Channel 2 wichita Blog · Wichita related Web stuff… and, continuing coverage of the 2 wichita Bookmarks Project
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Thanks to everyone for the well wishes, questions and comments about the Web Map of Wichita. We’re glad you like what you see.  Stay tuned, we aren’t done yet. 

We released the first version of the map in April 2008 based on sites in our ranked index at the time.  Many good local sites and blogs were not indexed, and therefore not included on the map. We’ve been feverishly updating the index with new sites since then. In late September we will release a new Web Map of Wichita to coincide with the official launch of 2 wichita.

Hyperlocal Bookmarks

Our main focus around here is the local bookmarks app.  Everything else, the map, blog, site index and other lab projects are secondary.

Over the coming weeks and months we think localized bookmarks can become a unique asset to the local Web culture.  A central link feed can provide a place for thoughtful Web users, bloggers and other Wichita webbians’ to showcase and share good local content. 

In its current state, the bookmarks slowly churn-on thanks to a small group alpha contributors periodically adding wichita-related news, videos, photos and other tidbits to the log. Over the next few weeks we will be inviting many more locals to contribute.  Sign up for a beta invite now!

We click on a lot of local links around here. We needed a page to hold all these links and organize them in an efficient manner. Our solution is the Web Map of Wichita.

So browse around, discover new sites, or just fave-it as a handy local link reference.

Future Enhancements: We are working on updates and new versions. Eventually, we will lose the image maps and go with a pure XML/SVG solution… possibly a flash version too. We are also working on a more accessible text-only version.

2 wichita is all about local Web content. To that end, our bookmarks do a fine job collecting and organizing local content. However, it leaves us wondering, which sites are most popular to Wichitans? What blogs do people visit the most? Who is rising and falling in the local Webscape?

Our bookmarks won’t answer these questions. We need a whole new system to identify and track top content providers in the area.

Our solution is a local Web measurement/ranking system we call Wicsi, the Wichita Web Site Index.

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