Next Wednesday, 20 May, you'll see a fresh new look for TrainingZone.co.uk – and it's not just skin-deep! Read on to find out more about some exciting new developments on site...






 

Next week, TrainingZone.co.uk will look completely different and also include a host of exciting new features. The changes are in response to what you, our members, have told us about the way you use the website and what the key business issues of importance to you are as a training professional.

TrainingZone.co.uk is the third redesign in a major review of all of Sift Media's websites, and is based on our brand new technology platform – take a look at HRZone.co.uk if you'd like to see some of the changes coming your way. We hope you like it!

When will it happen?

The website will not need to be taken out of service for the changeover – all we'll do is temporarily suspend any new registrations while the new site goes live.

The change will begin to happen during the afternoon of Wednesday 20 May (we can't say exactly when, as the new system will need to propagate across the internet) but you won't see any disruption in service – one minute the old site, the next minute the new!

New features

One of the first things you'll notice when you register or log in is your control panel in the top right hand side of the page. It's always on hand to give you access to commonly used features such as: editing your profile; managing your email subscriptions, private messages and content alerts; and your favourites library – in fact, everything that the new TrainingZone.co.uk site brings you.

Here is a brief summary of some of TrainingZone.co.uk's new features:

Private messaging

TrainingZone.co.uk gives you a secure inbox to contact and keep in touch with other members, without having to reveal your email address.

Content alerts

If you find an article or discussion that you'd like to keep track of, you can add it to your content alerts and you'll be notified of any new content added to the website. You can choose to receive these alerts hourly, daily or weekly.

Public profile

Once you've registered, you can choose to fill out your public profile. This allows other members to learn more about you and your business (at your discretion), and also to connect with you via social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter. Your public profile can also display your company logo, the comments that you've made on the site, the articles or blogs that you've published, and which discussion groups you belong to.

Discussion groups

We have also introduced 'discussion groups', allowing you to set up your own area on TrainingZone.co.uk for specific industry sectors, business topics, campaigns, or projects. Groups can be open, where new members can join freely, or private, where members join on an invitation-only basis and are approved by the group owner.

These Discussion groups will allow you to network, write your own articles, send newsletters to the group members, and set up your own forums. As a member of a group, you can control whether you receive updates and newsletters from the group owner.

Subscriptions

TrainingZone.co.uk publishes two email bulletins every week, along with a current monthly LeadershipZone ebulletin and occasional supplements on specific training topics, like learning technologies. You can sign up to receive any or all of these.

Blog

If you fancy showing the world your sage views on training and development, or simply want to keep people up to date with how your latest project is doing, you can start blogging as soon as you create your free TrainingZone.co.uk account!

Library

Whenever you find an article that you'd like to keep for reference, simply add it to your library. You can add and remove articles whenever you like, and your control panel keeps a handy list of your favourites.

Any Answers

The well-loved Any Answers section remains for asking your pressing training questions, where other TrainingZone.co.uk members can contribute their replies – and you can choose to highlight which answer you consider to be the best one.
Please let us know what you think!

We hope that you like the new look TrainingZone.co.uk, and we'd very much welcome your thoughts and any ideas for improvement. Do feel free to drop us a line at marketing@siftmedia.co.uk.

Darren Falkingham
Head of marketing
darren.falkingham@siftmedia.co.uk