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Today we are soft-launching the new Best Bits website at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://bestbits.net">http://bestbits.net</a>. Big thanks to Deborah from Access, Lea from
Global Partners and others who have been working on this with me!<br>
<br>
Here are some of the major new features (so far):<br>
<ul>
<li>An event calendar at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://bestbits.net/events/">http://bestbits.net/events/</a>. New events
can be added directly to this calendar, but we also subscribe to
(currently six) calendars from other groups like Access, Fight
for the Future and the Internet Governance Project. Events
automatically imported from those calendars can be revealed by
selecting "Events from other calendars" from the "Categories"
drop-down menu.</li>
<li>A fully-functional events calendar can also be embedded in
other websites, in a number of different formats. You can also
choose to embed or subscribe to just certain categories of
events - for example, just IGF and ICANN events. Let me know if
you want more information about this great feature!</li>
<li>We are officially abolishing the hierarchy between "Lead
organisers" and "Other supporting organisations" that used to be
shown on the website. Any civil society organisation that has
participated in the Best Bits network can now have their logo
displayed as an organiser/supporter. So please email me your
logo, or a link to it, if you would like yours added.</li>
<li>Whereas previously the website was designed to highlight a
single event, there are now multiple event pages available from
a drop-down menu on the right of every page. Having said that,
there are still some changes to be made (such as removal of the
countdown ticker from the top right corner).</li>
<li>We now have a Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus account! The
Twitter account is _BestBits (with a leading underscore). The
Facebook page is <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.facebook.com/bestbits.net">https://www.facebook.com/bestbits.net</a> (events
from the calendar can be published to Facebook automatically,
though we haven't done that yet). The Google Plus community is
at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://plus.google.com/communities/104087848331196964155">https://plus.google.com/communities/104087848331196964155</a>.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<p>There are still some features to be added (many of these are due
to constructive comments received):<br>
</p>
<ul>
<li>It will be possible to RSVP for events, so that you can see
who else is planning to cover an event, such as the WTPF, for
example. Funding options will also be shown.*<br>
</li>
<li>Events in the calendar will soon be able to be linked to
dedicated pages elsewhere on the site (eg. with a statement,
full agenda, etc).*</li>
<li>It will be possible to upload briefing documents for any
event, and reports following from any event, and for these to be
listed alongside the event and on the front page.*</li>
<li>We will be adding some background information pages for each
institution (eg. ITU, ICANN, IGF) and for each issue area (eg.
human rights, standards).<br>
</li>
<li>We want a brighter, friendlier looking background for the
page, and to redo the theme for the calendar page, with a
clearer division between months.</li>
<li>There are some other bugs with the calendar; mainly, you can't
set your timezone when viewing or adding events, which may mean
times are represented wrongly.<br>
</li>
<li>We need to find some 400x400 icons for events that fall into
the categories of "non-institutional forums" and "events from
other calendars".</li>
</ul>
<p>* For now, you can just add comments on the event to approximate
for this functionality.<br>
</p>
<p>Any volunteers who would like to help us work on the site are
more than welcome, no matter whether or not you are technically
skilled or have an eye for design - we can easily find something
for you to do, such as helping add details to events. We are soon
going to be establishing a loose, geographically-inclusive
steering committee for Best Bits, and part of its work will be to
establish a roster for such ongoing work.<br>
</p>
<p>I hope you like the new website and look forward to receiving
your comments!<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<p style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black"><b>Dr Jeremy Malcolm<br>
Senior Policy Officer<br>
Consumers International | the global campaigning voice for
consumers</b><br>
Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East<br>
Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia<br>
Tel: +60 3 7726 1599</p>
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