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The CommunityNet Aotearoa monthly newsletter.
"News and views on community networking throughout Aotearoa."
We would greatly appreciate it if you could spend a few minutes to take part in this survey. Your responses will help us set future priorities for the website.
This year we are using an online survey tool called Survey Monkey to gain feedback from users of www.community.net.nz.
www.community.net.nz
We want to
There are 17 questions in all. Questions 1 - 9 are about the CommunityNet Aotearoa (www.community.net.nz) website. The others are about the Panui and general information.
A summary of the survey results will be made available to you after the survey closes on the 16th of March 2007.
Please pass this survey information around your networks and mailing lists. The more responses we receive the better we can make CommunityNet Aotearoa.
Access the survey at www.surveymk.com/s.asp?u=799193207916.
We are pleased to announce the appointment of a new community member to the CommunityNet Advisory Group: Karaitiana Taiuru of Kai Tahu and the NZ Maori Internet Society, Christchurch. Karaitiana brings a breadth of knowledge and representation to the Advisory Group, ensuring the group continues to be strong and balanced. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/karaitiana-taiuru-joins-cna.htm.
There will be one new General electoral district in the North Island, but no change in the number of Maori electoral districts. The average size of electoral districts will be 57,562 people for the South Island, 57,243 people for the North Island, and 59,583 people for Maori electoral districts. To ensure all seats are within 5 percent of these totals, at least half of the electoral district boundaries will need to be redrawn. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/election-seat-changes.htm.
The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust is now urging members of the Chinese community to apply for funding. There is limited time to apply to this funding round, which closes 28 February 2007. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/chinese-poll-tax-heritage-trust.htm.
Environmental and conservation focused projects can now apply to receive funding through the Pacific Development and Conservation Trust. Applications close 1 March 2007. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/rainbow-warrior-funds.htm.
Do you, or a group that you're involved with, have something to say to the people of New Zealand? If you're actively involved with an issue - be it social, sexual, political, family or whatever - a door is about to open again on TV3 Network Television. Morningside Productions Ltd. are still looking for applications for the Open Door documentary series 8. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/open-door-2007-documentaries.htm.
On 1 February 2007, the Charities Commission opened the Charities Register to receive applications for registration under the Charities Act 2005. While registration with the Charities Commission is voluntary, charities that want to retain their income tax and gift duty exemptions will need to register before the tax laws change on 1 July 2008. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/2007-important-for-charities.htm.
Aspiring youth politicians have an opportunity to make their contribution to the future of Hutt City at a HCC consultation meeting. The Council wants to attract not only the city's next generation, but people from ethnic groups and from all of the suburbs of the city. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/hcc-community-plan.htm.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the UN General Assembly - is the first core human rights treaty of the 21st century and represents an important legal instrument prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life, and includes specific provisions related to rehabilitation, education, health and access to information, public facilities and services. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/un-disability-convention.htm.
The centre for gambling studies at the University of Auckland is keen to recruit individuals who are concerned about their gambling, particularly pokies. In return for your participation in this study, you will receive information and skills to control your spending, together with professional support at no extra cost. Confidentiality and anonymity are assured. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/gambling-study.htm.
Latest community news, events, jobs and ads are online at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news.
Make a Child Smile is dedicated to sick or deserving children in NZ who need a smile - people can send cards or letters of support to the child and their family. It takes one joy to lift a spirit! www.makeachildsmile.co.nz.
The Community Sector Taskforce is an independent body of ten community representatives. It was established in 2003 to continue the work developed by the joint community sector and government working parties (2000 - 2002) to develop the relationship between government and the sector. Current projects (2006/7) include the development of a research centre for the sector, building relationships with local government, and convening a national forum for the community and voluntary sector. www.nzfvwo.org.nz/cst.
This Australian e-strategy guide website is designed to help your non-profit organisation create its own useful presence on the web and make the most of ICT (information and communications technology). www.e-strategyguide.gov.au.
The Learning For Sustainability website is for government agency staff, NGOs and other community leaders working to support multi-stakeholder learning processes to guide sustainable development activities. Topics include capacity building, networking, dialogue and evaluation. A separate section links to key manuals and guides on the Internet for facilitating participation and engagement. learningforsustainability.net.
A charitable organisation providing community health care, offering an extensive range of services designed to support you and your family / whanau to help you get the best out of life and living. www.nursemaude.org.nz.
Barrier Free New Zealand Trust facilitates and encourages solutions for the provision of Universal Access to buildings for all people - to ensure that New Zealand is recognised both nationally and internationally as being at the forefront of Universal Access. www.barrierfreenz.org.nz.
This community and business website includes information on community groups, local news and events, jobs, and services; and accommodation, activities and dining options when visiting the Tongariro National Park, Whanganui National Park and surrounding district. www.nationalpark.co.nz.
A vision of unity, that allows our diversity within all cultures. A Christian Church for the gay, lesbian, transgender, takataapui, fa'afafine, bisexual and heterosexual communities. While we are a Christian Church who follow Jesus, we respect those of other faith traditions and work together with them to free all those who are oppressed by hate, disregard and violence. www.mccauckland.org.nz.
The Magdalena Aotearoa Trust is a network of women in contemporary performance. We support and promote the work of women in theatre though our web site, newsletter and activities including workshops, meetings, and festivals. magdalena.actrix.co.nz.
You'll find these and more links at: www.community.net.nz/links.
These Events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/events.
These Training events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/training.
