Welcome to the new LifeRing website!
The old website was launched in June 1996, fairly early in Web history, and it showed its age. Over the years it grew and grew until it sprawled like a kudzu vine. We’ve been talking forever about a new design.
We owe a big “Thank You!” to web designer Chris Adams of rollingorange.com, who volunteered his time and his professional skills to finally get us moving on a complete website overhaul. Chris led the way in a thorough survey of stakeholders’ views, an assessment of our audiences, and a deep analysis and reorganization of the website content. To Chris we owe also:
the push to build this website on WordPress
the concept of grouping all of the main content under three headings (now called Check out Lifering, Connect with LifeRing, Contribute to LifeRing)
the idea to pile many different kinds of other content into a central blog on the Start Page
and much else.
Unfortunately for us — fortunately for Chris — his paying work, which had slowed in the recession, picked up again and ate him up. He was unable to continue working with us to implement the final graphic design. While central features of the platform, structure and organization are his, the entire look and feel of the site as it stands today were developed independently.
As the founder and first webmaster of this site — originally called unhooked.com — it gives me great pleasure to conclude my tenure in this seat by completing at least the major portions of this new design. While it still has its shortcomings, I feel confident that its cleaner look, easier navigation, broadly interactive features, and all-around greater usability will make for a better user experience and reach wider audiences.
And not only user experience! One of the advantages of a Content Management System (CMS) — even a developing one like WordPress — is the ease with which many people can become website stakeholders by contributing content. The CMS platform is uniquely adapted to team development. If you have a passion for one or another recovery-related topic and are able to write about it, you can become a web author here, and reach the tens of thousands of people in many different countries who check in on lifering.org every month.
The site that you see here now has the core content of the old site, but quite a bit more of the material on the old site is worth keeping and will be moved to the new site in the weeks ahead. And, no doubt, there will be bugs and broken links to try your patience. Would you like to help? Send me an email: webmaster@lifering.org. Thanks.
Happy sober browsing!
— Marty N.
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