September 28, 2004

NEW DATABASE, NEW MAILER, NEW FEATURES, NEW LOOK

We've been building up a collection of ideas and fixes and better strategies for the Update and now, like a punctuated equilibrium in evolution, the changes all burst through at once. Welcome to the revamped Housing Works AIDS Issues Update. I want to give you a sense of what's happened. But before even that, I want to make one thing crystal clear: The Update will be driven by the same deep knowledge of the workings of lawmaking and the same in-your-face activist-driven reporting that has always made it indispensable reading for AIDS activists and decision makers across the country.

First is most obvious: The relatively static, nearly plain text newsletter in your inbox is now a starting point for interaction. Read the blurbs, and if an article interests you, click the link and you're on the website with the full story. Want to make a comment about the article or its subject, for other Update readers to see? Go ahead.

Reading an article about Sheldon Silver and wondering what other Update articles have mentioned him? From the HTML version of the newsletter or the web site, type Silver into the search box, click the Search button and bam, there are all the Update articles that have mentioned him, most recent first.

The newsletter is now just one way of looking at the information. Ultimately there is a database of articles on the website, indexed both by date and by category (city/state/federal) and fully searchable.

We'll be rolling out other cool features in the coming weeks.

Now, there are a few items that are still in the works, that will not keep us from launching but which I want to let you know we're working on:

The never-ending process of maintaining browser compatibility, often fed by Microsoft's dirty tricks, continues, but we have to do it. Up to a point.

Between browser differences and standards in flux, deciding how to handle text style and page layout information is a challenge. The battle is joined, but ongoing.

So, please forgive the dust and font shavings in the air as we put on the finishing touches. If something isn't working right, let me know.

---phil

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Phil Fox Rose, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

Go to http://www.hwupdate.org/update/subscribe_update.html to subscribe.