Rebuilding...
The All New Berkshire ArtStart · Sunday March 15, 2009
I’ve recently been working with Jessica Conzo and Jonathan Secor at the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center to rebuild their directory of artists, opportunities and resources known as Berkshire ArtStart.
The previous incarnation had been built using Joomla. In addition to many bugs and quirks, it had a difficult interface that discouraged adoption. For the rebuild, I used NewAdams.es, a website focused on Adams and North Adams, Massachusetts based on the WordPress MU platform. I developed NewAdams.es in 2008 precisely because I wanted to have a place to easily deploy locally relevant websites.
The overhaul resulted in a simplified interface which has vastly increased the usability of the ArtStart site. And where the previous ArtStart made use of proprietary tools, I thought it was important for the new version to allow users to make the most of other websites and platforms they may already be using. There is now RSS, Flickr, Youtube, and Google Calendar integration on user profiles.
This is just the beginning of the all new Berkshire ArtStart.
› Matt
