Although the Northwest District has had a website for the last few years, this current version is only a few days old. The change was both structural and cosmetic: the previous site was a hybrid of Wordpress, a blogging platform, and phpBB, a forum board platform. Both of these are well-known and widely used throughout the internet, however, very few local scouters used the site and all of its many features.

Structurally speaking, the new site also uses Wordpress, but this time in its Multi-user format, called Wordpress MU. This could allow for the future creation of hundreds (if not thousands) of separate blogs that run off the central site. Many people are now using Wordpress MU to create social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook through a special upgrade called “BuddyPress”. Regardless of its varied potential, the Northwest District’s website’s main objective will focus on providing up-to-date information for our communities, both on the inside and outside of Scouting.

There is no need to create a user account. Anyone can reply to what they read using the comments form at the bottom of pages or posts (if available). You will have to enter your name and email address though.

Several cosmetic changes were also made, and tutorials for including your units’ photos, video and other contributions will be added in the near future. A copy of the most current monthly newsletter will always be available on the home page, along with a Twitter feed direct from BSA National. Although they are still being developed, other sections of the home page will include a monthly poll (or polls) and the most current News posts, such as this one.

Much more is sure to follow, including a more comprehensive Archives page with listings of documents, forms and other tools, as well as news from Scouting sources found throughout the web. As mentioned above, a library of tutorials on our Training page will help people who want to contribute to the ongoing improvement of this site, or who want more details about selling popcorn, filling out tour permits, or rechartering their units.

Other features can be added to this site as dictated by demand, such as forum message boards, live chats rooms, or databases to handle unit registration and training. For now though, please check back regularly for updates.