Kuwait-America Foundation's (KAF) staff took a close look at the organization's website at www.kuwaitamerica.org in the summer of 2007, and knew the time had come to make some significant changes. Not only were the look and contents of the site dated, it had become a poor representation of KAF's accomplishments and the growth experienced by the organization since its inception in 1991.

The KAF website overhaul began with staff learning about "Web 2.0" and what should be considered these days when developing a website. (To say the least, there was a bit more to consider than when we planned our first website!) We soon began identifying the goals and requirements for the effort and the following were high on our list:

• A complete site redesign that reflects the personality of the Kuwait-America Foundation
• Updated the site navigation, contents to be more user-friendly; Ensure that KAF programs are well spotlighted
• Build the site using an open-source, easy-to-use Content Management System (CMS) that will enable non-technical staff to manage the website with minimal training

We are thrilled with the updated "look and feel" of the site that spotlights KAF's multiple initiatives, and provides more information on how you can contribute to and support the KAF mission and its programs through internships, sponsorships, donations, and partnership. In addition, we welcome you to take advantage of the enhancements to our site -- powered by Plone CMS -- including:

• LiveSearch and advanced search options that will help you to find what you're looking for quickly
• News and Events sections that are RSS-enabled. If you use an RSS reader you can stay in-tune with KAF news and events via the following links:
• Events RSS: http://kuwaitamerica.org/about-kaf/events/events/RSS
• News RSS: http://kuwaitamerica.org/about-kaf/news/news/RSS
• Site map that provides an at-a-glance listing of all the contents of our site
• Related content links that will display other items that may be of interest to you
• Print pages with ease (look for the printer icon)
• Email pages to colleagues and friends (look for the mail icon)
  

The website for "Do the Write Thing" (DtWT) at http://www.dtwt.org one of KAF's key programs, also received a few new "bells and whistles" when it was relaunched at the end of 2007, including an online store that features DtWT memorabilia and gifts. The DtWT site was built using the same technology as the KAF website.

Hopefully, you will enjoy our new site, as much as we do.