These errors should be vanishing from national park websites as the Park Service staff works on implementing changes in advance of the agency's centennial.
While the 100th birthday of the National Park Service won't officially arrive until August 25, 2016, it's not too early to work on improving the agency's many park websites. And the agency's webmeisters are doing just that.
"As we prepare for the centennial, there will be several improvements made to NPS.gov," Park Service spokesman Jeff Olson said. "These improvements include a reorganization of content, responsive design for mobile devices, and a new look and feel for the site."
And while there are many times these days when you might run into a "Requested Page Not Found (404)," staff are trying to root all those out and present a more enjoyable web experience for visitors.
"Parks are taking the time leading up to the centennial to make content improvements. Web authors are being offered training on how to perform content inventories, evaluate online content, and create content strategies for their public websites," Mr. Olson said.
"There are minimum content requirements for park websites'and most provide far more than that minimum. The content strategies parks create in the coming months will help guide decisions about their online offerings and how they can best use limited resources to make improvements to those offerings by 2016."
Comments
I guess it doesn't matter if you think it's not your money and there is a never ending supply of it. Based on the above comments, seems that people are using the NPS websites just fine. I never had any issues, think current design is modern and attractive.
Agree Owen, and thinking of the J Thomas post, one of the duties when I was a buck ranger and assigned to the late night shifts, usually went to the single persons, I remember stuffing some of those envelopes. The park had a very strict rule, all correspondence answered in 10 days. But ranger and naturalist duties were much less crowed in the 60s.
Quit being such a backwards crony, Beach. Your screams tell me that you're stuck far in the past. Social media can make money and can bring people into the parks. Sorry that your stuck so far in the past, you can't see the value in it.
I manage digital media, and some of our posts and information can be seen by millions of people within a few days time. You can either evolve, or devolve. Obviously, some of the archie bunker cronies that constantly harp on here seem to want to take us back to the 50s before the age of the internet.. but that's no longer reality. Isn't it ironic, that some that lament about this are the same people using the "internets" to post their 'anti-park' screeds. And yes, posting up-to-date information can have an effect on visitation for those connected.
Gary, maybe I missed the part about social media in the article but I read it as a website redesign and nothing about social media(Twitter,Facebook,etc.).
I read the part that said "Responsive design for mobile devices". Which will enable visitors to access up-to-date information on the park, in the case they are on vacation don't have a computer, but have their smart phones with them. It's another layer of media consumption for the visitor, beyond just FB, and twitter.
Gary, I'll take being stuck in the past. If so-called smart phones are America's future, then why are the people using them doing such dumb things? You walk into a restaurant and everyone is texting. You drive down the street. Everyone is texting, too. Bam! Didn't see that pedestrian. Bam! No one saw me in the crosswalk, either. You want that in your national parks? Sorry, but I don't.
In every park, there is a wonderful thing called the visitor center. Stop and talk to the good folks behind the desk. Then buy yourself a book or two and read them after dinner. At dinner, talk to your wife. If she wants to text, find another wife. My cell phone is so old my wife is laughing at me. But at least she knows I exist.
These days, dinner out might cost $100, and still no one can remember the food. The "lovers" were both on their "smart" phones making love to someone else. Same with the national parks. Did anyone really "see" the place, or were they too busy texting it home?
You think we old folks are way out of date, but we, as Edward Abbey emphasized, can still remember the country when it was young. We had none of this crap and didn't miss it, either. I typed both of my first books on a Royal manual typewriter, and guess what, both came out just fine. Machines don't think. Just because some marketing Wizard calls them "smart" doesn't mean the user is any smarter.
We're only faster. We're not any smarter. And if speed kills on the highway, imagine what it is doing to our national parks.
I am in Casa Grande, AZ right now, trying to figure out where next to go. So I go to the NPS website, and find Organ Pipe National Monument. I browse their website, make sure they have a campground, check out what they recommend for hikes and drives in the area. I downloaded the Park Newsletter, checked out if there is gas or food available (there isn't so I need to hit the grocery store), and looked at the weather for the next few days.
It is great when all that information is available to me before I drive 120 miles to get there. The internet, and the websites, aren't just useful when in the park - they are great to make plans to get to the park.
Because of the websites, I was able to make reservations for Yosemite in April from Washington, DC in November. I know what to expect when I get there, including a camping space in which I will fit.
Everything on the web I access is through a smart phone. Any improvement in that access is wonderful.