==================
  ** NISS Advisor ** Contents * StudentZone updates
 ====================
      Issue 141
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  17th September 1999
             
 ====================================== Information about NISS Services ==


** StudentZone - better than ever!
   -------------------------------

Start the new term with the updated version of NISS's website for
students, at http://www.studentzone.org.uk/

It wasn't easy for our StudentZone Editor to drag himself back from
quixotic trips to Europe during the summer, but he finally succeeded and
reports here on recent work by NISS's student-oriented team ...

StudentZone has gone through some significant changes over the summer
months. Key features are:

  * no more frames (easier bookmarking)
  * new menu system
  * new introductory pages

The use of frames on the site had been found to be restrictive for
some browsers, and caused problems when users tried to link to
StudentZone from other sites or keep bookmarks for particular pages.
However, positive feedback from the student community about the site's
navigation menus suggested this feature was valued and should be
retained. With both principles in mind, StudentZone has now been fully
redesigned. It has kept the same visual appearance, but is now based on
individual pages, with the ability to link to every page in the site.

Extra functionality has been added to the left-hand subject menu,
and you can now open and close each subject area with just a single
mouse click. New introductory pages for each subject have let us
build in additional descriptions of the service we provide, and will help
students find quickly the information they are looking for. These pages
also provide opportunities for sponsorship of the subject areas, and we
would welcome enquiries (to [log in to unmask]) about
possibilities for this type of investment into the site.

The StudentZone Noticeboard has also been redesigned using new software,
paving the way for new areas of student discussion and input into the
site. The broad range of facilities available with the software means the
Noticeboard will be of greater value, with message threading for example.
It has also allowed us to change the previous default setting whereby
the sender's email address was automatically included when messages were
displayed. Whilst students can now choose to add their contact details
into the message text if they wish, their email address as recorded on the
system's input form will only be used by us, if necessary, for direct
contact with the sender over administrative matters.

Finally, the whole site has been checked with the aim of enhancing levels
of consistency in each section, and has also had new links added. The
ongoing battle against links which suddenly change or become out-of-date
will continue, but we start the new term confident that all sections now
contain distinctive and useful links to valid web pages.

We have recently sent out a mailing of StudentZone posters to UK Higher
Education and Further Education Institutions, ready for the new term.
Extra posters are available on request (email your requests to
[log in to unmask] please), but since there is a big demand
already, please get in touch with us soon to avoid being disappointed.

Future plans for StudentZone? During the remaining months of 1999 we will
be focusing particularly on improving our Academic section, and we are
currently investigating possibilities for the launch of StudentZone's
first online discussion.

 
       -------------------------------------------------------------
       | enquiries about NISS services should be made to |
       | |
       | [log in to unmask] Tel: 01225-826036 |
       | |
       | or via the 'Contact us' button on NISS Website pages |
       -------------------------------------------------------------
 
Unless otherwise indicated, information and services mentioned above can be
accessed via the NISS WWW server at the URL: http://www.niss.ac.uk/

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All editions of NISS Advisor can also be found at
http://www.niss.ac.uk/about-niss/advisor/






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