These two weeks since the launch have been a transition period, and we are doing our best to guide you through it. This is happening through the EESC web team’s:

• One-on-one help desk or arranged meetings
• Webinars (next one: June 12, 9:30 – 10:30 am) and their recordings
• How-to videos such as this new 10-minute video on how to search for gardening content

A few quick pieces of information that everyone entering content should know:

• When adding content, it defaults to published. If you want to save it as a “draft” or “for review” in the unpublished state, there is now a drop-down field or checkbox above the Save button.
• Content teams need to add “regional” tags and if relevant “MG ___county” program tags in Step 2 of the edit screen, so information that is unique to one area of Oregon can be narrowed down in search results or, if relevant, show up on Master Gardener county pages.
• Newsletters are currently added differently depending on the group you are in. Content groups add them as “educational documents,” program groups as “program resources,” and counties as “button links” to e-news or Box. We are working on long-term solutions to make adding and displaying newsletters easier and better for everyone. For now, contact us to talk through your newsletter questions and needs, and we’ll help you develop the best short-term approach.
• Archive sites can be found by typing “archive” in front of the old URL, e.g. https://archive.extension.oregonstate.edu/[mycounty]. These will only be available until August 1st, so content needs to be added on the new site or saved in Box by then.
• Photos can be uploaded using the thumbnail image buttons in your edit screen. Be sure to only upload photos that you have permission to use, or photos from EESC’s Photo Archive. Include photos that represent your diverse participants.

We are also making small changes to public views and behind the scenes based on feedback in these initial weeks. Here are updates we are working on over the next few weeks:

• Exporting Extension events into the OSU Events calendar, which will need to require the event description, contact name and contact email address fields (look for this change later in the week)
• Guiding content teams on best ways to complete migration of content before August 1 when the archive sites go away
• Adding regional tags and keywords to the EESC gardening stories and news to improve their findability
• Investigating and working on improving website performance
• Improving and providing more instruction/examples of how to display or order content in auto-populated sections of the website
• Focusing on the overall design to improve usability, readability, and look/feel of the web pages
• Continuing to monitor analytics to learn how audiences are using our new site and content.

Keep sending us your questions or changes that you see needed through our Web Support.