Diocese of Sioux City Web site takes on new look, features

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
April 19, 2007

The Diocese of Sioux City recently re-launched the diocesan Web site with a new look and new features.

According to Royce Ranniger, director of operations for the diocese, the changes to the Web site were necessary.

Leah Schnepf, president of Trilogy Networks, and Nate LaBelle, software engineer for Trilogy, along with staff at the Central Catholic Offices collaborated to get the Web site updated.

"Leah was the person who put the look on. She was the talent behind that and Nate did the info structure," said Ranniger.

He added that if a Web site is not inviting and something people enjoy, they will not continue to use the site.

"We are now going to become proactive in keeping the Web site current," said Ranniger.

Schnepf pointed out that the goal of a Web site is to have an "interactive and up-to-date communication tool for the diocese."

"We want it to be a two-way communication of us presenting information to the diocese and the people in the diocese giving us feedback on what information they would like to see," said Schnepf. "At the bottom of every page, we have a link to the webmaster for people to send in feedback."

If there is information that someone is going to the diocesan site to find or that they would like available, that is something that the diocese would like to know. Schnepf commented that if they are made aware of what is needed, they can provide it.

"That is a nice thing with the Web. It can be updated daily," she said. "It can keep people current and up to date on what is going on - events, activities and what is happening in the diocese."

The process to get the new site up and running started with LaBelle designing the site and getting approval along the way.

"Leah and Nate had a meeting with the managers asking for their input," said Ranniger. "They brought some good suggestions."

Schnepf added that it was a collaborative effort.

"It is going to provide us with more opportunities to get information out there," said Ranniger. "It's given opportunities to some of our supporting organizations."

There are tabs for Serra Club, Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, Catholic Charities and other supporting organizations. There are links to Briar Cliff University, Trinity Heights, the diocesan parishes and Catholic schools that have Web sites and the Globe, USCCB and Vatican Web sites.

"We have quite a bit of information for education, safe environment programs, youth ministries, RCIA and adult ministries," said LaBelle. "That content was all authored by the staff members who are in charge of those areas. We hope to keep that up-to-date and keep people informed about what they are interested in and what opportunities are out there for them."

Another feature of the site is a directory to allow people to contact staff in the diocesan offices.

"We want to make it easily accessible to people," said Schnepf. "It is always up to date."

The calendar and media center tabs are still in process.

"We will have a calendar of events, including the bishop's schedule and any events going on in the diocese," said Ranniger. "There will be a few other tabs that are not on there yet because the information wasn't ready."

Other tabs will be added as information comes in.

Visit the Web site at www.scdiocese.org to see the changes.