It’s All About You: ‘My State Department’ Launched
![Screenshot of My State Department, an optional interface that allows users to customize their view of the vast electronic collection that comprises www.state.gov, for targeted, quick and easy access to the foreign policy topics that they find most interesting. [State Department image/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130217204113im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0123_my_state_m.jpg)
Janice Clark serves as the Director of the Office of Website Management in the Bureau of Public Affairs.
Update: Enhancements to My State Department were launched on July 5, 2012. Many more widgets have been added, including those for countries and expanded foreign policy topics. The page view has also been enhanced for better reading and easier customization. Contact us and let us know what you think!
I think just about everything on www.state.gov is interesting, but you might not take the same interest in food security, women's issues, or the human rights reports that I do. With the site's roughly 100,000 pages of content (and growing), we set out to create a way to help you, the end user, more easily access the categories of information that matter most to you.
That's what's behind the pilot release of My State Department -- an optional, customizable interface that makes the most of the vast electronic collection that comprises www.state.gov so you can be better informed and stay on top of foreign policy topic areas that you find most interesting or in which you want to become involved.
The My State Department interface is easily found in the banner on www.state.gov pages. A new window will open so that you can get to the interface without interrupting other browsing you may be doing on state.gov. To make sure that your selections follow you no matter what computer you're on, you'll access My State Department using an OpenID logon. OpenID is a service that allows you to sign in to many different websites using a single identity, such as your yahoo, gmail, or aol account. (Find out more about OpenID and how to get an OpenID-enabled account.)
Once you're on the My State Department screen, select from any number of "widgets," such as top policy issues (Counterterorrism, Trafficking in persons, etc.), country information, reports, or social media. Move the widgets around, change the color scheme, add a utility -- it really IS all about you!
We hope you'll enjoy using My State Department. Our pilot is just the starting point. Please let us know your suggestions for future enhancements.
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Posted under: Behind the Scenes
View Comments (4)
Tags: Innovation (155) |
Comments
Donna B. in New York writes:
Dear Madam Secretary: Apologizing to Pakistan, a country that murders our GIs, women&children;, wastes US tax$ and sheltered OBL, makes the US Look weak.Yours Truly, Donna C. Benichasa
Posted on Fri Jul 06, 2012
Kambiz K. in Pakistan writes:
This is a wonderful opportunity for the communities, worldwide, to bring their grievances to light. Sometimes the US administration, without knowing, is not supporting the oppressed. Thank you SD and Secretary of the State.
Posted on Tue Feb 21, 2012
Stacey P. in Israel writes:
This is a great launch, especially the customizability of the platform. I agree that widgets is a great way to help me pick and choose what I want to read. This platform consolidates news and feeds it into one place, saves me time and energy in researching for all of these press releases and updates. Thank you!
Posted on Tue Jan 24, 2012
Raquel M. in Brazil writes:
Thank you very much for launching this page - extremely useful, especially the widget for "country profile".
Kind Regards,
Raquel M.
EFM, FSO Spouse
Posted on Mon Jan 23, 2012