Last night American Whitewater released the latest and greatest version of American Whitewater’s website. Just so you don’t miss any of the cool new features, we outline them here for you!
Here are some new features that you might find interesting:
River Networking Tool: By clicking the star next to your favorite rivers it lets AW staff and volunteers, river managers, and partners know that you have personal experience with those rivers – and that you are interested in projects relating to them. We’ll use this tool to reach out to volunteers, and agencies who will use it to solicit information from paddlers. Please use the networking tool to represent the rivers you care about! American Whitewater would like to thank
River and Photo Commenting: Web users were always able to submit comments on a river reach, but they were buried at the bottom of the page and it was easy to miss comments on new hazards. In response to user feedback we have set up a system that allows you to post an alert on issues like new wood hazards that appears at the top of a river page and will remain for one year. Comments can now be categorized as abuse, hazard warning, or normal.
Updates to the Journal Page: All of the American Whitewater journals are located on one page and you can easily find information on how to submit an article or advertise in the magazine as well. Browse current issues or check out a bit of history at: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Journal_archive_
Simplified Donation Page: Now giving is even easier. American Whitewater has improved its donation page so you can support our work, faster, easier, and simpler. To make a donation go to: http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Participate_view_
Google Earth integration: Ever wanted to see what is running in your state, now AW’s flow pages work in Google Earth so you can see exactly what is running in your area. Look for XML links on state pages and river pages and be sure you have Google Earth on your computer. Thank you to Alex Zendell for contributing the code and documentation for this tool.
Topo maps and Aerial Photos on River pages: Topo maps are great to bring with you on your paddling adventures and they are now providing for free on the AW website. Use them to check your gradient, plan a trip, or bring them along. Just click on the “Map” tab for a topo map or aerial photo complete with put-ins and take outs! You can help us by confirming the accuracy of access points.
Expanded weather on River Pages: Now weather information on every whitewater run is conveniently located in the “Weather” tab of the river pages. See current radar and a five day forecast all with just one click.
Rapid location data entry: American Whitewater is launching an initiative to log rapid locations on the AW website with GPS coordinates. Local member Eric Petlock secured a grant from Butte Fire Safe Council to launch this project for the benefit of local search and rescue personnel. We are now rolling these tools out nationally for the benefit of the whitewater community and encourage you to help us collect the information. Waypoints should be collected in WGS84 and confirmed against aerial photos.
Do you have comments or suggestions? Most of our ideas for improvements to the website come from our members and volunteers and we listen to all suggestions. Please keep in mind that we have very limited staff capacity for our website and we also depend on volunteers. Join the discussion on the AW StreamTeam forum to share your ideas and feedback.