Wow! What happened here this weekend?
OK, I know many people will arrive here at http://www.kabissa.org and ask just that question. What happened here? This site is completely different!
Well, yes! As Kabissa members and insiders know, the Kabissa team has been working for many years to design and create a new website. The Ford Foundation and OSI Information Program gave us some wonderful grants to work on web projects, and we collaborated with a range of very skilled and devoted programmers and leaders in the tech field to get from there to here.
Change can be scary and I know many members arriving here today might be asking themselves some questions. I have tried to anticipate them in this blog post, and Sokari is working on a Kabissa Guide to more completely explain what the new site offers to members and others with an interest in African civil society. Keep the questions coming and we will update the Kabissa Guide to make sure everyone is happy and knows about all the wonderful things they can do here now!
- Q: What happened to my organization's profile?
A: It's in the new directory, which more powerfully connects you with other organizations in your community. Click CONNECT to search for your organization and then from your profile page you can click on your city name, org focus or other data to immediately see others doing the same thing - and then contact them! - Q: I want to update my profile! How do I log in?
A: You can control your profile info as before - only now you can add more information and it is presented more nicely! There are some improvements to the information you can share so please do update as soon as you are abie. Use the "login" link at the top right to login. Then click SHOWCASE to update your profile and start adding to your blog and events, announcements and resources. We will send everyone a one-time login link in a day or two once we are sure everything is working well, but you can start right away if you prefer by clicking the Send Me My Password link to have it sent to your email mailbox. - Q: What happened to hosting? Where's the webmail and control panel?
A: We are upgrading our hosting info and offerings along with the launch of this new site. Expect more news from us on that front soon! Existing hosting accounts are of course unchanged by this site upgrade - though the webmail and control panel links have been removed from the frontpage. You can get to Webmail directly now by going to http://webmail.kabissa.org. Likewise you can go to the domain control panel (Plesk) directly now by going to https://www.kabissa.org:8443 - Q: What's next? How can I help?
A: We launched the site today so that you all could start benefitting, and also so you can help us make it the best it can be! During the course of the next month we will be very actively responding to feedback and problem reports, so by March 1st the site should be fully operational and beautiful to behold. You can help by submitting bug reports and joining discussions in our Kabissa Web Google Group. 
That should be enough to get you started! Go forth and explore the site and enjoy! We look forward to your feedback and to reading your blogs, announcements, events and other resources you will be sharing through the site.
