Web site updates - 2004

Information on updates/changes to the BSA Web sites.

December 2004

Spanish-Language Web Site
http://www.scoutingvalelapena.org: Launched a Spanish-language promotional Web site for Scoutreach Division.

LFL Redesign
http://www.learningforlife.org: Redesigned the learning for Life Web site - same content, new skin.

November 2004

Advice for personal and unit Web sites
http://old.scouting.org/webmasters/units.html: These guidelines have been revised and updated to provide a bit more detail.

October 2004

LFL Online Games
http://www.learningforlife.org/games/supersafe
http://www.learningforlife.org/games/LCJH
http://www.learningforlife.org/games/LCSH: These three games, previously released on CD-ROM, were reverse-engineered for the Web.

LFL National Conference
http://www.learningforlife.org/conference: All information about Learning for Life's first annual meeting was pulled from their site the day after the event ended.

Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award
http://old.scouting.org/cubscouts/resources/13-228/index.html: Information about this award has been added to the site.

September 2004

Philmont Training Center
http://old.scouting.org/philmont/ptc/: The course calendar has been updated with dates and courses for 2005.

Venturing Out - Keys to Safe Driving
http://old.scouting.org/safedriving/: This item was removed from the Web site. It was basically just a menu with links to resources on the USDOT Web site - but they removed the resources, so the links broke.

Soccer and Scouting
http://www.soccerandscouting.org: We have inherited the Web site for the "Soccer and Scouting" program. There's a lot of work to be done on this site yet, so avoid making "deep" links to content, as that will be shuffled about when we go through and clean up the site.

August 2004

Learning for Life Server Upgrade
http://www.learningforlife.org: Learning for Life reached the limit of the storage capacity on their Web server. They have been upgraded to a new server with additional capacity. Other than a temporary interruption in service, this should have had no effect on councils.

Youth Protection Training - Spanish version
http://old.scouting.org/pubs/ypts/ypt.jsp: This is planned to be identical to the current YPT module in both content and function - only difference is the language. Some council letters and reporting requirements are still awaiting translation.

July 2004

Web site redesign
old.scouting.org: Uploaded a new design for the scouting.org site. See the project notes for details.

The Scout Zone
http://www.thescoutzone.org: A new site for Boy Scout recruiting - provides videos for boys and parents, plus a "troop locator" that will enable visitors to find troops and teams in their area. Note that the video files will be relocated to our "media" server when time permits.

June 2004

National Scout Jamboree Emergency Preparedness Award
old.scouting.org/jamboree/resources/10-270: Added details and an application form for this award

Year in Review
http://old.scouting.org/media/review/2002.html: Updated to current figures for the end of 2003.

2003 Annual Report
old.scouting.org/media/reports/2003: The 2003 Annual Report has been added to the BSA Web site.

1998 OA Conference
old.scouting.org/boyscouts/oa/98NOAC: This brochure about the 1998 National Order of the Arrow Conference was (finally) removed from the site.

May 2004

Boy Scout Leader Assessment Tool
old.scouting.org/boyscouts/training/start.jsp: This tool is designed to help Boy Scout Leaders assess their strengths and weaknesses in regard to the current Boy Scout leader training courses. Data collected will help those who design and administer these courses to evaluate their effectiveness.

Join Cub Scouting
www.joincubscouting.org: A new site for Cub Scout recruiting - communicates the values of the program to boys, their parents, and potential chartered organizations. Provides a list of "packs in your area", plus contact information for local councils.

Bobcats All
old.scouting.org/cubscouts/resources/13-232.pdf: Program ideas for a pack's first month of den meetings have been posted for councils to link into their sites. A path to this resource is not provided on our own site.

Jamboree Troop Leader Guide
old.scouting.org/jamboree/guidebooks/67-155/index.html: The Jamboree Troop Leader Guide was added to the site.

