1. What is the NASA Public Web Portal?

2. How does the NASA Public Web Portal work?

3. Who will manage the Portal?

4. How will the Portal "showcase the best of NASA's diverse content"

5. How can I get my content into the Portal?

6. Are all public NASA Web sites being taken over by the Portal?

7. What about material for researchers?

8. I run a Web site with some content for the public, but other content for a research team and other audiences. What about that?

9. Are all NASA sites going to adopt the Portal's look and feel?

10. I'd like to provide content to the Portal, but I still have to keep my site up to date. Will I have to publish twice? How will data be kept "in sync"?

11. I'd like to take an active role in the Portal, but I have too much else to do. Are there resources available?

12. What, if any, relationship is there between the NASA public Portal and other NASA internal Portals?

13. How will dynamic/data-driven/frequently-updated content be handled by the Portal?

14. When content goes into the Portal, can we have access to it in order to publish it elsewhere?

15. How will our technical folks be expected to support this?

16. How quickly can content be posted? Within minutes? Hours? Days?

17. Can we post our Portal-destined content as XML and have the Portal just harvest that information?

18. How will information be cited? Will there be "by-lines", credits, etc.?

19. How can I help make the Portal a success?

20. When should I start thinking about moving my content over?

21. How do I make sure my current content gets spidered and indexed by the Portal search engine? How do I make sure my content is ranked appropriately?

22. Our current web site is generated as a "labor of love", the folks who create it have done so largely under "other duties as assigned". How do you propose we encourage folks like this to relinquish their content for publication elsewhere?

23. What were the criteria for determining the "top 20" web sites to be converted by May 1? What criteria are being used for the next set of sites to be converted?

24. Does the HQ Office of Public Affairs plan to offer any help to organizations that currently have no web site or web expertise?

25. Does the HQ Office of Public Affairs plan to offer any editing/writing help to scientific organizations (for example, educational institutions) to help them create content that is suitable for the Portal?

26. Presuming that some web sites will continue to publish some public information in parallel with the Portal, what efforts will be made to make sure that content on both sites is consistent?

27. Who are the Editorial Board members? What is their job? How were they selected?

28. Who is the contractor for this project?

29. Where will the Portal be hosted?

30. What are the technologies being used for the Portal?

31. Are there any plans to integrate the Portal with other Agency Portals or NASA-supported public web initiatives (Observatorium, GLOBE, etc.)?

32. Will the Portal contractor be able to provide technical support to us or our technical support teams?

1. What is the NASA Public Web Portal?
The NASA Public Web Portal is the "entry point" to the Agency for the public. The Portal is NASA's public face on the Internet.

2. How does the NASA Public Web Portal work?

• Content geared to the public is culled from across the Agency and added into specific topic categories within the Portal. The NASA Public Portal Editorial Board decides whether this content is approved for publication as well as determine its proper placement within the site.
• The Portal consists of a managed Agency web site that is completely managed by a Content Management System, a powerful Search Engine, a Personalization Engine, and a Streaming Media Service within a scalable hosting environment.

3. Who will manage the Portal?
All The Portal content and policies will be managed by an Editorial Board. The Chief Editor will make decisions about the top-level and the News and Features sections.

4. How will the Portal "showcase the best of NASA's diverse content"
The Portal will use cutting-edge technology and thoughtfully created content to put NASA in the best light possible.

5. How can I get my content into the Portal?

• All NASA public content will be spidered and indexed by the Portal search tool
• When you're ready to serve public content via the Portal, there are three ways to get your content into the Portal:
  • Direct entry using the CMS
  • Importation of existing web site content
  • Syndication or subscription via pre-approved methods for pre-approved content
• Additionally, affinity levels have been set for sites that won't easily conform to the Portal IA. This typically means the use of standardized banners, etc. to create a similar "look and feel" to the Portal.

6. Are all public NASA Web sites being taken over by the Portal?
All NASA public content that is for general public consumption should eventually find a home in the Portal. This does not preclude the existence of other web sites with information targeted to a more technical audience, information that is idiosyncratic or information that is difficult to integrate with the Portal (dynamic sites, etc.)

7. What about material for researchers?
Research-related data is not currently published on the Public Portal.

8. I run a Web site with some content for the public, but other content for a research team and other audiences. What about that?
If you have content hosted on your current site that would be of interest to the general public, that information should be managed through the Portal.

9. Are all NASA sites going to adopt the Portal's look and feel?
The goal is for all NASA Public Web sites to adopt a similar look and feel to the Portal.

10. I'd like to provide content to the Portal, but I still have to keep my site up to date. Will I have to publish twice? How will data be kept "in sync"?
Depending on your approach, you shouldn't have to publish twice:

• Option 1 - ask that your site be imported and begin using the CMS to manage the content. This is the holistic approach.
• Option 2 - set up a Portal "syndication" or "publication" process by which the content and all necessary meta-data is pushed to the Portal (or pulled from the Portal?) on a regular schedule.
• Option 3 - Begin posting all "new" content to the Portal via the CMS and if necessary, request a "content feed" from the portal to your site which is subsequently posted on the old site automatically.

11. I'd like to take an active role in the Portal, but I have too much else to do. Are there resources available?
Personnel resource requirements have been requested and gathered from the Editorial Board members representing all the Centers and Enterprises.

12. What, if any, relationship is there between the NASA public Portal and other NASA internal Portals?
Where appropriate the portals will reference each other. In general the audiences are distinct and serve different audiences.

13. How will dynamic/data-driven/frequently-updated content be handled by the Portal?
The Portal infrastructure has the capability of handling application tools, however the availability of this feature is cost-driven and isn't in the scope of the current fixed-price contract. This capability is forecast for FY04 and beyond.

