An upgraded version of the Church's official website, LDS.org, is now available to the public at the address www.new.lds.org. It is the first major overhaul of the website since January 2007, said Larry L. Richman, director of the Church's Publications and Media Project Office.
For the time being, while the newly upgraded site is still being developed, the current site will still be accessible at the address www.lds.org. As the new site becomes more complete, the old address will be switched to point to the new site.
After months of improvements and testing, the new site offers new features and emphases. Much of its focus will be to help Church members learn, live and share the gospel of Jesus Christ, Brother Richman noted. "It does this by emphasizing the teachings of core doctrines by living prophets and apostles, providing easy access to scriptures and enabling new tools for online gospel study."
The new site is media rich, using video, audio, photography, gospel art and other graphics. Most of the content is integrated with popular social networking sites and e-mail so users can share content and direct their friends to learn more about the gospel.
Visitors to the new site will be greeted with a dramatically different home page. The main section on the lower right focuses on the words of the living prophets, providing access to recent messages from prophets and apostles. The page "Unto All the World" follows their ministry, including recent events and addresses.
The section "What Do Mormons Believe?" on the lower left directs visitors to the recently updated Mormon.org site, where they can learn about basic beliefs of the Church.
The site menu is structured upon the most important and common uses of Church information by members. Thus, it includes five major categories:
The Scriptures section provides a new, easier-to-read design that includes a personal study notebook that allows a user to save notes, highlights and tags to a personal folder.
"Tools" provides access to a calendar and directories of one's own ward and stake. It brings up one's own personal study notebook, accessed when one signs on with a personal LDS account. A section called "Maps" upgrades a previous version of maps.lds.org, which allows one to enter an address and find the nearest LDS meetinghouse. It also includes ward and stake maps, meeting times and contact information for local leaders. Yet another section of the Tools category is "Mobile Applications," where one can learn about apps available for smart phones and other mobile devices in accessing the Gospel Library and Mormon Channel, an Internet-based radio station.
The newly upgraded website employs an improved search capability that immediately brings up a short list of hand-picked, recommended results when one begins to type in a search query.
A notable feature about the new website is a personalized experience offered to those who sign on using their LDS account. It includes access to ward and stake calendars and directories, ability to create a profile through which one can share testimony with others on Mormon.org, access to a personal study notebook and access to many other secure Church websites.
The new site will be continually improved with other additional content over the next year. Improvements will include a release of the site in Spanish and German in about a month, followed by releases over the next several months in Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Russian.
