Important Update: This afternoon at 3 p.m. the new online face of our organization (our website) officially launches. We are gswo.org! We’ve also changed our emails from firstnamelastename@girlscoutsofwesternohio.org to firstnamelastname@gswo.org. Don’t worry, if you have saved links or email addresses, the old email and website addresses will still work.

As Rafiki reminds us, change is good. To help ease the transition and answer some common questions here are some facts about the new site:

Why are we changing to a new website? I thought the one we have isn’t that old?

GSUSA has offered an opportunity for all councils across the country to adopt a branded template with similar looks and feel. It offers a fresh layout, slimmer navigation menu, and cleaner pages with more condensed content. Some content is provided by GSUSA and will be updated directly by them.

How is the focus of the new website different than what we have now?

The new website’s overall messaging and purpose is to tell the Girl Scouts story to the general public and improve the experience of users. We will have a searchable calendar of events, use updated web forms, add news items to the homepage, and enhance menu navigation. All of the features available on the old site will also be on the new site.

What happens to all of the information on the old site?

A limited amount of content was actually deleted. Some pages were updated to reflect new policies, procedures, or guidelines and some were changed into pdfs for easier viewing. We heard you loud and clear. We’re  providing you a clean website that allows you to find just what you need when you need it. If you can’t find something, please let us know!

Will links to pages on the old website still work?

Yes. GSUSA is taking our list of pages on the old site and redirecting those pages to the new site.

Where will all the forms be?

Forms will be on the Forms and Documents page under “Our Council” in the first sentence. The top ten frequently used forms will be listed at the top of the page. Other commonly used forms will be hyperlinked within the copy on the website.

 Where will the volunteer resources be located?

Volunteer resources will have their own section. Staff reviewed the resources on the old site and determined documents and forms that were still valid, needed updated, or needed deleted. These resources were then migrated to the new website. The majority of these documents will be located within the Volunteer Resources page. Other documents will be available within the Forms and Documents section and will be searchable by key word. Content specific to service team volunteers was migrated to the Volunteer Services Network.

Now that you’re in the know, follow the link gswo.org and check out our newest resource! We hope you’ll be as happy with the newest addition as we are.