Web site changes

The web site is going through regular changes now so here is a column to keep you up to date.

General Changes

• New Style - faster and smaller CSS and Javascript
• A prettier style - still working on this

There are some known problems with the fonts that will be fixed soon.

Google Maps

Google have made their maps available freely for us to integrate into our web sites. You can visit Benalla Getting There and Lilydale Getting There to see an example of an embedded map.

Try dragging the map around the screen and using the zoom buttons. Now try typing your address in the "search the map" box near the bottom, and press enter. Once you find your house, try the "Get Directions" link.

The maps are even more powerful. Have a look at GCV Competition Waypoints to get a look at how I am using a waypoint file interactively within a map. This is only an early version, it will be a full waypoint editor. Try the Satellite and Hybrid views on this map. Click on the little balloons to see names.

Weather

This year we will be looking at publishing the real live weather data from Benalla on our site. For now, I have put the current weather and prediction courtesy of 'weather zone' on our front page.

Wiki

The GCV website now has a wiki. What's a wiki? Basically, it is a web site that you can edit any time. That's right, anyone can edit it, any time. In our case we have restricted reading and writing to members only.

Why do we have a wiki? There is a wealth of information out there with our members. This is your way to share that information. We are always updating documentaiton and we want an up to date version. The problem is that this doesn't happen very often without regular input. Regular input is usually difficult as we are all busy and management of those files becomes tricky.

A wiki is different because it allows anyone to make a small change in a short amount of time. You just click "Edit" at the bottom of a page, type in your changes (maybe just fixing a spelling mistake), and click "Save". Your change is now done, live, published, backed up - all in a couple of clicks.

I encourage you to review some of the starting content I have put up, and to start contributing changes. Don't be afraid to jump right in there! You can always see what has changed and undo any mistakes by simply clicking the "Revisions" button at the bottom of each page.

Join the new age of the Internet and Web 2.0 and try out our wiki. You can find it under the Member's Area menu.

Scott Penrose