Make your website your own

You know your purpose, now its time to design your site and tell the world.

Updated over a week ago

Websites can cost thousands of dollars to build, but NationBuilder gives you the tools to easily replicate the pros at a fraction of the price. Your website shouldn’t just be a beautiful billboard, it needs to be an interactive experience that will bring in supporters. 

Design and build your website

To start, decide what you’d like your website to look like. You may have selected a theme during installation, and in that case, you can always follow these steps to change your theme at any time. 

Click on Website > Website name > Theme, then Switch to a stock theme. Here you will find the pre-built designs that are readily available for you. Once you find one you like, hover over it and click Use Theme. You'll be directed to the Switch style tab to select your style for the theme by clicking Use style.

Edit your homepage

Next, its time to tell your story by customizing your 'About' page. 

To edit your 'About’ page, navigate to Website > Website name. You'll land on the pages screen. Hover over 'About' and click on the Edit button to the left of the page name. Then, click on the Content tab. This is where you will tell your story. You’ll find we’ve provided you with some guidance text to get you started, delete this and add your own content.

Follow the same process to customize any other “placeholder” pages.

Featured content sliders and background images

Additionally, you may want to add dynamic visuals to your site. Featured content sliders are a scrolling bar of images that link to other parts of your site on your homepage. They provide a huge visual upgrade without the hassle of coding.

Featured content sliders can be easily swapped out to reflect the current needs of your cause. Need more people to read the blog? Create a featured content slider that redirects folks to the newest piece of news. Need to brag about a huge endorsement? Put their logo up on a content slider and redirect to the press release. 

Featured content sliders live under Website > Pages > Edit page > Settings > Featured content sliders. You can find the best dimensions for featured content sliders on your particular public theme here

You'll label the image for your own knowledge, add a headline that will display on top of the photo and add a page to feature (aka link to). Click Choose File, select the image and click Save featured content slider

Customize your navigation

Finally, its time to customize navigation settings. The idea behind supporter nav is that you want to create specific pages for your supporters to interact with you and each other on your website, enhancing the community aspect of your nation. What page types are included in the supporter nav is entirely up to you.

NationBuilder includes some default page types which give you an idea of how to make the most out of the supporter nav, these pages include:

Activity- Allows your supporters to see an individualized stream of everything going on in your nation that pertains specifically to them, i.e. people they are following, pages they are following, pages they are a part of (events they RSVP'd for), etc.

Spread the word- Supporters can generate and share a personal recruiting link. This page will show people that they have recruited to the nation and how many of those have become volunteers, donors, voters.

Social Capital- Shows supporters where they stand in comparison to other users.

Follows/Followers- Other users from your website the supporter is following or are following them.

Find Friends- Allows supporters to find friends from their social networks who are also users on the website.

Here are a couple of other ideas for what to include in the supporter nav:

  • Create a suggestion box page for logged in users only, let them have input in the goals and principles of the nation.

  • Create an events calendar for logged in users. Post meetings and events that are just for them. Allow users to create their own events here.

Add a page to the supporter nav

1. When creating a new page, check the box next to "Include in supporter nav." This option is listed directly above the Create page button.

2. When editing a page, go to Settings > Page settings. Below the published date, you'll see a checkbox next to the option to "Include in supporter nav." Check the box and then click the Save page button to save your changes.

Related HOWTOs

Need more direction? We also offer demos and virtual/in-person training sessions!

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