Project Members’ Library

exclusive & organized: A Well-Constructed Table

Solution: Initial ideas brainstormed by SME’s ranged from highly complex (such as an intense “mobile app”) to the simple compilation of a list of linked titles on a password-protected site page. Since I fulfilled multiple roles in the office and since members had long been without their resources since the development of the new site, the time investment into learning how to develop an app for mobile use was far too heavy. This also would not address the needs of desktop users, who were the majority of users. We also decided our paid members deserved something better than a list of linked titles.

Through research, I discovered new possibilities within WordPress and the use of inventive plugins — Post Tables Pro, Custom Taxonomy Order, and Pods: Custom Content Types and and Fields. These could work together to create a complex table that was organized, informative, and searchable. It could also function alongside the site’s core member plugin WooCommerce Members through which I could make choice website elements exclusive to paid members with their login. I was able to design the table and place it on a member-restricted site page. Non-members would only come to a “content restricted” page with an invite to purchase a membership for access.

I designed the table and the site page to uphold with org’s branding. The table contained it’s own search element, apart from the broad website search, and I created an alternative search through a “filter” drop-down of categories and subcategories. More so, the page content surrounding the library table reached to define key elements of the library for users. For example, it defined each category in greater detail with expanding toggles, and it provided a small “pop-up” with short how-to instructions and an icon key.

With the help of an assistant, I created over 300 categorized “posts,” providing definitions, icons, and copyright protected downloadable files for each. Exclusive materials available only for trained coaches were given more detail including a level of difficulty as well as separate exclusive site pages per resource that were more easily viewed on mobile devices.

I have also created additional materials in the process of introducing the tabled library to its members and promoting it to potential new members. I have created instructional content and slide shows to illustrate the basics for newly trained coaches, which have included a how-to video illustrating the basic log-in process! The library is, after all, exclusive to members and “content restricted” unless the user is a paid member and logged in. A “how to log in” video is in the works!