![[Screenshot] MMM Alternate Homepage - Share on Ovi](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4h1HZbduNxZcH2gHz3kVvvWd3cD5CaX25NFW3jeGd7DNI0BTksdub3fVq9z_fDMAizc6_UpaBkeSv8wnXdGLw-C8xpUIu6AmA=s220 "[Screenshot] MMM Alternate Homepage - Share on Ovi")
View the Alternate/Redesigned MMM (for those viewing this on their mobile device, see the note at the bottom of this posting for an additional step to see this)
This is following inline with some of the 2012 resolutions we’ve posted so far (practicing what we preach). This is also an evolution in the philosophy behind MMM in being more than simply a destination towards information, but a collection of those stories presented in a way that accents the use of mobile towards addressing those questions and implications of using mobile in faith-based contexts.
Goals of the Redesign
Of the comments most heard about MMM, one of the loudest has been in the findability of information on the site. Indeed, its an issue. This site has been in existence since 2005 and there’s over 3000 posts full of content. In addition to just having those posts, there’s been several themes that have run throughout the site, making it harder still to simply use a search box to figure a direction to find things. This design seeks to make the entry point to the content better (behind the scenes, content is literally being reorganized to fit a consistent paradigm).
The other goal of this redesign is to reflect the overall user experience (UX) goal we’d have for mobile applications. There are a few mobile applications that we’ve published to date, yet none of them were able to capture exactly the kind of reading, searching, and interactive experience that we’vev been after. After careful consideration of the options (using one or more content management services, developing several native applications, etc.), it was decided that to create a single webpage that had most of the features in a mobile-first role would be the direction. This would be incomplete without redoing the entire WordPress template, so this initial design was completed in order to test the feasability of moving forward.
Issues in This Redesign
Its one thing to go mobile-first, its another to meet each mobile device that comes here with the experience that’s best for their devices. This alternate landing page doesn’t address every mobile device. Its JavaScript-heavy, and has some features which would make some of our lower-end mobile devices, without a proxy-based browser such as Opera Mini, to choke on either the size or the features. Mobify is still being used to streamline the existing WordPress template’s pages for mobile viewing therefore. A complete theme would be mobile friendly (responsive web design methods) and might not need that help to do so.
Performance is also an issue. Thankfully, its a lot better than it was in initial testing (was very happy to get this onto the production server and see signifiant page loading gains). There’s going to be an issue though since there’s a JavaScript interpreter on the page rendering the Articles section, which makes for a potential bottleneck in loading for some browsers/devices. Ideally, a full WordPress template (written in PHP) would be better able to address this.
There are some more niggles. I’ll see more as time goes on. If you spot anything, let us know via Twitter (@mobileminmag). Small items will be fixed. Bigger items will be fixed in that WordPress version.
Resources to Address Issues/Goals
What’s good about this alternate homepage is that it is providing a means to relearn some JavaScript, brush up on HTML5 and its newer abilities, and finally put into practice some lessons about working with content management systems like WordPress which require not only development, but content strategy focuses. The resources to do all of this is widely available online, and is constantly tapped.
There are a number of people/groups in the Body who deal with aspects of building this which will also come in handy along the way. Web app developers, WordPress customizers, etc. have the kinds of collective wisdom that would be utilized to make this happen. If at some point the work goes beyond the time/abilities here, its possible that such a redesign project would be farmed out.
Lastly, there’s you. For those of you visiting the site daily – thank you. You coming to the site, offering feedback, or simply hitting areas (constantly) helps to direct projects like this towards completition. The more you use the site, especially this alternate version, then the better we are able to make a resource that fits your needs.
Implicaitons of This Design
There is a good chance that we will probably stick with a web-app method for delivering content from here on out. That would mean that building and maintaining apps which also publish this site’s content would only be done as a means to explore the workings of content mangement systems and publishing experiences, rather than anything strategic towards pushing this site forward.
Another, probably more jarring, implication to this design is that we would be (finally) going back to our roots in respect to being mobile-first in everything. This could mean shorter articles, but definitely means more flexibility and versatility in the data streams that make up MMM. For example, we have a “tab” which has a link to all the places we conduct conversations online. Such an item could easily become a single page stream and RSS/XML feed for those who would rather find content in those methods.
The design is using features of CSS and HTML which are more advanced. Based on some of the stats we can gather form those visiting MMM, those features are supported by those visits. However, that’s not a 100% solution. We would like to be as close to 100% mobile compliant, and not at all desktop browser compliant. We’d like to drive the desktop browser experience to primarly search and RSS versus casual browsing.
We are also going to slowly start making the shift towards getting away from email for non-collaborative tasks, and use Twitter as a means to not just be poked about items, but also conduct the initial parts of conversations. Until we do something a but broader federated (identi.ca and/or XMPP-based stuff from our server), that would help us to best triage communications and move quickly towards managing opportunities in this space.
Or you can look at it in this simple statement: we are going even more mobile and virtual and dragging you along for the ride 
What’s Left?
Using it, finishing the WordPress custom theme conversion, making mobile apps match its UX… ya know, the normal 
Just go to http://mobileministrymagazine.com/m.html and have a go at it.
Note for Those Coming from The Mobile Site
If you are reading this from the mobile site, then on clicking this link, you will have to click the link that says Full Site on that page. That’s simply because of how links from our use of Mobify behave.
