After months of planning and a few mentions here and there, we’re as surprised as anyone that after planning a newly refreshed site for 2025, we made it in time without anything going wrong!
Reviewing 2024 we’ve been plotting, planning and organising in the background ahead of a huge push for 2025 to revive some administrative energy and while a new site may seem like it’s last on (very long) a list of priories, a new look to match the energy we wanted to go into 2025 with was a big task to get the ball running.
On the front end, we’ve kept things roughly the same with only a few minor tweaks. Posts will still be split between two main sections. On Screen will be host to ongoing production news reviews, including the ongoing Retro Review feature and pre-season recaps. There are further updates to come, which include a full guide to all Trek past and present, though that’s on a low-mid priority alongside category templates to better display it all.
Relay is the new home of News and Features and the full time offshoot of Comms until we have a new Fleet Communications officer on board. We’ve went back and recategorised everything so that each regular feature has it’s own category for both ease of posting and reading. On the Q2 front, this will also continue to host Fleet Alert public updates and Q2&A for as long as we can come up with subjects!
To make sure we make the most of it, we have a new feature schedule for the first quarter of the year with pre-scheduled posts already in the pipeline.
We’ve also did a bit of an overhaul on our information sections, with the main introduction to Q2 given a visual overhaul whilst further information and FAQ will remain separated to keep down any clutter.
Though the whole redesign came as part of a want to give the unit pages more of a visual appeal with their own ‘front page’ look. As a result each unit page has more of a pop with information and news given a slightly better balance alongside customised graphics and information. Each unit page has been minimised in output as well, showing both unit news and fleet alerts so new members reviewing their unit will have all the updates they need in one place.
In another clutter-reducing effort, we’ve also moved around our old profile section. Previously profile info would appear on any logged in page, but on any device that wasn’t a PC it would often get buried. To help make sure this is easily accessible, profile details and latest updates will be viewable with an ‘off canvas’ menu accessible via the menu option next to the ‘Officers Hub’ button (non logged in users will only see the login and sign up links).
Another primary reason for the redesign was out members section, which has over the years changed so many times it had become a bit of a patch job. The new front page offers quick links to update details, update or close membership, start a new unit and more offering full account management for your Q2 membership.
For further ease of access, we’ve also moved the Database into this section and, in time, will be re-adding Academy after it undergoes a minor overhaul (more on that at a later date!). Extending the re-categorising for site features, we’ve made some further revisions to the Fleet & Services update section. In recent months we’d already set up internal news and updates here, however this has gained more emphasis and will be home to all internal fleet updates including Admirals Blog, Meet the Fleet and all service and admin changes.
One of the biggest challenges though is reintroducing an old feature; discussion forums. When this iteration of the site was developed in 2016/17, the goal was to condense every service Q2 used into one place – taking our forums, admin, membership etc all into one place. By this stage our forums had gone quiet as the shift to social media usage was in full swing. So we stopped migrating the old forums, put the new version into offline mode and rarely used the feature at all aside from running site accounts.
Now we’re seeing another shift in social media usage all over, with interest in apps and social media outlets drifting, and potentially drifting further still for various reasons. We don’t expect the forums to suddenly burst into a flurry of activity, if used for much at all, but we’d like to try and offer the space for those who don’t like to use social media platforms such as our Europa Facebook group, as well as extend a one-stop location for CO’s to add information and updates that their membership can view and access in a secure space.
Therefore, all members of Q2 will automatically be inducted into the 47 Club forums. Over the coming days (maybe weeks!) you’ll also begin to see further additions for your assigned unit and one or two other additions such as a dedicated forum/file directory for the Command Training Program or other interests.
Goals & Next Steps
Aside from giving everything a new visual look, there were a few main goals we wanted to achieve which helped push everything forward. Primarily giving the Members section a more organised look whilst adding extra functions to benefit members. Enhanced mobile device compatibility was another big one, primarily as thee has been an obvious societal shift from desktop to handheld devices in recent years.
Our next steps looking ahead are fairly straight forward:
Finish new features including the Trek Archive & Fleet Event Calendar
Refine and redesign the 47 Club Forums to make, at the very least, a useful resource for Q2 and individual units.
Relaunch the Academy with a whole new ideal behind it.
Continue to make it easier and more straight forward for members to get involved in the fleet space.
As we move ahead into the Alpha Quarter of 2025, we’ll be reviewing each step and every piece of data and feedback we can to improve the experience and further align our online presence with the functionality of the fleet for everyone’s benefit.
If you’re a member of Quadrant 2, check out the new members hub and let us know what you think – feedback is always welcome!
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