14. When content goes into the Portal, can we have access to it in order to publish it elsewhere?
Portal content will be stored in a database behind a firewall at Sprint. Server to server automatic syndication of content from within the Portal can be made available on a case by case basis.

15. How will our technical folks be expected to support this?
Technical leads and technical POCs at the centers and within the Enterprises should interface with their Editorial Board Member to determine level of support required to support the Portal.

16. How quickly can content be posted? Within minutes? Hours? Days?
Content will be posted automatically and periodically upon approval within the CMS. This interval is less than 10 minutes, this interval is determined by NASA.

17. Can we post our Portal-destined content as XML and have the Portal just harvest that information?
Content will be harvested for pre-approved content which conforms to the Portal schema.

18. How will information be cited? Will there be "by-lines", credits, etc.?
Author and NASA Official are noted in the footer of each page, and additional credits may be given as appropriate as determined by the content creator.

19. How can I help make the Portal a success?

• Publish content to the Portal.
• For technical folks, the most effective means of helping to make the Portal a success, is by working closely with your Editorial Board member to surface and resolve technical and content-related issues that may impair the successful deployment and operation of the Portal.

20. When should I start thinking about moving my content over?
As of June 12, all content owners/providers will be encouraged to submit content for inclusion into the Portal. The mechanisms and authorizations for providing content will be determined by the appropriate Editorial Board member.

21. How do I make sure my current content gets spidered and indexed by the Portal search engine? How do I make sure my content is ranked appropriately?
All public nasa.gov sites will be eventually spidered and indexed. If you want to get an early start on getting your content into the search portal, please send an email with your URL to: nasa-support@etouch.net. The most effective method for making sure content is ranked appropriately is by entering the content into the Portal - all Portal content requires that meta-data be entered and the search tool will increasingly rely on meta-data to refine the search results.

22. Our current web site is generated as a "labor of love", the folks who create it have done so largely under "other duties as assigned". How do you propose we encourage folks like this to relinquish their content for publication elsewhere?
The labor isn't necessarily the end product, the number of folks that get exposed to the content they are working on is usually the focus. Because of this, content providers should be excited about the prospect of having a larger audience for the content that is "near and dear" to them. Sites that had content linked to from the Portal in February had on average x number of hits greater than sites that were not.

23. What were the criteria for determining the "top 20" web sites to be converted by May 1? What criteria are being used for the next set of sites to be converted?
Sites that were designated by the Portal Manager as sites which contain public information in a "news" format or highly-visible NASA projects.

24. Does the HQ Office of Public Affairs plan to offer any help to organizations that currently have no web site or web expertise?
The HQ Office of Public Affairs Internet Services Group will provide some ad hoc assistance

25. Does the HQ Office of Public Affairs plan to offer any editing/writing help to scientific organizations (for example, educational institutions) to help them create content that is suitable for the Portal?
The Portal Editorial Board decides which content is appropriate for the portal. Content from institutions and organizations wishing to participate in the Portal will be reviewed for appropriateness. The Office of Public Affairs is not funded to provide any significant editorial or writing assistance.

26. Presuming that some web sites will continue to publish some public information in parallel with the Portal, what efforts will be made to make sure that content on both sites is consistent?
The recommended approach for keeping sites that publish the same information in different ways is to work with eTouch to develop a mechanism for syndicating or creating a "publication channel" that is automated. In most cases, the use of XML to do this is the best solution. See FAQ #10.

27. Who are the Editorial Board members? What is their job? How were they selected?
Members:

• Publisher: Glenn Mahone
• Editor in Chief: Brian Dunbar
• Aerospace Technology Enterprise: Tony Springer
• Biological and Physical Research Enterprise: Alex Pline
• Earth Science Enterprise: Jo McGowan/Sharron Sample
• Education Enterprise: Nitin Naik, Shelley Canright, Adena Loston
• Space Science Enterprise : Craig Tupper
• Space Flight Enterprise: Alotta Taylor
• Ames Research Center: Jonas Dino
• Dryden Research Center: Robert Binkley
• Goddard Space Flight Center: Rachel Weintraub
• Glenn Research Center: David DeFelice
• JPL: Susan Watanabe
• Kennedy Space Center: Dennis Armstrong
• Langley Research Center: Bob Allen
• Marshall Space Flight Center: Jim Pruitt
• Stennis Space Center: Paul Foerman
• Johnson Space Center: Cathy Watson

• The role of the EB members is to facilitate and manage the publication of NASA content through the Portal.
• Editorial Board members were appointed by either Enterprise or Center senior management.

28. Who is the contractor for this project?
eTouch, Incorporated. (http://www.etouch.net) under sub-contract to JPL.

29. Where will the Portal be hosted?
The Portal and all required hardware and software will be hosted on servers provided through a contract at Sprint. There will be two facilities one on the East and one on the West Coast.

30. What are the technologies being used for the Portal?

• Linux OS running Apache web servers
• BEA WebLogic Express (Search Server)
• Digital Asset Management (DAM) - Content management tool (eTouch software heavily customized)
• ORACLE backend database for DAM
• Urchin - Weblog analyzer
• Ramp - 508 Compliance tool
• Epicentric - Personalization engine for myNASA
• Verity K2/Enterprise & Intelligent Classifier - Search tool

31. Are there any plans to integrate the Portal with other Agency Portals or NASA-supported public web initiatives (Observatorium, GLOBE, etc.)?
None at this time. However, integration with other application-based web sites is planned for next year.

32. Will the Portal contractor be able to provide technical support to us or our technical support teams?

• Technical support is limited to a help desk which will take questions about the CMS from 6am EDT to 6pm PDT
• Training on the CMS will be provided to all content submitters, editorial board members and Portal stakeholders.
• Support for integrating content via any of the three methods will be provided.

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