Using the Web site

Viewing

Please note that the Web site is best viewed with a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels or higher.

Navigating

Towards the top of the main window are a series of tabs eg "About Ridgeway". Clicking on these causes generic information (like this) to be displayed. The individual functions of the tabs should be fairly self-explanatory.

Below these tabs is the main window panel (like this one) in the centre, the content of which changes as you navigate around the site. To the left and right of this panel are smaller panels which have specific functions.

To the left of the main window panel at the top is a photograph of Ridgeway selected randomly from the Picture Gallery.  Below this is the Navigation panel which gives access to links that mainly provide reference information about Ridgeway Village. Links on this list should be fairly self-explanatory. Note that some links have sub-links below them which can be expanded by clicking on the item.

Of particular interest to people who have left Ridgeway might be the Ex-pats page on the Navigation panel.  We would like to encourage any ex-pats who are not on the list to send us information about themseves as indicated on the page.  Also, please e-mail us any changes or news about yourself, especially changes in contact details (e-mail addresses).  Also, perhaps you would let us know if you are trying to find old friends or other ex-pats.  We'll flag all new ex-pats, changes, and requests for information via the News page.

The Navigation panel also includes the Guestbook which can be used for various purposes as described in that section.

To the right of the main window panel at the top is the Local News panel which gives the titles of the three latest news postings on the site. If you put your mouse pointer over any of these entries you will be given more information about the item. Clicking on the item itself will display the full text of the item. Clicking on More... at the bottom of the panel will display all news items (as will clicking on the news item in the Navigation menu). If you have some news about Ridgeway which you would like to be included here, please e-mail details to news@ridgewayvillage.org.uk. Note that the Local News panel is not shown if there are no current news items.

Directly below is the Calendar which shows the current month, with today's date enclosed in a blue square. You can move between months by clicking on the arrows at the top. Dates for which there is a current event are highlighted in blue. Putting your mouse pointer above such a date provides a summary of the events happening on that day. Clicking on the date itself will link you to the associated event on the Events page.

Below the news panel is the Upcoming Events panel which lists the titles of the three latest Ridgeway events which have been reported to us. If you put your mouse pointer over any of these entries you will be given full information about the event. Clicking on More... at the bottom of the panel will take you to the Events page which gives details of all current events (you can also access this by clicking in the Events link in the Navigation panel). If you know of an upcoming event in Ridgeway which you would like to be included here, please e-mail details to events@ridgewayvillage.org.uk. Note that the Upcoming Events panel is not shown if there are no current event items.

Directly below is the BBC Regional News panel which provides links to the three most recent news stories from the BBC's Web site for this region of the country. Note that this is a dynamic link to the BBC site which changes with time: indeed you might well see it change while you are using the web site! Clicking on *More..." will take you to a page which gives a full list of current news items.

Downloading Files

In various areas of the Web site we offer the facility to download to your PC documents which have been provided by various contributors.  These documents are all in Portable Document Format or PDF.  In order to view them you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.  If this isn't already on your PC, you can download it for free from Adobe.  We are conscious that visitors to the Ridgeway Web site will have different Internet connection speeds, typically dial-up or "broadband", the latter being up to ten times faster than the former. Therefore, against each download, we show the file size in kilobytes (Kbytes) so as to give an idea of how long it might take to download the file.  Typically, a dial-up Internet connection will provide a download speed of about 250 Kbytes per minute, so that a file of size 1000 Kbytes would take about four minutes to download.  But, with a broadband connection, we can support download speeds up to about 1500 Kbytes per minute, so such a file could be downloaded in well less than a minute.

Help

Last, but not least, if you need any help with accessing the site, please e-mail help@ridgewayvillage.org.uk.