By Meg Williamson and Tania Brenes-Arguedas
The Online Communications and Web Portal Committee has been hard at work updating the NPDN website and reimagining the newsletter. Our committee consists of the following members: Meg Williamson, chair; Clarissa Balbalian, vice chair; Tania Brenes-Arguedas, champion; Frank Hale; Yonghao Li; Rachel Moore; Keiddy Urrea; and Shouhua Wang.
Our most recent work included reimagining this publication. Because we want the newsletter to include information of all types, we decided to rename it the “NPDN Communicator.” Kudos to Clarissa Balbalian for volunteering to be the newsletter editor! As before, the NPDN Communicator will continue relying on content contributions from the NPDN membership. The main difference is that, as you can see, it is now delivered in html format. A pdf copy will also be archived on the website, as before.
Web Portal changes
According to our Plan of Work, the main focus of the committee this year was to redesign the NPDN Web Portal (https://www.npdn.org/). We aim to improve web content organization, to determine what information should be available to the public vs. members only, and to develop policies to maintain fresh, up-to-date web content. Many changes have already been implemented on the website. Others are still in development. Following is a list of the changes and future plans.
The first change you may find when you open the NPDN Portal, is that home page is shorter, and the pulldown tabs are a little more organized. The first tab, “NPDN,” has broad “who we are” information aimed at the general public and new members. The links in that tab include better explanations and photos, and they aim to be easier to navigate to the find general network information. Other public information is organized under tabs for “Diagnostics,” “Events & Communications,” “Outreach,” and “Data & IT.” Still in our to-do list is to improve the organization of the Regional Centers information.
An important new addition to the portal is a new sidebar. Before you sign in using your NPDN login, this sidebar contains only a member login button and a few public announcements. After you sign in, you will find more information specifically of interest to NPDN members. A lot of the work we have done in the past months has been concerned with better organizing the resources useful to the NPDN members.
Once you sign in, you will see a new Member Menu. Resources and information that are of most interest to NPDN members are now organized in this side menu bar. Scrolling down, below this menu, you will find more extensive Network Announcements and Upcoming Events. Most of the announcements emailed by your regional center will also appear there.
Other things you will find in the Member Menu are:
Future work
Stay tuned for more NPDN Web Portal improvements because a whole new website is coming. We will transition to a new platform next year. At any time, you can provide feedback, request changes, or new content by emailing the Online Communication and Web Portal Committee.
Next year, we plan to create more formal guidelines on what will be included as members-only vs public information. Other committees will be consulted on this as needed. We also plan to develop policies for archiving old material to keep the website up to date.
The Online Communications and Web Portal Committee has been hard at work updating the NPDN website and reimagining the newsletter. Our committee consists of the following members: Meg Williamson, chair; Clarissa Balbalian, vice chair; Tania Brenes-Arguedas, champion; Frank Hale; Yonghao Li; Rachel Moore; Keiddy Urrea; and Shouhua Wang.
Our most recent work included reimagining this publication. Because we want the newsletter to include information of all types, we decided to rename it the “NPDN Communicator.” Kudos to Clarissa Balbalian for volunteering to be the newsletter editor! As before, the NPDN Communicator will continue relying on content contributions from the NPDN membership. The main difference is that, as you can see, it is now delivered in html format. A pdf copy will also be archived on the website, as before.
Web Portal changes
According to our Plan of Work, the main focus of the committee this year was to redesign the NPDN Web Portal (https://www.npdn.org/). We aim to improve web content organization, to determine what information should be available to the public vs. members only, and to develop policies to maintain fresh, up-to-date web content. Many changes have already been implemented on the website. Others are still in development. Following is a list of the changes and future plans.
The first change you may find when you open the NPDN Portal, is that home page is shorter, and the pulldown tabs are a little more organized. The first tab, “NPDN,” has broad “who we are” information aimed at the general public and new members. The links in that tab include better explanations and photos, and they aim to be easier to navigate to the find general network information. Other public information is organized under tabs for “Diagnostics,” “Events & Communications,” “Outreach,” and “Data & IT.” Still in our to-do list is to improve the organization of the Regional Centers information.
An important new addition to the portal is a new sidebar. Before you sign in using your NPDN login, this sidebar contains only a member login button and a few public announcements. After you sign in, you will find more information specifically of interest to NPDN members. A lot of the work we have done in the past months has been concerned with better organizing the resources useful to the NPDN members.
Once you sign in, you will see a new Member Menu. Resources and information that are of most interest to NPDN members are now organized in this side menu bar. Scrolling down, below this menu, you will find more extensive Network Announcements and Upcoming Events. Most of the announcements emailed by your regional center will also appear there.
Other things you will find in the Member Menu are:
- The new Event Calendar – Find out when committee meeting, regional meetings, and trainings are scheduled.
- Trainings – We collected existing pages for Beltsville and StarD trainings, webinars, and training videos in one single place. Other professional development information will appear here once more trainings are created or organized.
- Links to the committees – Find a list of committees and see what they are working on.
- Housekeeping links to manage your NPDN account – while you are here, take a minute to update your profile information. Our work plan includes creating a member directory, so having updated contact information will be necessary at some point.
- Lab outreach resources – Did you know you can find all kinds of brochures, guides, and outreach materials that your lab can use freely? We have made them easier for you to find.
- Employment opportunities – The regional centers are asked to forward job announcements all the time. Now, we have made it easier for you to post and browse job opportunities of interest to the diagnostic community. Check out this link and post some jobs.
Future work
Stay tuned for more NPDN Web Portal improvements because a whole new website is coming. We will transition to a new platform next year. At any time, you can provide feedback, request changes, or new content by emailing the Online Communication and Web Portal Committee.
Next year, we plan to create more formal guidelines on what will be included as members-only vs public information. Other committees will be consulted on this as needed. We also plan to develop policies for archiving old material to keep the website up to date.
