I don’t like to brag, but… actually sometimes I really do.

I’m really proud and excited to be able to announce the launch of ONE/Northwest’s largest and most complex web project yet — www.sightline.org, the new website of Sightline Institute, the sustainability think-tank formerly known as Northwest Environment Watch. (And our downstairs neighbors, I might add.)

The site looks pretty snazzy, of course (thanks to the graphic design work of Pat Snavely and Sightline volunteers and the CSS lovin’ of our indispensible consultant Trey Beck) and it’s got a ton of amazing content about what it’s gonna take to build a more sustainble future for our region. And of course, behind the polished look and the sparkling prose is a powerful dose of Plone.

Here’s a quick rundown on some of the more wonktastic bits:

• A passel of custom content types, which give Sightline the ability to seamlessly handle multiple versions of maps, graphic images and publications.
• Complex custom layouts based on database queries, alongside a sophisticated navigation scheme.
• A full-featured multi-author blog, the content from which Sightline features alongside longer more “formal” pieces.
• “Premium” content for registered users only (hey, gotta offer something shiny to get folks to cough up their email addresses!), powered by Plone’s best-of-breed workflow engine.
• Site member data is stored on-the-fly into the WhatCounts email broadcasting platform via their web services API, which lets Sightline send out targeted email updates to site members with content that can be customized based on member interests.
• We’re even using PlonePortlets, which gives the Sightline website team the ability to drag-and-drop sidebar elements into position. That, combined with Plone’s already-legendary usability, makes the daily routine of writing and posting content to the site a pleasure rather than a chore.
• An added bonus: we now offset the greenhouse gas emissions of our web servers by purchasing Green Tags, so Sightline is able to push those pixels without warming the globe too much.

All of this web wonkery is pretty neat. But what’s even more exciting to me is the fact that Sightline’s new website is almost literally the beating heart of the organization.

Being a thinktank is all about communicating effectively, and Sightline’s new website is their main communications channel to the media, to regional decisionmakers and to the public at large. Sightline.org provides a beautiful and powerful showcase for some of the best thinkers and writers in the Northwest environmental movement. I’m extremely proud of the work they’re doing, and of ONE/Northwest’s role in helping them do it bigger, faster and louder than ever before.

Finally, I need to end this post with a hearty shout out to my colleague Andrew Burkhalter, who poured his heart and soul into this project over the past few months. Sightline.org was (is!) a massive project with a thousand little fussy details, and Andrew did an amazing job of pushing the tools right out to the bleeding edge to deliver. I’m humbled and awed by his talent.