Things sure have changed.

Websites today consist of so much more—hundreds or even thousands of pages, image rotators, embedded videos, online storefronts, blogs, newsrooms, forms…the list goes on and on.

When you build your website on Accrisoft Freedom Content Management System, these exciting features are right at your fingertips. For those of you currently using Accrisoft Freedom, you’re probably aware of the features (or, “modules,” as they’re called) available. But it’s also important that you understand how to best use them.

In today’s blog post, current Accrisoft Freedom users—and those of you considering jumping on board—will learn best practices for using the top 10 Accrisoft Freedom modules.

1) Menus

The Menus module makes it easy for you to create and edit your website’s main navigation menu, as well as any submenus that appear throughout your site. As you create a new menu item, you can also choose to create its corresponding web page (which then appears in the Web Pages module).

Best practice: When you create a new menu item that doesn’t yet have a fully-developed page to link to, click the checkbox next to "Hide Menu Item." That way, visitors to your site won’t stumble upon an unfinished page.

2) Web Pages

The Web Pages module is where you’ll create the static pages of your website, such as your About Us and History pages. Web Pages features a WYSIWYG editor (“What You See Is What You Get”) that makes it easy for users with no HTML experience to easily create and edit content. The WYSIWYG is present in many Accrisoft Freedom modules, and works the same across all browsers.

Best practice: Don’t forget to fill out the Meta Info section. The Window Title is what appears in the tab of your browser window. The Window Title and Meta Description are both visible when your page shows up in a search engine’s results.

3) Blog

The Blog module allows you to write blog posts, schedule publish times, create categories and monitor comments. The Accrisoft Freedom blog platform enables tagging, linking, adding images and embedding videos.

Best practice: Include an email address in the "Email Notification" section — this will send you a message every time a new comment is submitted, making it easier for you to respond to comments promptly.

4) Forms

The Forms module allows you to collect valuable information about your website visitors. You can choose your own fields (Name, Email Address, Company, etc.) and input methods (text box, check box, selectable list). 

Best practice: Always arrange for people who submitted a form to receive a Thank You email or be directed to a Thank You page. Not only is it important to show your gratitude, but this also allows you to provide people with next steps.

5) Email Marketing

You can send email messages to large groups of people at one time with the Accrisoft Freedom Email Marketing module. Emails can contain text, links, images, and custom HTML templates. The Email Marketing module integrates with other modules—for example, you can use the Forms module to acquire email addresses, then send custom messages to those contacts using the Email Marketing module.

Best practice: Always include an unsubscribe link in your emails. This will allow those not interested to remove themselves from your email list, and will prevent them from reporting your emails as spam.

6) Commerce

Turn your website into a virtual storefront with the Commerce module! Whether you’re selling products or collecting monthly membership payments, the Commerce module makes it easy to complete the entire transaction from within Accrisoft Freedom—everything from processing credit cards through a payment gateway to storing orders and monitoring payment statuses.

Best practice: If your products come in different colors or sizes, use Modifiers rather than creating these items as different products. By adding modifiers, Accrisoft Freedom will automatically create all of the combinations for you. If you don’t have some of the combinations in stock, you can set its status to Back-Ordered or Discontinued.

7) Events

Keep website visitors informed of your organization’s upcoming events with the Events module. Events can be displayed on your homepage as a lister or as an interactive calendar. When visitors click an event, they will be directed to a page that displays the full event details. The Events module integrates with the Commerce module, allowing people to RSVP and pay registration fees directly on your website.

Best practice: After writing your event details under the Info tab, don’t forget to click over to the the Tickets tab. That’s where you create the RSVP form that will collect attendees’ credit card payments.

8) Polls/Surveys

These two modules can be used to receive feedback from customers, members and website visitors. A poll is a quick and easy way to add an interactive element to your website. Use the Polls module to ask visitors a question (such as, “Are you satisfied with our organization’s customer service?) and, after they submit their answer, immediately show them the results (“75% said Yes, 25% said No”). 

Surveys allow you to go more in depth by asking visitors multiple questions. Surveys can be sent out to contacts as an email marketing campaign, or they can simply exist as a form on your website.

Best practice: Keep your poll question short and sweet, and don’t ask too many questions in your surveys. The faster people expect to be able to complete a form, the more likely they are to do so.

9) Photo Album

The Accrisoft Freedom Photo Album is one of the most requested modules. Visitors to your site will love scrolling through photos and gaining a better understanding of your organization’s personality and culture.

Best practice: Be sure to write a descriptive caption for each image; if you don’t, the image file name will be shown instead. 

10) Wiki

The Wiki module can be used in two ways—

• To create an internal knowledge base for your organization’s standard operating procedures
• To create a public knowledge base that includes information on your community, such as local hotels, retail by category, religious institutions, etc. Encourage members of your community to contribute. (Example: Pensapedia)

Best practice: When your public wiki is in the beginning stages of development—with only a small number of contributors holding each other accountable—be sure to monitor and fact-check content regularly. As your wiki community grows, contributors will begin to keep each other in check.

[FREE CONSULTATION] Are you taking full advantage of Accrisoft Freedom’s functionalities?

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Click here to request a consultation and continue discovering the exciting possibilities Accrisoft Freedom has to offer!

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