On-line resources
The Bush Society's on-line resources and databases are still very much under development:

• Web site developed over the last 18 months is hosted at Cyberplace ( http://canterbury.cyberplace.org.nz/environment/bush ). The site includes:
• Kereru, a weekly email newsletter: the current issue, recent back issues and information on how to subscribe
• Page listing regular working parties for restoration projects
• Calendars listing dates and other details of planting days, public meetings, courses and trips
• A directory of projects, people, nurseries and useful organisations, with contact details (incomplete)
• A collection of articles on restoration projects and subjects related to restoration
• Brief details of projects tertiary students are requested for
• A page advertising workers sought and workers available
• Links to other web sites
• Information on the Bush Society itself (separated from the main part of the Web site)

The site has outgrown the space available. There are currently pages off-site waiting for space.

• Databases are used to store
• Membership details
• Calendar events
• Opportunities for student projects
• Restoration project details
• Staff hours
• Resource Material
• Funding Applications
• Databases have been used to publish calendars of events in print and on-line, and a draft restoration directory in print.

Development of further databases is envisaged for publishing plant fact sheets and for generating indexes of articles and other pages on the Web site.

• The Society is in the process of applying for a site at Converge (http://www.converge.org.nz), which provides hosting for non-profit community organisations.
• The Society has registered an internet domain name, bush.org.nz, but isn't yet using it for a Web site.
• A Web site based on the site at Cyberplace but with improvements to the organisation and appearance is being constructed as time and resources permit at Xoom ( http://members.xoom.com/bushsoc ).
  

Development of on-line resources
The plan is to split the contents of the present Web site between two sites and at the same time make the sites better organised and more user-friendly. One site will have a range of resources for people involved in restoration projects, the other will have information about the Bush Society for members and prospective members. Details are still to be worked out, but the broad outline is:
1.    As a temporary measure, relocate the Web site at present at Cyberplace to Converge to give more space to work with in the short term.
2.    Use the Xoom site to carry out collaborative work to produce a better organised, more graphical site for on-line restoration resources (calendars, articles, and so on). This will be done in stages:
(a)    Develop an improved home page. Use this task to set a quality standard for the site and to set up a process for collaborative work on the rest of the site.
(b)    Re-work the rest of the site, one resource at a time. As well as revision of Web pages, this will involve work on the relevant database (e.g. the calendar database) to simplify updating data and Web pages. Options for automating these processes depend on the sophistication of the Web hosting the Society can obtain, and range from "mailto" forms on Web pages and manual checking of data, to script processed forms with some data validation, and/or password protection built in.
(c)    Ideally, as work on each resource is completed, copy the resource from Xoom, or link it, to bush.org.nz. Copying the resource depends on Web hosting for the revised site being finalised and sufficient space being available.
(d)    Remove the old version of the resource from the Converge site.
3.    When the revision is complete, as a backup retain a mirror site (minus interactive features and any large, space-consuming graphics) at Xoom.
4.    Redevelop the site at Converge into a Web site for the Bush Society as an organisation. The site would have the Bush Society's aims, procedure for joining, etc., and possibly some interactivity such as a discussion forum for members.

Help!
Any members with email access who would like to help develop or maintain the Web site are invited to make themselves known!