You will soon notice a striking new visual design in the header and background of LDS.org. The new look does not end with color changes and first impressions. A series of incremental improvements are planned which will culminate in a new navigation and menu structure similar to Gospel Library mobile.

 

Research, user feedback, and direction from Church leaders led developers to make changes to keep pace with current technology and to meet the needs of the Church. The end-product will be more personal for users and easier to navigate, search, and use.

In the upper right, navigational controls for “My Account and Ward” replace “Sign-in/Tools.” The dropdown menu from here groups options into three categories: “My Account,” “My Ward,” and “Tools and Support.” This will simplify choosing the most popular tools.

The four menu options on the header bar are repositioned to be more visible. The header remains anchored while navigating within LDS.org. For now, dropdown menus retain many of the same selection items in familiar places. That will change with future upgrades.

From the world icon in the upper right corner select the “Select Country/Language” option to connect to local content on country communication pages. These will be formatted to include the same navigation menus as LDS.org. This integration allows seamless transitions from local pages to LDS.org and back again. Users will be able to open resources without needing to open LDS.org first and they can easily return to their starting point. In addition, users will be able to choose between site-specific search options, or all of LDS.org, saving time and yielding more relevant search results.

The new interface includes typefaces on menus that change from grey to black when selected, submenus that expand, and selections that open web content. In many places you will see links displayed as images with display titles. These web objects scale well on many different platforms. They are visually appealing for users and make finding content much quicker than scrolling closely spaced lists. Church websites and mobile apps already use these to great effect.

Future plans include a new navigation structure and other changes to enhance the user experiences. In many places, links to email, social media, and RSS feeds invite you to share, subscribe, or provide feedback. Your interactive participation with LDS.org is important to developers. Be patient while you see improvements unfold. Help is as close as the search box on the header.


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