I’m delighted to open the curtains on a new look and feel for the Courtyard. I hope you like what you see!
It’s been nearly eight years since the Courtyard was last given a good makeover. To me, the eight years seem like just yesterday. Heck, many of my favorite clothes are a lot more than eight years old! But in the world of website design, it’s a lifetime.
Over the years, the Courtyard’s inner operations became more and more dated. That was especially evident on some mobile devices, which can throw curve balls that older website themes just can’t handle. These days, most people read our kind of content on a device they hold in their hand.
So behind the scenes, we’ve been working on an upgrade. You’re looking at its debut post.
Here’s what stayed the same, and what’s different:
- The collection of prayers, litanies, homilies, reflections, and stewardship skits are still in the Courtyard, and more will come. The menu is largely the same, with a few tweaks to make parts of the collection more accessible.
- Example tweak: The menu item “Books” now has two choices on its drop-down. Choose “Margaret’s Books” for information about my books; choose “Reviews” for easy access to book reviews I write for the Courtyard and other publications, as well as reviews written by others about my books.
- The Home page is simplified to focus on featured posts, recent posts, and content appropriate for the current and upcoming liturgical seasons. We’ll update the home page periodically to keep in sync with seasons both natural and liturgical.
- The page design is simplified throughout, with less reliance on sidebars and other elements that distract from the main content of an individual page or post.
- With some regret, the Lectio+Haiku section of the Courtyard has been retired. Lectio+Haiku had its loyal followers who delighted in writing and sharing short poems in response to an inspirational passage. In bringing the Courtyard back to life, I felt it was time for something new. I’m dreaming about another way to offer inspiration and a chance to share own creative work in a quick, informal, short forms. I’ll keep you posted on what evolves. Suggestions welcome!
Feel free to explore the Courtyard’s new look and let me know what you think. I’m proud of this repository and hope it brings you pleasure.
Margaret D. McGee
In the Courtyard 
Nice look! Simple, clean.
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Dear Margaret, I barely got to know the old layout! Your book on haiku was foundational in establishing a haiku writing activity in my life. I have used it to teach the spiritual value of haiku in other places. And presently I am the facilitator of a haiku Sunday School class that meets twice a month. I had looked forward to using and viewing the haiku-lectionary section, but alas . . . Nevertheless, just wanted to thank you for what you book has meant to me–especially in my retirement years. Peace, LaMon
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LaMon — Gee, it makes me so happy to hear how Haiku – The Sacred Art planted the seed for your haiku writing, and that your practice now nurtures creative expression in your haiku Sunday School class. (What a good idea!) Thanks sharing your experience, and for making this author’s day. 🙂
And I’m sorry to disappoint you about the haiku-lectionary section of the Courtyard. I promise that haiku will be a part of the next incarnation of writing/sharing in the Courtyard, and I’m thinking hard about how it works.
(And … I’m discovering that I announced the Courtyard’s makeover a bit prematurely. It may take a day or two for the “mapping” the new Courtyard to be perfectly consistent. So it might come and go for a bit. But the site experts assure me that it’ll all settle down soon.)
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