![[Screenshot] MobMin.Info (from iPad) - Share on Ovi](http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/lt/3260/2e42c33b850443a5905da4d1fff8b284.jpg "[Screenshot] MobMin.Info (from iPad) - Share on Ovi")
Always nice to see others putting together various experiments and implementations of edge-case technologies. This one, from the folks at Church Mag is taking the idea of QR Codes, and mapping some interactive and sharing elements to it. Here’s a snippet of the experiment:
9(unknown*no*no*1)&guid=ON&x_utmac=MO-16595840-1){kind=small}
7 Years Online, 2 Years Full-Time, What It Looks Like Today
Friday, April 27th, 2012One of the questions that comes not long after giving a description about MMM and its activities is, “how does it enable you to make a living?” I’m not married, and so that’s an easy question (some months are much harder than others). But, seeing that today is one of those days where I’m engaged with a client -this post, as with many others, has been written at least a week in advance of it posting – I thought it good to talk a bit about how MMM exists beyond the articles published, and what could be coming down the pipe to help things further for all interested parties.
Training and Consulting
MMM is a very low-overhead operation. Much of the output that comes from this endeavor comes as a result of using the mental capacities of me (Antoine, the founder). One of the ways this capacity is leveraged is in training and consulting opportunities.
Training usually happens with small and medium-sized businesses whom are looking to implement a technology or series of technologies to a team or several teams. To that end, I work with a few companies and groups local to NC and PA to be an available trainer for software and the occasional mobile implementation. That has been as simple as BlackBerry training, and as complicated as training project managers to use MS Project for their specific brand of project management processes/workflows.
Consulting is another area that’s used (not as often as I’d like, but hey, that’s the economy for you) to fund things here. Consulting takes place around two core communication technologies – web design/development and Microsoft’s SharePoint product. That’s my background, and given the scope of work that I’ve done in development, administration, and analysis around web and projects, it makes for a suitable engagement point for fundable activities. What that can look like for you can be any number of things – minus building your mobile app for you – as it is a wide and deep set of skills.
At any given point, there may be zero to four companies that I’m engaged with at a time (not including those just talking to to develop the relationship). The bulk of that work is developing the relationships, and (the slow process of) turning that into compensated work. Much of this work is short term (hours to days), and so there’s no need to be present in a cubicle for months on end – the flexibility allows for the consistency of content that you see on the magazine, and the constant pressing forward of skills and knowledge. It does allow for an office that can be nearly anywhere (#todaysoffice), which is its own source of market visibility.
Presenting and Speaking
Another means of bringing in income to fund living comes from presenting and speaking. I will admit that this has probably been the hardest aspect of things because to be recognized as a speaker you have to (a) be seen speaking and (b) have something unique enough to talk about that people will pay you to do it. There aren’t as many opportunities to do this as I’d like – some say its because there’s been no formal book published (!!) – but as things move forward with not only the magazine, but the subject of mobile ministry, there are those opportunities which present themselves.
Unfortunately, some of the hindrances with the presenting and speaking comes of the very wide geographical, theological, and political applications of mobile ministry. I just can’t afford to travel as much as some do, and working on grants and sponsorship takes as much time as living. Don’t get me wrong, there’s opportunities to leverage the technologies of the moment to get to some places (as done with BibleTech in 2011), but that’s not always the case and you miss those connections that should turn into those training, consulting, and speaking engagements when you do. For a recent example, I missed being in on the Mobile Ministry Forum webinar that happened yesterday, because of ork scheduled that was needed to put food on the table. The folks whom are missionaries and constantly going between raising support and not fainting from their ministry work have taught me a ton because of this.
Other Stuff
Beyond these activities, there are actually some friends and family who have been quite generous for some of the living needs. I know that some have gotten tired of my monthly calls for prayer to make sure that I make the budget for the next month (its honestly hard for some of them to understand why I’d ocntinue with MMM rather than get a “regular” job – that whole “calling” thing is not normal language to some). Perhaps things will improve on over time as mobile and ministry are seen to have a more implicit intersection beyond “let’s get that app done.”. I’m not sure. But, that’s just to say that I’m not resting on just getting the four activites described above as the main pieces of the puzzle. I’m always looking for additional avenues where the knowledge and understanding gained from MMM pushes the Body forward, and keeps compensated work flowing.
Truth is, I never wanted to do this with the intention of making a dollar, I just needed an answer to a question that no one was looking to answer… in 2004. Perhaps the value in that is all that should be gained from this for me… What you and those who have written or visited here over the past have gained is another thing – of which I hope has been very valuable to forwarding your understanding of the faith and the technology lens of mobile alongside it.
There is some rumbling towards partnerships with other ministries and companies with whom this venue is a suitable launching pad towards their audiences. Stay tuned for that, or get in touch if that’s something you/your organization might find suitable.
That’s pretty much it. I’ll continue to push along here until something else happens that means that this shift is no longer needed to be pushed from this person/angle. This magazine has been online 7 years (as of a few days ago), with about 3000 articles/posts published, a methodology finalized, and a number of experiments. If this it continues, that means that these and other avenues will present themselves. If not, and this is how it ends, well, I can’t say that I didn’t do my part in seeing search engines as intended. I just hope that when you leave this site, whether you’ve read one or several pieces, that you’ve come away with a perspective to understanding the implications of mobile and technology that puts your best faith forward.
Tags: Antoine RJ Wright, consulting, experiments, financing, partnerships, presentations, SharePoint, speaking, stewardship, tech, training
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