The edubuzz.org home page has been given a new look to make it easier for people to explore the site.

There are still some loose ends to tidy up, but in keeping with the “release early, release often” philosophy, it’s time to give it a try and start listening to the feedback.

This version builds on the feedback from the last prototype. That showed that providing some pointers to help visitors start exploring was well received. That version, though, was built during the summer break but proved too complex to be sustainable under the pressures of term-time workloads.

The new version is simpler, but provides more information. It’s completely blog-based, with no bespoke code other than a customised WordPress theme, modified using standard template tags. That means maintenance can be shared, so volunteers are welcome to contribute.

Current features include:

• a search engine
• a list of school web sites
• a list of class, department, House and club weblogs
• edubuzz-wide “Latest buzz!” lists displaying the latest posts and comments from all public blogs
• some miscellaneous lists, such as the most recently updated 100 blogs
• some sidebar advertisements for “featured blogs”

There’s still more work to do, such as:

• lists of project blogs
• lists of support department blogs

Feedback welcome