About the Web site

Welcome to the new-look FEATS Web site, launched in July 2009

Out with the blue and yellow, in with flashy magenta and black. The new FEATS Web site is designed to catch the eye. And the changes are not only cosmetic. The whole site has been restructured, and is now based on a content-management system (CMS), which makes it easier to administer and, in the future, restyle if required.

A couple of things have not yet been fully implemented on the new site.

Firstly, the detailed record of FEATS gone by is missing – although the archive is here, with downloadable versions of the programmes for every year, plus other memorabilia. For the record of award-winners, however, the information is being transferred to a database, which should make it easy not only to find the prize-winners for any given year, but also to carry out searches using multiple criteria such as How many times have plays by Tom Stoppard won first prize. I hope it won’t be long before this is up and running. In the meantime, the archive contains for each year the relevant page from the FEATS Fact Book as a PDF file.

Secondly, the What’s on calendar on the home page is slightly less informative than previously. Duplicating information already available on groups’ Web sites seems pointless, not to mention time-consuming to keep up; so the listing has been simplified to give only dates, locations, and a link to the groups’ own pages for more information. In fact, it has proved difficult to find a calendar/event program with sufficient flexibility for our needs, but I’ll keep trying. (Suggestions are welcome, by the way.)

So now it’s over to you. The new site offers lots of options that can be added without too much effort. What would FEATS-ers like to see on these pages? A discussion forum? The possibility for other users to add news items? Commenting on articles? If you have any thoughts, feel free to air them, either by using the contact form or via the FEATS Facebook group.

Your feedback is welcome.

David Crowe
FEATS Webmaster
July 2009