Introducing Our New and
Improved Web Site
by Sarah Wigser and Chris Schapman

The STC-SWO web team spent quite a few months redesigning the Web site and turning it into our chapter’s information hub. Why the change? The old Web site design was constraining and pages were hard to maintain. We decided a redesign was necessary to better serve members, to make it easier to find information, and to provide a central information hub.

In case you’re worried, we haven’t changed everything. Members can still post their resumes for free, it’s still easy to find out about upcoming programs, and you can still access the member directory.

On the technology side, the Web site includes dynamic content that makes site management easier and makes the site more user-friendly. It also conforms to XHTML 1.0 standards and is CSS compliant. The new Web site also includes easier navigation and an updated color scheme.

In addition to the usual information such as chapter meetings, the new web site also includes:

• Online bulletin boards
  
• Event calendars on each page – click an underlined date to find out what’s going on
  
• Books reviews and information about user groups we belong to
  
• Links to corporate sponsors and information about their services
  
• Online event registrations and automatic confirmation of your RSVP
  
• An RSS feed from the Yahoo employment group, which provides real-time job postings
  

Using the chapter bulletin boards

The bulletin boards will become our chapter’s information hub, facilitating information sharing and keeping everyone in the loop. How do you find the bulletin boards? Easy - just go to www.stc-swo.org and click the Bulletin Boards link.

The bulletin boards are available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! All you need to do is register, which only takes a few minutes, and start posting. You can start a new topic about something you need help with or post a response to another topic. Additionally, if there's a topic you're particularly interested in, you can "track" activity by having the forum notify you by email when a new message is posted in that topic.

The bulletin boards currently include the following categories:

• Forum Rules & Tips
  
• Employment
  
• Chapter Business
  
• Resources

The bulletin boards are new to everyone - take a few momments to explore, post topics, and reply to other posters.

Please send comments and suggestions to webmaster@stc-swo.org. This is your web site, so your feedback is always appreciated.