April 2004

International Highlights
http://old.scouting.org/international/highlights.html: Around 20 "fact sheets" were added to the International Division's section of the site, providing detailed information on various topics.

BSA Sea Base
www.bsaseabase.org: The Sea Base web site was brought in-house. Some reprogramming was required to enable the site to be installed on our server (it was previously developed for Wintel/IIS with Front page extensions), so "deep" links to content within the site may have broken.

Interamerican Scout Foundation
www.interamfoundation.org: Developed a Web site for the Interamerican Scout Foundation - while the BSA provides administrative support (including this Web site) the ISF is a separate organization, not "part of" the BSA.

Media Files Moved
old.scouting.org => media.scouting.org: The files that were copied to the new server in January (see below) were finally deleted from their old location.

Fact Sheets Updated
old.scouting.org/factsheets: All (or at least most) of the Fact Sheets have been updated to reflect current information. The files remain in the same locations as before.

March 2004

In Support of Values
old.scouting.org/media/values: The "In Support of Values" materials were deleted from the site. That marketing campaign has been discontinued.

Jamboree Staff Guide
old.scouting.org/jamboree/guidebooks/67-160/index.html: The Jamboree Staff Guide was added to the site. It was originally added as a PDF to get it online quickly, but it was replaced with the HTML version just a few days later.

Eagle Rank Application
old.scouting.org/boyscouts/eagleproject/58-728.pdf: Updated to latest (2004) version.

February 2004

Sea Base online Registration ENDS
old.scouting.org/seabase: The period for reserving adventures at FSB ended on February 15. For now, the "create account" and "log in" interfaces have been disabled. I expect that Sea Base will want this section of the site shut down soon, with users redirected to their own site at www.bsaseabase.org

Fieldbook Companion Site
www.bsafieldbook.org: Launched a companion site for the Fieldbook

www.bsamuseum.org - Phase 2
www.bsamuseum.org: The National Scouting Museum's Web site was (thoroughly) redesigned, including a lot of added content.

Use of Organization Identity and Program Symbols
old.scouting.org/identity: This guide is provided to help councils, districts, units, and members use trademarks and signature art correctly. It includes files that can be downloaded and used in desktop publishing applications, or even by professional printers.; NOTE: do not link directly to the high-res files (eps/pcx/tif) on this site - since the files are large, it's very likely they'll periodically be moved on short notice (or no notice) to manage our bandwidth usage, renamed or deleted as they are changed or fall into disuse, etc. which will break your links. The guide itself will likely stay in one place, so it's safe to link to the "home" page - only the high-res files are expected to move around.

The Pack's First Three Months
old.scouting.org/cubscouts/resources/13-010: Copies of The Pack's First Three Months in both English and Spanish have been added to the Web server.

January 2004

Media Files Moving
old.scouting.org => media.scouting.org: Some video and audio files are being moved from the primary Web server to a different one. A list of all the files that will be affected is available here.; NOTE: If you link to these files on the BSA Web server, you will need to update your links before March 1, 2004.

Good Turn For America
www.goodturnforamerica.org: This site has been fleshed out with additional content. Existing links should not break.

Sea Base online Registration
old.scouting.org/seabase: Developed an application to assist leaders in making their reservations for Florida Sea Base's 2005 programs.; NOTE: This is a temporary site, and will go offline on February 15. It is not recommended that you link to this from your council site.

Local Tour Permit Application Assistant
old.scouting.org/forms/ltp: Launched an online "assistant" that is designed to help unit leaders complete the Local Tour Permit Application. The program checks for completion and provides policy information to help decrease the chance the application will be rejected. The PDF version of this form remains online.

DNS Movement
old.scouting.org: The Domain Name Service for scouting.org was moved from one ISP to another. We'd hoped to do this in December, but experienced some unexpected delays, so the actual transfer did not take effect until mid-January.; This change should not have any long term side effects, nor should it require any action on the part of council Webmasters - but the site may have been temporarily unavailable during the transition.