District Communication Services Office

WOW is a "pushbutton" website development platform that permits units of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary to develop and maintain modern, attractive websites with absolutely no programming required. Creating a website with WOW is no more difficult than ordering a book online, and requires nothing beyond your favorite web browser.

A basic unit website can be generated in less than 25 seconds - even by the flotilla commander or vice commander! For this reason, units without webmasters ("WOW"), without a CS officer, or without anyone with "classical" Web programming can nonetheless have an immediate web presence with the "push of a button".

The WOW platform is a class of software called a "Content Management System", which permits users to concentrate on the content of their website, rather than the programming. WOW has been specially developed for Auxiliary flotillas, divisions, and even districts to automatically provide current, up-to-date unit information - such as staff officers, meeting locations, or public education courses, in the context of a familiar, branded U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary look and feel. The unit may then add additional content - whatever they desire - with a simple point, click and type paradigm that even permits the inclusion of photos and graphics!

But if the unit also has members with classical web design experience, the WOW platform gives them complete freedom to focus on page content, using a powerful, built-in editor, and let the system attend to the nasty details such as a turnkey, database-driven menu navigation system. In short, WOW is for every Auxiliary unit!

Getting Started:

To get started read the WOW II User’s Guide and follow the process.

To access your unit’s WOW site, go to: http://aDDDddff.wow.uscgaux.info where DDD is your district number, dd is your two-digit division number, and “ff” is your two-digit flotilla number.

Example: http://a0700801.uscgaux.info is for the 7th (070) District, Flotilla 81. Division sites omit the “ff”. Although the URL displayed in your browser will change, the above address is your permanent address for publications and bookmarks.

Additional Resources:

See the WOW PowerPoint Show about why you want WOW for your unit website. Or, if you are a CS Officer, download the underlying PowerPoint Presentation, and tweak it for pitching tto your Division or Flotilla.

For any quetions or information about this office please contact:

Chris Haarer, DSO-CS

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