Extreme Makeover: AMBUCS Website Edition

After much anticipation, the new AMBUCS website is finally here!

We’ve listened to all your comments and taken into account the suggestions that you have given us on how we could improve our online presence.

Over the past five months we’ve worked hard to bring those ideas to fruition. Now we’re confident that we are finally able to provide our members and guests with a visually impressive site that will offer easier navigation, improved ecommerce capabilities and a clearer presentation of just who we are, what we do and where our organization is planning to go in the future.

The site was designed and developed by the Greensboro, NC-based company Morgan Direct, Inc.  It utilizes a user-friendly content management system that makes it easier to maintain and update our content more frequently. Our domain name remains the same – www.ambucs.org – but other than that, we believe this site is an unprecedented upgrade and has limitless possibilities.

Home Sweet Home

The old adage “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” rings especially true when it comes to a website’s homepage. Its the most important page in the entire site, since it’s the one page that the majority of visitors will always view. A poor homepage can hurt an organization image and credibility. A good home page will accurately display an organization’s chief messages and invite visitors to stick around and explore more of the site.

One of the first things people will encounter upon arriving at the new AMBUCS home page is a colorful flash animation near the top of the page which displays several dynamic images which represents our organization. To further clarify what AMBUCS stands for, a brief welcome message now appears on the left side of the page, succinctly stating our overall mission.  In the center column you’ll now be able to view a list of important upcoming events as well as the top news headlines, two things that we were unable to display on our former site. On the right side of the home page appears a multi-media player which currently allows viewers to watch the popular “Kids Need a Bike” promotional video. Beneath that, we have a new “featured content” section to spotlight some of our most pertinent information.

Plenty of new bells and whistles

In addition to all the fresh new content, the revamped AMBUCS website boasts some very cool features that will allow us stand out from the websites of other service organizations. There’s a new blog and message board feature which will allow our members to communicate and share ideas with one another in real time. At the top of all sub-pages you’ll notice a “bread crumb” feature which will show users the previous pages they visited that brought them to their current page. This feature is designed to help users retract their steps and remember just where you are in the site – similar to how Hansel and Gretel followed bread crumbs out of the forest in the classic children’s tale. In addition, we are now able to offer some really dynamic multi-media features such as a flash-based photo gallery and a video library.

Where is everything?

Regardless of how much information might be stored on a website, it does no good if people are unable to easily locate and access that information. That was one of the major gripes about the old version of ambucs.org and something we really were mindful of when designing this site. The overall lay-out of our new site has been completely revamped so that information is presented in a clearer and more logical manner. We’ve tried to remove all the duplicate and redundant pages that have made navigating around the previous site somewhat difficult.

The following is a detailed guide to where all of our important information on our site can be now found:

About Us

Gone are the days when newcomers will have to scratch their heads and wonder aloud “What is AMBUCS and what does it do?” Now in a clear, concise manner, we offer visitors a complete explanation on our organization’s mission and history. In this section, you also find the “Becoming an Ambuc” sub category in which visitors will learn just how easy and rewarding it is become a member of AMBUCS. Other pages in the section include a chapter directory, information about annual national conference, links to the websites of our individual chapters and service industry partners and also a contact page for the staff of the AMBUCS Resource Center.

News

This is another section that did not appear on the old site.  This time around, we have organized this area to store all our articles, press releases and advisories, as well as full calendar of upcoming events. We will also use this section to house links to the Leader Newsletter and our quarterly magazine. Last but not least, this is where you’ll be able to view our new flash-based photo and video galleries.

Member Resources

This section will house all the important documents and tools that are needed by our members. Here you’ll find forms, reports, admin documents, instructional guides, promotional materials, and a page to download our various logos.
You’ll find that some of the pages in this category that contain potentially sensitive information now require a special access to view. But don’t fret. Just type in “ambucs” for both the email address and password to get pass that protection screen.

Community

We created this section to house our new message board and blog. Both of these features are very easy to use and will allow our members to communicate and share ideas with one another in real time

AmTryke

This content in this section is similar to what was on our former site. The sub categories include a general info page which fully explains the purpose and history of the AmTryke program and a page to learn about the national wishlist for prospective AmTryke recipients. Other pages in this section include information about the demo sites program,  “trykes and equipment”,  “manual and instructions”, as well as  pages to view the current issues of the AmTryke Newsletter and AmTryke catalogue.

Scholars

The items found in this section are scholarship program information page, a link the scholarship application, a list of current and previous award winners, information about the Mentors for Success program, and information about our various research opportunities.

Donations

As a non-profit charitable organization, it’s important that we have a painless, efficient way to accept donations. On our new site, supports can make a donation instantly online or just mail in a payment. The sub categories in this section are make a gift now, information about the living endowment, and information about the memorial brick program.

Shop

There are now two online stores to process your orders; one for AmTryke merchandise and another for AMBUCS-related gift items. Each store has an attractive new layout and design and well as a much more informative shopping cart feature.

The AMBUCS website is now ready for your enjoyment but we still value your comments and suggestions. If you have any ideas on how we can continue to improve the site and better serve your needs, please contact AMBUCS Communications Director Semaj Marsh at 1-800-838-1845 ext 17 or via email at [email protected].