It’s been several months since our new website was launched, probably just about enough time for all of us to reflect a little on the change.
Some people have pointed out to us that the previous WWOOF UK site was fine, and asked why change it? Some of the reasons are:
- WWOOF UK’s old site was nine years old and very complex.
- WWOOF around the world has long wanted to unite its look, resources and technology and it was WWOOF Canada who took the bull by the horns to develop a new site.
- When they’d finished, and in great co-operative spirit, they gifted the new website to the Federation of WWOOF Organisations (FoWO) and this Common WWOOF Platform (CWP) was born.
- It makes sense for us here in the UK to join the initiative and become part of the wider WWOOF community, using our time and money to support a collaborative resource, rather than continue trying to ‘go it alone’ or stick with our old tech. Many other WWOOF organisations around the world, both large and small, have already adopted the new platform and there are many more to come.
- Volunteer organisations similar to WWOOF are using systems with features that members like and are demanding. WWOOF must be innovative too or it will go the way of the Dodo.
The launch was generally very successful given just how complicated the process of setting up the new site and transferring all the data was. We’ve had tremendous help and support from our colleagues at FoWO before, during and since the launch; very dedicated help during the transition from Chris Cant who provided IT support for our old site, and incredibly committed work from WWOOF UK team members Scarlett Penn and Taryn Field who have both been on a huge learning curve to get us this far. Thank you to everyone who has given so much.
There are some lovely new features on the current website which need to be explored so that you can make the most of them, and we have lost a few of the customised features we had grown used to on the old site.
There have inevitably been some teething troubles and we are very grateful for your patience as we try to deal with them – some things we wouldn’t have found without your feedback which shows how important it is for us to hear from you. Please stay in touch and bear with us we try to find solutions.
Our colleagues at FoWO are working very hard to roll out planned new features for the website that will help hosts and WWOOFers manage their stays more easily. We are able to suggest improvements when we identify a need but implementing them is now with the international developers and there is a new global voting system so we can’t necessarily prioritise in the way we used to.
Thanks again for your patience and please stay in touch with us with your feedback and questions.
