12 April 2011

The New ReliefWeb

A newly re-designed ReliefWeb was launched today, its second major overhaul since 2005. In many ways, the site has been streamlined in the sense that there are fewer sections and the content has been integrated to a much greater extent. At the same time, the navigation is much more powerful, allowing users to drill down to very specific information quite quickly.

Users can now locate information by conducting a search, and then refining it by applying such filters as "country," "source," "theme," "content format," "disaster type," "vulnerable groups," "published date," and "language." Customized RSS feeds can also be generated using these filters. For example, I created one for "refugees" (under vulnerable groups) and "analysis" (under content format). Or you can get an RSS feed for an individual country page or disaster. The sections for "jobs" and "trainings" have their own search functions and filters that better match the nature of the information provided.

Another new feature is the companion "Feedback" section, which is effectively a separate site. This is where users can go to ask questions, get help, offer suggestions, and share thoughts - a ReliefWeb community, so to speak.

Try it out!

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