You’ve likely noticed a lot of changes to Challenge this month, so before I talk about all of the great content in this month’s issue, it’s probably a good idea to talk about what was changed and why.

There are now 2 navigation menus.

• The new “top” main (black with white letters) contains links that were previously in the other menu. These links were moved from their previous spots because they were the least used, and because we wanted to free up some space in the main menu.
• The “main” menu has had its titles updated to make it easier to find your favorite content. Columns has been changed to “Monthly Columns”, Features has been changed to “Special Features”, Galleries has been changed to “Photos and Videos”, Calendar has been changed to “Event Calendars” (more on this below), Shopping has been split into “The Mart” (more on this below as well) and “CVR Store” now has its own top-level link.

Click on the new Event Calendars link and you will have two options:

• The first option is to view upcoming events in a monthly calendar form. This is an entirely new feature and something we’d been asked for. This monthly view option allows you to see all of a month’s events at one time, and to filter your view based on any type of an event. Clicking on any event will generate a popup window showing additional event details.
• The second option is to view the upcoming event schedule in list form – the same way you’re used to seeing it.

Speaking of events, there is a new “Upcoming Events” widget that has been added to the righthand column of every page. The widget shows the next 6 events we have scheduled over a rolling 60-day period of time.

Other changes

• The really large slider below the main menu has been removed, and the Featured Articles content that was in it appears in its own section a bit further down on the page. In place of the slider is the monthly President’s Message and the Editor’s Notes. In addition, the sections for each monthly activity chair have been redesigned and cleaned up for better usability.
• The Social Media widget on the right side of all the pages has been moved up to the top of the right column. The “Past Challenge Issues” widget has been renamed “Past Issues by Month” and moved further down to the bottom of the column.
• There is a “Latest Ads from The Mart” widget that has been added to the righthand column of every page.  The widget will show the most recent 5 ads from the mart. Click on any of the ads and you’ll be taken to the full text of the ad.