In a final last dash as we head up to Tanzania for two months tommorrow, I have just added Ethiopia updates to the site -click here to view them!

Now for a well-earned break from the desk!

Cheers, Philip
]]> http://philipbriggs.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/ethiopia-updates-now-online/feed/ 0 philipbriggs http://philipbriggs.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/rwanda-updates-now-online/ http://philipbriggs.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/rwanda-updates-now-online/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:16:17 +0000 philipbriggs http://philipbriggs.wordpress.com/?p=224 ]]> Greetings -

I’ve just put the Rwanda updates online – click here to view them!

Cheers, Philip

This site is structured so that each country gets its own blog. My understanding (open to correction) is that in order to be fed the updates for any given country, you would need to set up a feed from the relevant country site eg http://bradtghanaupdate.wordpress.com for Ghana or http://bradtugandaupdate.wordpress.com for Uganda - if you feed from  http://philipbriggs.wordpress.com  you will only get generic posts like this.

If I’m wrong, please let me know

Some of you might already have seen the new online update for Ghana. Others may be familiar with the Uganda update newsletter.  Either way, welcome to my new blog/website, whose main purpose is to provide a more maintainable and interactive update service for readers of my Bradt guides.     

I started with Ghana to set things rolling. Now its Uganda’s turn. The principle is simple enough. As we all know, one of the biggest flaws with print travel guides is that their every word is set in stone once any given edition is published, so they are unable to reflect changes until the next edition comes out. Websites and blogs are more responsive to change, but generally lack the solidity, structure and compactness of a ‘one stop shop’ guidebook.

Hence this blog. As with the old update newsletter, it will provide regular interim reports between editions of the Bradt guide, culled from other reader’s emails and people in the local tourist industry. But it will be far more responsive in two respects. The first is that anybody can post up-to-date comments to the relevant chapter web page at any time, and these will show up almost immediately. Secondly, I can also post new info from readers online as it lands in my in-tray, creating a near instant turnaround rather than the delay of several months that often occurred between the old style newsletters.  

Overall, I’m really excited at the possibilities this type of site creates for a more interactive relationship between guidebook writers and users, and as a channel for getting fresh travel information out to travellers who want it. As with the newsletter, this website is a free service, and all prospective travellers to Uganda are welcome to make use of the information. But equally, the more travellers who contribute update info – whether they post comments directly, or email me the feedback to post myself - the more useful the website will be.

To see the Uganda update, follow the ‘Bradt Guide Updates’ link, or just click here, and feel free to let me know what you think. It’s still early days, and all a bit rough at the edges, so all feedback welcomed.

For those interested in bit of a Bradt news, Brian Blatt has just returned from an update trip to Ethiopia that seemed to take in every corner of the country, and he is busy writing up the 5th edition at the moment.  We’re also starting up on the 6th edition of Tanzania and Northern Tanzania guides: Kim Wildman has just returned from a long trip around the south and west, and I’ll be heading up to the north in a couple of weeks.

Happy travels!

For those of you familiar with the update newsletters for any of my Bradt Guides – and for those that aren’t - the main purpose of this blog/website is to provide a more maintainable and interactive update service for Bradt readers and other travellers, volunteers and service providers in the relevant countries.    

I’ve started with Ghana to set things rolling, and hope to do something similar for Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia and maybe a few other countries once I see how it works.  The principle is simple enough. As we all know, one of the biggest flaws with print travel guides is that their every word is set in stone once any given edition is published, so they are unable to reflect changes until the next edition comes out. Websites and blogs are more responsive to change, but generally lack the solidity, structure and compactness of a ‘one stop shop’ guidebook.

Hence this blog. As with the old update newsletter, it will provide regular interim reports between editions of the Bradt guide, culled from other reader’s emails and people in the local tourist industry. But it will be far more responsive in two respects. The first is that anybody can post up-to-date comments to the relevant chapter web page at any time, and these will show up almost immediately. Secondly, I can also post new info from readers online as it lands in my in-tray, creating a near instant turnaround rather than the delay of several months that often occurred between the old style newsletters.  

I should add that 48 hours ago I knew nothing about the mechanics of blogging or website construction, so it’s been quite a learning curve. Overall, I’m really excited at the possibilities this type of site creates for a more interactive relationship between guidebook writers and users, and as a channel for getting fresh travel information out to travellers who want it. As with the newsletter, this website is a free service, and all prospective travellers to Ghana are welcome to make use of the information. But equally, the more travellers who contribute update info – whether they post comments directly, or email me the feedback to post myself - the more useful the website will be.

OK, enough for now, I’ll do a real blog in a few days, but for now please take a look at the Ghana update (follow the ‘Bradt Guide Updates’ link or just click here) and feel free to let me know what you think. It’s still early days, and all a bit rough at the edges (I’ll put up more relevant pics etc at a later stage, and also make facilities to link to other blogs about Ghana, and please note the other links for Rwanda etc are just dummies at this point), so all feedback welcomed…

Happy travels!

Philip