Bushfire recovery - Share your stories

Not for profit organisation .au Community Domains, who helps communities Australia wide get their geographical home on the net, have created free community websites for those localities touched by the recent Victorian bushfires disaster for the following localities: Barwidgee, Beechworth, Callingee, Flowerdale, Humevale, Kinglake, Kinglake West, Long Gully, Marysville, Mudgegonga, Pheasant Creek, Narbethong, Reedy Creek, Saint Andrews, Steels Creek, Strathewen, Toolangi, Upper Plenty, Wandong, Whittlesea and Yarra Glen.

.au Community Domains hopes that during such a difficult time these community websites will help with the rebuilding of the communities affected by the bushfires by providing a forum for community members to:

• Keep informed of local and relevant community news and events
• An opportunity to share stories and experiences
• To express thanks
• To remember people lost
• Share emergency evacuation/aftermath strategies
• Provide links to important information (such as: council links, emergency information links)
• To celebrate efforts to rebuild communities

The websites that have been created are registered at ‘Community Geographic Domain Names’ (CGDNs) which include the town name, state name and country code of the community to ensure they are easy to remember and locate on the web, for example: www.kinglake.vic.au, www.flowerdale.vic.au, www.saintandrews.vic.au and www.strathewen.vic.au.

The websites have been constructed by utilising an easy to use content management system called Community Site in a Box which allows website content managers to easily update information without requiring much technical experience with the assistance of an easy to follow manual.

.au Community Domains are offering to add the content to their community sites for them and if community members would like to add any information to the sites and/or would like to be involved in adding website content themselves - please contact Leonie Dunbar, General Manager of .au Community Domains at:  leonie.dunbar@aucd.org.au

A full listing of community websites is available.