Scout.org has recently undergone a facelift. In order to better serve its members and affiliates and increase the visitors user experience, the Communications and IT development teams at the World Scout Bureau have been working on adding more functionalities and visibility to the website.

Being present on some popular social networking and content sharing sites, as well as incorporating web 2.0 technologies are a few examples of the many ways in which World Scouting adapts to the ever changing technology environment and continues to serve its evolving members.

Marking our 10'000th fan milestone on WOSM's official facebook page only 3 and a half months after its opening (12/10/2009), it is a good moment to recap where World Scouting has spread its presence on the web and the changes Scout.org has undergone.

Social networking and content sharing bar:

As social networking services and communities continue to grow, WOSM also acknowledges the opportunities that social networking and content sharing websites have to offer. In that respect WOSM offers you the possibility of connecting with others on 2 main social networking platforms and 4 content sharing websites which are:

Facebook: Facebook is a global social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Within Facebook WOSM has an official page and 4 groups dedicated to World Scouting programmes and events. On the various groups, Scouts can connect interact and discuss issues.

Join us and over 10'000 other scouts on Facebook at the following address: http://bit.ly/facebook_WOSM

Issuu: Issuu is the leading digital publishing platform delivering exceptional reading experiences of magazines, books, catalogues, reports, and more. In just a few seconds users can create beautiful digital editions simply by uploading their publications. It allows individuals, companies, and institutions to publish their documents across all digital platforms. World Scouting has now more than 20 publications in 2 languages fully and freely readable on Issuu.

You can start reading them here: http://bit.ly/issuu_WOSM

Youtube: YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips. World Scouting is also present on YouTube showcasing videos made by scouts around the world but also official videos from the World Scout Bureau.

You can watch them at this adress: http://bit.ly/youtube_WOSM

Flickr: Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application. On Flickr, Scouts around the world can have access to photos and galleries in high resolution from events in the Scouting arena. There is still a limited number of pictures however as traditionally most pictures have been hosted on the scout.org galleries. More pictures will be made available in the future.

Find Scouting's photos on Flickr at the following address: http://bit.ly/flickr_WOSM

Twitter: Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external application. You can follow World Scouting News on twitter which is linked to all News published on Scout.org (Global and Regional).

Follow World Scouting at the following address: http://bit.ly/twitter_WOSM

Google Maps: Google Maps is the famous application by Google that allows you to visualize the world right from your desktop. We have made specifics Google maps which shows the locations of past World Scouting events, upcoming events and even historic sites. You may, as well discover the location of the SCENES centres and the Scout of the World Bases.

Open World Scouting maps here : http://bit.ly/maps_WOSM

Blogs:

Due to the recent tragedy in Haiti, World Scouting has been, ever more, intent on sharing as much information as it can about Scout action in Haiti. In support of fellow Scouts in Haiti a special mission assisted by the Scouts et Guides de France set out to get a first hand assessment on the immediate needs of the population and what World Scouting can contribute to the relief efforts. To facilitate the distribution of information to a greater audience, the World Scout Bureau has opened a special blog focusing entirely on international scout aid directed to Haiti. This blog is accessible from the World Scouting homepage. The blog posts will allow you to follow the progress of the Haitian Scout support and to share the information with all those who wish to contribute to the efforts of the Movement. Future blogs will serve as an up-to-date information source on particular events and stories.

To follow the blogs please visit: scout.org/blogs

Library:

The WSB has been working on the project of an online library. In effect the library permits the Bureau to make available all of its documentation and publications directly from the website. In this section you will find the latest documents, materials, toolboxes and books provided by the Scout Movement. The library is fully searchable and the publications are organized into thematic areas such as Adult resources, Communication, Skills and Activities, Age range and many more. The library is accessible through links on the original left-hand column So far only a limited amount of documents are available in the library but expect its size to grow as the uploading process continues and is extended to World Scouting Regional Offices and National Scouts Organizations. An invitation goes out to NSOs to nourish the content of the library.

To visit the library please follow this link : scout.org/library

NSOs willing to see their publications added to the library can contact : library@scout.org .

Sharing bar:

In the same vein as the Social networking bar, it is now possible to link articles from the website directly to your profiles and websites. A new plug-in has been added to the site and is available on every page. It allows you in a few clicks to add your favorite articles to your profiles and share it with your friends and the larger community of Scouts worldwide. Popular sites such as: Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious and MySpace are amongst the over 153 ways you can share with your communities.

As you can see a lot of work has been put into redesigning how information is made available on the website. We sincerely hope that these new additions and improvements will create a much better and engaging experience on scout.org.