MCAS Yuma launching improved website

Finding out what's happening at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma will be easier than ever for the public and for Marines and sailors currently or previously stationed there, now that the air station has launched a new website.

The new visually enhanced website is part of a Marine Corps-wide effort to improve content management and distribution, according to Capt. Staci Reidinger, director of public affairs at MCAS Yuma.

The new MCAS Yuma website is www.mcasyuma.marines.mil. The current website at www.yuma.usmc.mil will remain operational until all archived content has been made accessible on the new website.

Because the new website functions on a template shared throughout the Marine Corps, Reidinger said, whichever air station's website a user chooses to visit, they will all look the same. The only difference will be content and information geared specifically toward the unit or air station for which is was developed.

“It is the same website and template that you will see soon across 100 percent of all of the Marine Corps websites, from headquarters all the way down to the lowest echelon air station or ground unit,” Reidinger explained.

She said the new website will now serve as MCAS Yuma's primary Internet site, replacing the old one, which had been in use probably since the early 2000s. Reidinger said while some modifications and changes had been done to the old site over the years, she wouldn't be surprised if it was the first one that had been developed for the air station.

Reidinger said the switch to using a common template was part of a mandate issued by the Marine Corps back in 2010 and is coming to an end this year.

The new site now features a photo gallery for viewing the latest imagery of the Marines and sailors of MCAS Yuma, an enhanced news feed for the most current Yuma stories, current air station video news, press releases, an events calendar, the weekly-updated newsletter and simplified menus for locating detailed information about all commands aboard the air station.

“The old website didn't allow us to have the photo gallery and didn't make it as accessible for our videos to show up,” Reidinger said. “The other nice-to-have feature is there is better archiving capability, which allows a user to search the website for the content instead of having to look through the PDF format of the newspaper, which is what they used to have to do.”

Reidinger explained that having a common template for every air station will create an easier avenue for sharing information. It also simplifies site navigation, which makes information easier to find. Other benefits include being easier for website administrators to maintain and costing less to operate.

In addition, the website has a feed system that allows content posted to it to be shared with other Marine Corps sites. An example Reidinger gave was if a joint training exercise is held between a unit or squadron from another air station, it could be tagged and end up on the Camp Lejeune website.

Reidinger said all current news stories, photos, videos and general information will now be updated daily to the new website. Once all of the content has been transferred over to the new website, she said, the old website will still be accessible but not updated with current content.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.