BSA Website comments?

[Scouter.]

Is it just me or does there seem to be an odd way to navigate the Scouting.org website? In many instances...I know the information is there, I search for and find it, but I can't navigate directly yo it.

 

I am also finding a number a dead links.

 

I'm like really?

 

(and don't even get me started on the Spanish pages! GSA has about 5 or 10 x more Spanish for their members, yet we have Tico Perez on the Hispanic American Scouting task force. Double Really??)

[sailingpj]

It is not just you.

[Eagle92]

I'm a librarian, trained to use databases and search engines and make them dance on my fingertips. But the Scouting.org is the second absolute worse search engine I have enver encountered. Only reason it's not the worse is I've found a simple 'backdoor" method of searching that I cannot use with the worse search engine since I have to pay for that one and it's password protected.

 

Anyway here's the back door search method. Go to GOOGLE, type in the term you are looking for an in quotation marks SCOUTING.ORG.

 

For example if you are looking for Bear den plans, you would type in the following

 

bear den plan and "scouting.org"

 

Please note the bold is emphasis.

 

The google results, and you can use any web search engine, will do a heck of a better job getting results than the BSA's search engine.

 

Hope it helps.

 

 

[Curious]

"But the Scouting.org is the second absolute worse search engine ..."

 

Unfortunately, the absolute worst one is at scoutstuff.org

 

"For example if you are looking for Bear den plans, you would type in the following

 

bear den plan and "scouting.org""

 

Try the site keyword instead ...

 

bear den plan site:scouting.org

 

The site keyword will limit the search to that one and only website. Please note the colon following the keyword. And I would also omit the www and just use the domain name.

[Scouter.]

If they handed out "Square Knots" for significant Internet search assistance ... I would be handing them out now to anyone helping out on this thread!

 

Two words....

 

Aaaahhhhh Mazinggg!

 

Really...thanks!

[Eagle92]

Learn something new everyday.

 

Actually Scoutstuff is navigatable IF you speek suppliese.

 

Seriously though, absolute search engine is EBSCOHOST. Grant you it has a lot of information and resources there, hence the fee for organizations to use it, BUT it will eventually get you the info you need.

[Cito]

I think the big issue is that you still have to know what your looking for. If you don't know to search for den meeting plans you'll never find them. It would be interesting to see the site map and see if some of the pieces are actually not linked to anything.

 

I've seen some other really poor websites, our council for instance.

[Eagle92]

CITO,

 

that's because i beleive national took over all the council websites. You use to have different looks and what not. Now they are all almost identical.

[Scouter.]

I wish someone would take our over....it sux bad.

[shortridge]

I also use the Google site:scouting.org method of searching, because the internal search engine is broken three-quarters of the time, and the times it does work it doesn't get me what I need.

 

I'll sit in the corner and be quiet now. Don't want to be too critical and drive off any other National advancement people lurking around.

[AlamanceScouter]

One of the better things on the BSA website is the Cub Cast......unfortunately, they hide it.

[SR540Beaver]

Eagle92, national has not taken over council websites. I know the folks who run ours locally. That being said, I believe council websites are supposed to conform to certain national standards.....although we have a sister council in my neck of the woods who's website hasn't changed in almost 8 years I know of.

 

National's website has ALWAYS been poorly organized even with all of the changes they've made over the years. I actually think it is worse now however than before.

 

My pet peeve with ScoutStuff is that it needs to be more shopper friendly. Yes, they have a zoom feature for pictures of most items, but how about multiple, large, high quality pictures that open in a seperate windw that you can cycle thru. One small picture of a pair of pants that you can zoom in on a little really isn't all that helpful. And better descriptions. We may be a captive audience, but that doesn't mean you can't provide better service. I can attest to t he fact that there are things I want to buy, but I won't until I can make it to the scout shop to see it in person. A better website would change that.