On Friday afternoon at the AAUW NC 2007 Fall meeting, Nancy gave a tour of the new www.aauw.org and the about to be launched www.aauwnc.org. Here are a few key comments and additional resources.
www.aauw.org
- The new aauw.org launched on September 17, with a new color scheme, new graphics and a fresh new look.
- Each inside page has a “bread crumb trail” (think Hansel and Gretel) at the top to help orient you in the new site structure. For instance, the “AAUW Issues” page has a trail
Home > Advocacy > Public Policy > AAUW Issues - There’s a search in the upper right that works quite well. In addition to a Google-like listing, the bread crumb trail is included in the search results to help you decide which page is the one you should check first.
- Member Center > Logos, Graphics and Toolkits (click the Member Center button and select the last item in its submenu) has a wealth of information (similar to the old site’s member center > branches and states).
- Check out the Quick Links drop down box in the upper right for direct access to the most requested pages.
- You’ll find a site index, a listing of key pages, in the small-text menu at the top right of the page. If you’re not sure where to look for the content you want, that might be a good place to start.
- The site supports RSS feeds that allow you to subscribe to AAUW news without cluttering your e-mail. See this article about RSS.
- A decision was made to move the “advertising” logos off the front page. Click the Learn more link in the yellow partners and sponsors box on the left to find that information. In particular, here’s the link to the Amazon entry — you may want to bookmark it.
- Do check out the Member Services Database (first link on the Member Center submenu). It allows you to get a branch roster, update your record, make an online contribution, and more.
Learning how to navigate www.aauw.org is a key component in getting the most out of your AAUW membership. Do take some time to explore. If a group in your branch wants to explore together, you may find the “website treasure hunt” developed by AAUW MA to be a good starting point.
I’d like to re-emphasize how important it is to use the Member Services Database. Branch presidents and treasurers, in particular, need to register and should find it makes their lives easier in filling out some of the forms. If you run into problems please contact me.
For more on the new web site and the MSD, see the information that was reviewed at the Phoenix convention.
www.aauwnc.org
The new www.aauwnc.org (combining the old rtpnet.org/aauwnc and news.aauwnc.org) launched on October 19. Some of its new features:
- There’s a search! This will be improved in the next month or so to search PDFs and other uploaded files.
- There’s a better way to highlight branch news (see Jacksonville Regional and Wilmington categories). This will be migrated to real branch web pages.
- There’s a new Archive drop down box for information on past events.
- The About section hasn’t been migrated. I’ll be talking to board members about writing sections there — just like branches they’ll be able to maintain their own sections if they wish.
- There’s a Help page — with a suggested reminder card to keep track of the various logins for the state and national web sites.
More features (like a calendar/events module) will be integrated in the next few months. Please send any comments to me.
-Nancy, nancy.shoemaker@aauwnc.org