MacDill’s website is upgraded

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Katherine Holt
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MacDill AFB, Fla. --  Team MacDill has a new look for the base's official web site.

The redesigned site features a larger layout, larger photos, new technology and less clutter. It offers users new content types with the inclusion of slideshows, new video capability, blog-like commenting on content and improved search capability.

"The new MacDill online website is similar in features and style to those of national news outlets and designed to let our audience easily find whatever it is they are looking for from photos or video of a base event to the number for base lodging," said 1st Lt. Rebecca Heyse, chief of Public Affairs.

The new Web site is part of a larger Air Force-wide change under the Air Force Public Web Program. The new Web site features improved security, reduced redundancy, increased performance and standardized site appearance across the 315 sites in the program. AF.mil was the first to roll out with the new design, with the remainder of the Air Force's sites migrating to the new format before the end of 2009.

According to Mike Carabajal, AF.mil webmaster, a main priority of the redesign was to re-evaluate the information on the Web site and 'trim the fat' to keep the design clear of clutter while offering more to users.

The most visible changes of the redesign are the white space and the reduced links and tabs. The site still showcases the same links as the old site. The new web site also allows users to subscribe to really simple syndication feeds, also known as RSS feeds.

MacDill AFB News and information is available through RSS feeds, which use a technology called XML to deliver headlines and summaries to your desktop or Web browser. RSS feeds will automatically update with the latest content at set intervals so that you do not have to visit the website to check for the latest news.

"We have same amazingly talented Airmen working in Public Affairs that do a great job covering events around the base," said Lt. Heyse. "I hope everyone will take some time to log onto the website and check out what's going on around base. If you have any suggestions or ideas for something else you'd like to see just let us know. This is the base population's website, we're just the facilitators!"

Additional reporting by Staff Sgt. Vanessa Young, Defense Media Activity-San Antonio