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New Student Discussion Forum Debuts
Links Database Implemented along with Web Site Transfer
By J. Michael Boa, CAS Communications and Research Coordinator
The CAS transferred its Web site (www.casact.org) to an upgraded Web server in January 2000. The transfer to the new server was transparent to most users of the Web site, but two areas where the change was quite notable were the Student Discussion Forum and the Sites of Interest section.
Student Discussion Forum
The Student Discussion Forum is an area of the CAS Web Site where those taking actuarial exams can ask questions and share information about the exam process. The Forum contains discussion topics for each examination. In addition, there are discussion topics for examination issues such as exam review seminars, and a section called the Water Cooler for non-exam related topics. The Forum has long been one of the most popular features of the CAS Web Site.
The software that was used for the discussion forum since the site's inception in 1996 was recently discontinued by the manufacturer. Since the software was no longer produced, distributed, or supported by the manufacturer, alternative forum software packages were considered. After reviewing several packages, the Ultimate Bulletin Board (UBB) was selected. The UBB (www.ultimatebb.com) is one of the most popular discussion forum programs available on the Internet. Noteworthy sites that use UBB include Warner Brothers and MP3.
Some features of UBB include an integrated search engine, e-mail notification of replies to topics, user profiles, the ability for users to edit or delete their postings, and a comprehensive online FAQ.
Sites of Interest Section
The Committee on Online Services had been exploring for some time a solution to help manage the growing list of links in the "Sites of Interest" section of the Web Site. There are many sources of information on the Internet that are valuable to actuaries, and organizing these links on a static Web page did not provide much flexibility or power.
The Committee's solution was to implement a database of links. The database can be searched by keyword or broad category. For example, users that are looking for sources of economic data are now able to search the database and find links to sites with that information.
Web site visitors are encouraged to submit links for inclusion in the database through the link submission form. While the list of links is not currently that large, the new structure will encourage links to be recommended and allow for the inclusion of many more links than previously possible. The links database is also integrated with the full site search feature, so a search of the site will return CAS Web pages and external links that meet the search criteria.
Ideas and suggestions for new Web site features are encouraged. Send your ideas to the Committee on Online Services, c/o the CAS Office at jdauber@casact.org.