Planning Session for Exploring Oklahoma History

Soon we’ll be doing research on a new design for the Exploring Oklahoma History web site. There will be many changes, but much will stay the same, such as all the places database information.

Just some of what we hope to accomplish in the weeks to come:

• Cleaner minimal design (Keep it simple, readable)
• Responsive layout (Make it viewable for desktop, tablets, and mobile devices)
• Modernize database and backend (Stuff you’ll never see, but very important)
• Simplify and improve navigation (Find things with a minimum of clicks)
• Social network integration (Make things shareable and more connected)
• Drop forum (Not being used, moved to Google+ Community)
• Drop or consolidate unused sub-pages and connected sites. (TBD)
• Improve access to our store fronts. (CafePress, Amazon, etc.)
• Clean up the data. (This one will take the longest)
• Preserve URL access (If you link to a place now, it will work later)

Please note: we are still not turning the historic places database into a wiki. We found early on there are just too many spammers and people with malicious intent to make it an open environment. We still take user submissions, but it’s reviewed before it’s added to our database.

If you have any suggestions for improving the Exploring Oklahoma History web site, please feel free to contact us either by email or leave a comment.