MassAcorn approached 4Web with an interesting challenge: provide a significant upgrade to their community-based website.

The Client 

MassAcorn, a co-operative resource network for the Westfield and Deerfield watersheds of western Massachusetts, needed an upgrade to their online survey and discussion boards. They also wanted the ability to quickly and easily add monthly highlights and articles to the site, plus maintain previous functionality for mapping capabilities and finding local resources.

The Solution

Using the Joomla! Open Source Content Management system, 4Web built an exciting new site with integrated discussion boards and quick and easy posting of monthly highlights.  The site includes a "how did you hear about us" poll, a newsletter signup, and a photo gallery. Best of all, the MassAcorn team can make updates quickly and easily without significant technical knowledge or ability, saving their team time and resources over their previous website, which had to be updated manually. 

"A new person joined our massacorn project last week, and within 48 hours she was editing our site, thanks to Joomla. That would never have happened in the past, where new people would need to learn rudiments of html, and make careful edits to ensure that the site wasn't made unstable. It also allows us to bring people on who have expertise in a wide variety of subjects -  e.g., natural resources, community organizing, communications, marketing -  and not be constrained to look for people with html experience. Joomla allows us to focus on what we do best -  outreach to communities and landowners about forests -   and not be hobbled by a lack of html expertise. "