The Sigma Chi Fraternity launched its new website at 2012 Grand Council in Cleveland, thus unleashing a new information engine for all members to enjoy. The Fraternity registered the domain name, sigmachi.org, on June 4, 1997, but last redesigned its website in 2005, around the 150th Anniversary Celebration, so an update to the popular tool for undergraduates and alumni was a main focus.
Anyone with questions regarding the new website can contact Online Specialist James Jones, NORTH FLORIDA 2009. Listed below are some of the features the new sigmachi.org will showcase:
New Menu Structure
There is a revamped menu structure, which is more intuitive to our visitor’s needs. This makes the site easier to navigate and easier to find what they are looking for.
Search
The search feature is another one of the most requested additions that disappeared from the old website. Don’t bother looking through the menu, if users know what they want, this will help them find it.
Site Map
There is a site map that lists the site menu in an easy-to-read page. Although the user can now search for a page with the search box, this allows them to see most all pages in one easy-to-read list.
Redirect
We have the ability to easily set multiple URLs for the same page. This means that we can have sigmachi.org/bltw; sigmachi.org/balfourltw; sigmachi.org/workshop; sigmachi.org/leadershiptrainingworkshop; etc. all be taken to the same place.
Contact Form
The new site-wide contact form allows for one-step contact. The user will simply click the contact page and be presented with a short form with various options. They put in their name, email, subject of email, reason for contact and their message. This is especially useful for those who don’t know who to contact for a particular issue.
Staff Directory
The staff directory is where members can contact Sigma Chi International Headquarters staffers directly, and for getting to know a little more about their Sigma Chi experience. If users want to contact a staff member, they can click on the staffers name and they will be brought to his or her profile. Here they will see information about the staff member's responsibilities at Headquarters, where they went to school and when they graduated and ways to contact them. This is done to provide a friendlier Headquarters atmosphere and to serve our members better.
Undergraduate Chapter Directory
Probably one of the most notable improvements comes in the chapter directories. There are multiple options in this section. They are:
Chapter Listing Page
This lists all the chapters we currently have active along with separate lists for colonies and suspended chapters. These are sortable lists with live data sourced from the Headquarters database.
State Listing Page
This lists all the chapters by state. Readers can get to these by selecting the state from the map or the state/province column.
Province Page
This is a breakdown of chapters by province.
Chapter Page
This is a page with statistics and contact info for the various chapters. A photo of the chapter house is prominently displayed to welcome the viewer. The officers/advisors names are linkable to their sigmachi.com profiles, allowing for easy contact by fellow Sigs. This page also shows demographics about the university. This can be very helpful if a recruit is considering joining Sigma Chi.
Roster Page
This page lists the undergraduate members for each chapter. Member names are also linkable to sigmachi.com and allows for easy contact by fellow Sigs. This helps make our membership data more relevant, as members can notice errors and notify Headquarters.
Alumni Chapter Directory
This will be the same as undergraduate chapter directory, but focused on alumni chapters.
Officer Pages
The officer pages also were revamped with the introduction of a “resources” tab that allows users to download documents pertinent to their office. Documents deemed private are placed behind authentication, so members will have to log in to view them. This will be the same log-in information used for sigmachi.com.
