The new The Year In Defense website has made some big changes recently. These updates make accessing and sharing our content much simpler. Please see below for more information about these improvements.

Regularly Updated Content

All content being presented on the site is scheduled to be presented at a specific date and time. By staging new stories and articles from our content repository, we have the ability to choose exactly when and where our content will be presented on the site. This helps everyone because it allows us to organize and display new content on a regular basis.

When the stories and/or articles are posted to the site, they are stored in a database. Each piece of content has unique elements of data (such as the Author, Title, Category, etc..,) that remain in the database and can be retrieved at any time. Since the content is logged into a database, all of the stories and/or articles are archived. Meaning, when a new story is uploaded to the site, it appears as the newest entry and the other stories remain (this process repeats every time new content is placed).

RSS Feeds

What is RSS? The term RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’ and it is the web standard for delivering regularly updated content to users throughout the web. As part of a family of web feed formats, it presents the frequently published works in a standardized format, which increases ease of use.

Why use it? RSS provides a simple way to retrieve a wide range of content and access it anywhere you have a connection to the web. Instead of going to each one of your favorite sites to check if there is new content, the RSS feed provides you with updates as they are made on the site(s) you are following. Another feature of RSS is that a majority of RSS readers provide notification when new content appears.

How can I sign up for The Year In Defense RSS feed? At the top of all pages, there is a link that states ‘RSS Feed.’ Click the link and you will arrive at our FeedBurner page. Choose which RSS reader you would like to use for your RSS subscription and you’re done!

Once you are subscribed, just open your RSS reader and view the freshest content that The Year In Defense has to offer.

Commenting

The new version of The Year In Defense web site features user commenting. At the end of each story, there is a section called ‘Comments’ where the user can provide instead feedback to the story. By adding comments, it allows for discussion and debate about the related content.

The comments section also allows the use of Gravatars, which are web based avatars that follow you throughout the web. It is not mandatory to have a Gravatar to post a comment, but having one does add a face to the person making the comment (which increases user interaction).

Do you like the idea of using a Gravatar? Great, then click here to get your very own Gravatar!

Sharing Content

Finally, the ability to easily share content has been added to each post. You now have the ability to share our content with others via the following formats: Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Del.icio.us, Stumble Upon and Reddit. By clicking one of the appropriate social bookmarking links, you can help share our content with other users that share your interest in defense-related content.