We want to keep this brief, since the best way to explore the PlannersWeb is by browsing. We hope you’ll find most everything self-explanatory. But — just in case — we want to highlight five features:
Try out the menu bar. There’s one at the top and one at the bottom of every page. You can access everything on the site via one of the menus. Just pick an item from the top line and you’ll see a second line (sub menu) open up. Here’s a partial view of what you’ll see if you select “Planning Topics.”
When you select a topic, you’ll then be taken to a page that contains a table with one or two sentence summaries of articles and postings related to that topic. Be aware that you’ll see — at most — 12 entries on a page. But for some topics there will be more entries. In that case, just use the “Older” link at the bottom of the page and you’ll get another table with the next 12 articles we’ve published on that topic. To view a longer excerpt of the article and — if you’re a PlannersWeb member — also access the download link to view the full article, just click on the article’s title.
Not familiar with Planning Commissioners Journal (PCJ) articles? Take a look at some sample articles.
Perhaps the quickest and easiest way to search for something you’re interested in is by using the Search box — it’s located in the upper right corner of every page.
We really want to encourage you to comment on postings and articles — whether they’re new or old. There’s a comment field at the end of every posting and article excerpt. Your experiences, whether as a planner, planning commissioner, citizen activist, developer, elected official, or however you’re involved in your community, will make the PlannersWeb more useful for everyone. The only think we urge is that you be civil and not rant. We’ll remove those comments. When you comment, it’s generally helpful to others if you also briefly say who you are (not your name, but what you do).
Finally, you’ll see the colorful vertical bar on the right side of the page. That’s another way we’ve divided up our content. You can get to the What’s New page (our home page) from virtually any page on our site.
“Planning 101″ provides you with easy access to Planning Commissioners Journal articles on a number of the basic issues planning commissions from across the country face.
Use this page to quickly find articles that offer introductions to topics ranging from putting together the comprehensive plan, to housing, to downtown development — and much more.
“Bright Ideas” are just that — ideas we’ve come across that offer creative ideas or solutions to planning-related issues communities face. Look for many more bright ideas in the coming months.
Our final two categories are for Insights and PCJ Articles. The basic difference is that what you’ll find under Insights are what we consider more op-ed or opinion-style material. Obviously, there’s not always a clear difference (and you may disagree with how we categorize some articles) — but we thought it would be helpful to make this differentiation. Again, when you click on any of these categories you’ll be taken to a page with a table that has summaries of the articles. Remember to use the “Older” link at the bottom of the table to access the next group of articles.
As a PlannersWeb member you’ll automatically be receiving our periodic updates. They’ll give you a quick summary of new material posted on the PlannersWeb, with links to each posting. We hope this will save you time – which we realize for planning commissioners is usually a scarce commodity.
If you’d like to immediately receive notification as soon as we post new material on the PlannersWeb, go to our email update page and sign up for the second choice.
If you’re not a PlannersWeb member, you’re welcome to sign up for our free email updates. Just bear in mind that you won’t have access to the full articles or all of our new postings.
Not yet a member? Download our PlannersWeb membership information flier.
