UF extension Web site provides 'Solutions for Your Life'

January 23, 2014

Need gardening tips? Hoping to manage your family finances better? Worried about E. coli infections?

You can get answers from Solutions for Your Life, a Web site sponsored by University of Florida’s extension service. Located at www.solutionsforyourlife.com, the Web site provides Floridians with a one-stop source of information on family life, gardening, agriculture, the environment and other topics.

The site isn’t meant to replace direct contact with extension offices, but it supplements their services, said Liz Felter, extension faculty content development and training manager.

Contents include timely feature articles, how-to publications, an events calendar, a database of frequently asked questions, employment opportunities, links to relevant agencies and institutions, and contact information for extension offices in each of Florida’s 67 counties.

New information and features are added regularly. One recent addition is Bug Bytes, which provides basic information about Florida’s more common insects and other arthropods.

Launched last May, Solutions for Your Life has rapidly grown in popularity.

“The success has been tremendous,” Felter said.

Initially the site received about 4,000 visits per month, but in October that number had climbed to 71,000.

Reviewers who evaluated the site gave it high marks for layout and content, she said. Other land-grant institutions consider Solutions for Your Life a model for similar outreach efforts.

The Web site emphasizes material that could be useful anywhere in Florida. Information specific to individual counties – such as schedules for workshops, meetings and volunteer opportunities – is available from county extension offices.

Extension is the public-outreach segment of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, where experts take research findings and explain their applications to consumers and industry professionals.