After nearly two months off, UM & Global is back from hiatus. Here's what's new after that time away:
There is a new way to subscribe to email updates of blog posts. Just enter your email into the box on the right side of the desktop version, and you'll receive emails announcing each new post. Once signed up, you can unsubscribe anytime. Anyone who signed up under the old system has automatically had their email transferred to the new system, and this should fix the problem that people were experiencing of not receiving post notifications.
I cleaned up some of the pages of the blog (see links under the banner of the desktop version or in the drop-down menu on the mobile version) and tweaked some of the sidebar elements, but I did not end up making any major changes to the design or layout of the blog. The blog design remains nothing fancy, but the focus is still on simplicity over sophistication.
The biggest changes will be in publishing schedule. UM & Global will be cutting back to a more sustainable 1-2 posts per week. One main article per week will be published on Thursdays. These articles will continue to feature in-depth reflections on mission and the global nature of The United Methodist Church, written by blogmaster David W. Scott and a variety of other authors.
Mondays will see occasional additional content. Recommended Reading pieces will be discontinued in favor of links style news roundups that feature a run-down of multiple significant stories related to mission and global Methodism. (This will be a return to the very early days of the blog!) Recommended Viewing pieces will continue with the added benefit of embedding the related video content within the blog post whenever possible to make it easier to access.