Smart Transportation Overhaul Underway

[Stan Suchan]

I’m kicking off an effort to overhaul the Smart Transportation website. During the past couple of years the amount of content on this site and the number of people using it have grown significantly. We have learned a lot about how we use the site and received valuable feedback. I am pursuing an overhaul to:

• Make it easier for people to find what they need on the site.
• Make the site more timely and relevant.
• Make it easier for people to find and use the site.

You'll notice some changes during the next couple of weeks as we move forward:

Bye bye blog: I don’t think it’s ever been entirely clear when people should post something to the forum and when to post to the blog. The two features seem redundent. Most people use the forum and it seems a better fit for our needs. I plan to delete the blog to eliminate this confusion and reduce clutter on the page. What’s the downside? The content currently posted to the blog must either be moved to the forum or vanish. I am working with people who have posted blog entries to move content that has lasting value and to delete content that's no longer useful. You'll see forum entries that reflect this activity.

Hello regional administrators group: I have created an invitation-only group for regional administrators. This will allow us to have a place for conversations about topics of interest to regional administrators while opening up the main site for all network administrators. For example, we will move the technical manual to the regional administrators group while keeping the network administrator’s manual on the home page. This shift sets the stage for us to eliminate the requirement that people must have an invitation to find, view and join the Smart Transportation site. We'll talk at the next administrators meeting about who this group is for and when invitations will be offered.

Hello easier access to the home site: In a few short weeks, I will update the site to allow everyone to view the main site and its contents. However, we will still require people to join the site before they can post and comment. This process will be simple but will require a captcha to help us control spam, which will otherwise be significant.

Hello reorganized home site: I will also reorganize the home page to focus on the items and features network administrators need most and to eliminate or de-emphasize a few that clutter the page.     

We will talk about the Smart Transportation overhaul at our next regional administrator conference call. You're also, as always, welcome to send me an email ([e-mail]) or give me a call (206-464-1192). Please let me know if you have questions, suggestions or concerns. Thanks for your help and apologies for any inconvenience this change creates.

[Ellen Cintron]

Thanks superstar!