The most widely used web browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), has recently been updated to version 7. It adds features long offered by other browsers, such as Tabs, an RSS feed reader, instant search, and improved security: www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/about.
To run IE 7 your computer must at least use Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Detailed requirements are listed at Microsoft's website.
When people first see tabbed browsing they're likely to wonder what the point is and why everyone gets so excited about it. Once they've used it for a few hours though, they're converts.
Suppose you search Google for something and it returns a page of results. In the old days you could right-click on interesting results and choose to open them into new windows. Then you'd have maybe half a dozen windows open on screen, each displaying a different website. The Task Bar would overflow, and you'd have trouble switching around between one window and the next.
The advantage was that you could retain the list of search results, and after viewing a site you could simply close that window to bring the results window back in focus.
Tabbed browsing uses only a single window, but allows you to open each link into a new tab, temporarily hidden behind the one you're viewing. It's easy to switch around between the tabs as the title of each page is listed in a special toolbar-like arrangement at the top of the window contents.
IE 7 introduces an interesting feature: click the Quick Tabs button (Control Q) to see thumbnail images of all open tabs displayed on one screen. Click on a thumbnail to visit that page. See it in action at www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie7/tour/fre/tabs.
In a recent informal survey of favourite web browser features almost everyone voted Tabs as Number One.
If you don't have IE 7, or can't run it, try out tabs in Opera or Firefox (or Mac users try Safari). These browsers have been using tabs for years.
To search Google do you first load up the Google page, then click in the Search box and then press Enter? Now you can save several steps, because a search box is built right into the IE 7 toolbar, just as in other browsers.
Click in the IE 7 Search box, enter your query and press Enter. You're taken straight to a page of search results. It's very convenient, and once you've used it a few times you'll wonder why searching used to take so long.
RSS feeds have really taken off in popularity since browser makers started including feed readers within the browser. Now users of IE 7 can join in on the trend.
Go to the special CommunityNet Aotearoa RSS feed address with IE 7: http://lists.community.net.nz/cna/wp-rss2.php.
and you'll see a very different style of web page. You can sort items by date or title, filter by category, and view all items or only new items. At the top of the page you should see a box with a yellow background. In that box is helpful information and a link to Subscribe to the feed.
To view all your subscribed RSS feeds click on the yellow star below the File menu and choose the feed to view.
Internet Explorer 7 brings many more features and improvements. To learn about them all visit the page listed at the start of this Tip.
[February 2007] It's 2007 in the real world. What year is your website or email newsletter in?
There's plenty to think about at the start of a new year — getting a programme together, arranging meetings, publicity and trainings. Don't forget the dates. Many websites, email newsletters and other materials include dates — copyright dates, the date when the material was last reviewed or revised, dates for upcoming events.
Now that 2007 has begun you need to check to see if you should update anything in your newsletters and other regular and irregular electronic publications.
Look carefully at your newsletter template (including headers, footers, signatures and copyright statements). Is there a date you should refresh? How about archives? Have you created a new 'year' for 2006 materials? The start of a new year is a time to have a good look around.
Many websites include a 'last updated' date on some or all pages. This can be quite a good idea as it allows a visitor to get an idea of the currency of the information. It can also backfire though, if you're not careful.
Some information may be quite long lasting. For example, a page advocating eating fruit and vegetables and taking moderate exercise in the interests of remaining healthy is unlikely to need updating very often. On the other hand, a page of news about advances in health research may be updated several times a day.
When a visitor sees "Last updated June 2001", though, they become wary, even where information may be long-lasting: Hmmm, 6 years ago fruit and vegies were advocated. I wonder if it's still the best way to go?
Last updated June 2001
Hmmm, 6 years ago fruit and vegies were advocated. I wonder if it's still the best way to go?
For that reason it may be better to use the words: 'Last reviewed' (and to ensure you review all pages at least every couple of years).
Sorry, but the June 2006 meeting isn't 'coming soon' — it's been and gone. Check your News, Events, Meetings, Publications and Home Pages for those embarrassing out-of-dates. Leaving them around for long just makes your organisation look slack and disorganised. Visitors lose trust in an obviously out-of-date website.
These kinds of housekeeping are good jobs for cyber volunteers: people who cannot or don't want to attend meetings, but who are willing to put in an hour or two a month, from home, using the Internet.
For more information about online volunteering look at www.community.net.nz/how-toguides/volunteering/casestudies/5-minute-volunteer.htm and www.community.net.nz/how-toguides/it/news/virtual-volunteer.htm.
Past Website tips are all available on CommunityNet Aotearoa.
In January 2007 there were 24,317 visits (December: 20,586).
Last month, 44 new community items were published:
Send in your free community advertisement at: www.community.net.nz/about/submit.
There were 5,242 files downloaded (December: 4,728). The most popular file download was Organisational Structures: 296 downloads.
Find CommunityNet statistics at: www.community.net.nz/about/website/statistics.htm.
Remember: please forward the complete Panui to others who'll find it useful.
Miraz Jordan, Webmaestro.
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You are welcome to reproduce material, provided you acknowledge the source, like this:
"Reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, February 2007, www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/panui ".
Panui and CommunityNet Aotearoa are guided by an Advisory Group drawn from community organisations and are published by Department of Internal Affairs, PO Box 805, Wellington. Phone: 04 4957200. Email: information@community.net.nz.
While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information in this publication, the publishers accept no liability for any errors and omissions. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors, not the publishers.