The Orewa Bridge Club website has had a refresh. The aim is simple: make club information easier to find, easier to update, and easier to use on phones, tablets and computers.
The old website served the club well, but it was mostly a static noticeboard. It held the essentials, pointed members towards results, and did its best without troubling anyone too much.
The new site has a bigger job. It is designed to be more useful in everyday club life, with clearer events, learning material, club information and optional tools for members who want them.
What has changed?
A clearer home page and main menu.
New Events tools, including optional partner notes.
A clearer home for lessons, tips and practice hands.
A clearer way to find club information
The new site is designed around the way members actually use club information. The main menu has sections for About Us, Learn, Play, Bridge Hub, Events, Results and Contact.
Whether you are looking for the next club session, beginner lessons, practice hands, committee information, payments, results or directions to the club, the aim is to make the path shorter and less mysterious.
Events, calendar links and partner notes
One of the biggest improvements is the new Events area. Members can browse upcoming events, filter by category, open an event for full details, and add events to their own calendar.
There is also an optional Add my partner feature on event pages. This is there because members asked for a simple way to keep track of who they are playing with.
It is completely optional, private to your own browser and device, and does not replace the printed event book. Pens, pencils, notebooks, memory and helpful spouses may all continue operating as before.
Learning and practice material
For learners and improvers, the new site gives lessons, hints, tips and practice hands a clearer home.
Members can revisit topics, play hands again, and occasionally confirm that the problem was not their bidding system after all.
Better information for visitors and members
The new site also gives the club a better public face. Lessons, tournaments and club events can be promoted more clearly, and social media posts can point people to useful pages instead of leaving them to admire a general homepage and hope for enlightenment.
For the committee and club volunteers, the site should also make information easier to manage and update. A clearer website means fewer hidden corners, fewer repeated questions, and possibly fewer sightings of the phrase, “I’m sure it was on the website somewhere.”
What has not changed?
The main point is simple: the new website gives members more options. It does not take existing options away.
You can still use the printed programme book. You can still go straight to results. You can still ask someone at the club if technology is having one of its little moments.
Have a look around
There will always be small differences between phones, tablets, computers and calendar apps. That is not the club or the website being difficult. That is just technology keeping itself entertained.
If something genuinely does not work, please let us know. Otherwise, have a look around, try the Events page, and enjoy exploring the new site.
