videos, articles, and homilies answering that question. These new microsites should roll out over the next 1-2 months, so stay tuned!
If you have any questions or suggestions about WordOnFire.org, or about any of Fr. Barron’s resources, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below, or visit our Contact page and connect with us through email or social media.