You may have noticed by now that our website looks a lot different than it did four months ago. On October 31, 2018, we launched a fully redesigned lionsclubs.org website to reshape the global face of Lions and better serve the needs of current and prospective members.
Since then, Lions and Leos around the world have shared their thoughts about the new design, and we are taking everyone’s feedback into consideration to help us improve the site. We want you to know that we are listening!
Much of the feedback that we have received is related to difficulties using the search tools on our website. We are taking these challenges seriously and are working with a developer to improve the technology. Unfortunately, the new search engine is less powerful than we expected. That’s why we are implementing a best-in-class technology called Apache Solr, which powers the search engines of Netflix, Apple, Disney and other world-class companies. Soon the “Search” feature will be smart enough to catch misspellings, locate content inside PDFs and even generate search recommendations based on what you started typing in the search bar.
Another search-related difficulty is that there are currently two different ways to search—a search for web pages and a search for resources in the Resource Center. This has led to a confusing experience for our users. So, to address this problem, we are developing a combined search results page that will show web pages that match your search criteria as well as resources (PDFs, PPTs, videos, etc.)—a one-stop shop for search!
These website enhancements are coming soon. If you would like to share your ideas or ask a question, please email digitalmarketing@lionsclubs.org.
We appreciate your patience, and thank you for all of your feedback!
Katie Wallner is the digital marketing specialist at Lions Clubs International.
