Updated Walk.Bike.Schools! Website (phase 1 anyway)

[Tim King/Bryant]

Hey Folks -- I've done some pretty significant updating, re-orging, etc of our Walk.Bike.Schools! website: http://walkbikeschools.wordpress.com/. Check it out and please share.

Updates/Changes include:

• The main landing page at http://walkbikeschools.wordpress.com/ is now a "static" page of info and resources designed to tell people who we are and what resources we have to share. I've tried to make this actionable so new and returning site visitors can find what they want. The landing page also includes a "News" section so we can continue to communicate time-sensitive projects and deadlines. Right now I'm featuring blurbs about the SDOT mini-grant cycle and iWalk. If there's something of Walk.Bike.Schools! importance that should be noted, please share (now and in the future). I'd request that you also post interesting items/events/etc to the blog (next item).
  
• The blog is now listed on the main menu, too. New posts are automatically tweeted by the Walk.Bike.Schools! Twitter Account (@walkbikeschools; if you're a twitter user please follow and share). We'd love to see additional diversity in our blog posts and authors. If you have an article about an event or project you'd like to share, contact me or Clint about a guest post. We're also up for adding additional "staff" authors. Contact me if you are interested in committing to writing at least a few posts and I'll get you set up with rights in WordPress.
• This listserv/Google Group is now linked to from the main menu as "Discuss!" -- hopefully highlighting this list will drive new subscriptions and discussion here.
• I've cleaned up all the toolbar/menu items to simplify navigation and have removed the complicated structure (that honestly went *no where* - sorry about that. My grand plans never materialized; it's fairly obvious that a basic site is all anyone here really has time for).
• I've added a "Blogroll" of Active Transportation Partners to the right menu of the landing page and blog -- if you can know any (non-commercial) complimentary-mission groups that should be represented, please send those along.
• Added a "Get Started" article to the toolbar to direct new visitors to "actionable"content.
• Created a "Walk.Bike Resources" page -- also on the toolbar. This page offers those "Samples and Downloads" many people have suggested adding to the site -- such as mini-grant samples, examples of program communication, posters, etc. I think this is also a good place to highlight existing blog posts that we don't want to get lost in the "newest item on top" chronological nature of a blog -- for example, I made a PDF out of Clint's great "Obstacles" blog post (and linked to the post. Hopefully this will keep some great stuff surfaced for new visitors .I've got more to add to this page (ie, a table of contents and more details/txt needs to be added to some of the links), so if you've sent something and don't see it there (or want more detail) please give it time. Yet, we can always use more: if you have documents or graphics you want to share with the community, please send those along. I think this library could be a great help to anyone starting an Active Transportation program at their school.
• A note on why I've moved the blog from the front page: After a year and half, it's clear the blog as a landing page just doesn't attract enough traffic/community to make up for the inherent limitations of the blog format -- specifically, chronological posts push "older" content to the bottom (no matter how important the "pushed" content is). By design, a blog is meant to be visited/read/participated-in regularly. The format doesn't do so well as a reference source for people who only visit occasionally. A blog can contain loads of great content, but as a landing page it's doesn't always rise to the job of helping orient visitors to a site or mission. Our blog remains a VERY important communication tool and I encourage more people to join Clint in posting. With the new format, hopefully we'll be able to give some of our great existing (and new) blog content a longer shelf life! 

Comments, updates, suggestions for all of this are welcome.

Happy Walk Month!

Tim/Bryant & Eckstein Parent