20 Feb Welcome to the Updated FHA Website!
Update: Problems? Read this first. Click here.
We have updated the FHA website to a new version of the “platform” on which the site is built. This platform, called Joomla! (with punctuation), was originally installed as version 1.6, then updated to version 2.5 – where it has remained for the past two years or so. Version 2.5 is no longer being maintained, so any security or stability issues in 2.5 will no longer be addressed. The newer version is 3.3. With Joomla 3 we have taken the opportunity to make some changes on the site, consistent with the usage experience we have gained in the last couple of years:
- The home page now contains four tabs; each tab contains one of the four most popular pages on the site as measured by hit count. Opening the home page takes a bit longer than opening a single page, but once the page is open, it provides instant access to the four most visited pages on the site.
- The top menu has been reorganized to reflect how we understand many users’ expectations after listening to you over the last couple of years, and also based on hit counts.
- A new link (“Compose Article” under “Newsletter” on the top menu) is provided for logged-in visitors to compose articles for the FHA Newsletter and/or the website. It provides an alternative to composing Newsletter (and website) articles in Word or other text processors and attaching or pasting them into an email to the Editors. Your article, written and composed on this page, will (at your option) will be sent to the Editors, or the website Content Editor, or both.
- The top menu is “pinned” to the top of the browser window so it’s always visible even if you scroll down on a page.
- Remember – you can always return to the home page by clicking on the logo below the top menu.
- The Groups Portal (one of the home page tabs) contains links to all our groups that have a web presence as “tiled” icons which are the groups’ logos.
- The Bulletin Board (another home page tab and the most popular page on the website) has been improved with a new option for selecting how much material is displayed. In addition, on the same Bulletin Board page, you can now search all Bulletin Board postings since July, 2008 for plumbers, electricians or anything else. Finally, the first time you open the Bulletin Board you will be shown the “rules” (formerly seen at the top of the page whenever you visit it) and “formatting hints” (just to remind you that they are there). This text will appear every six months or so, as a reminder. And you can always see it if you click the provided link (which also resets the six months clock).
- The items seen on the left of the new tabbed front page (weather, coming events) only appear on the home page. This replaces the left menu stack of old, which is no longer displayed. Functions formerly linked on the left menu are placed on the top menu now. Doing away with the left menu stack provides more room for content on other pages on the site.
- A little “Top of Page” icon appears at the lower right corner when the page is scrolled down below the header, and is pinned there. A user can click this and return instantly to the top of the page.