The services provided by the GPA Digital Help Desk have been reduced effective July 1. The 24/7/365 Help Desk that GPA has maintained in the past will continue to publish time-sensitive alerts and messages that protect American citizens’ safety. Sections locked for administrative access will also continue to be updated by the GPA Help Desk. Other website updates, including routine alerts and messages, will be the responsibility of mission staff. If you haven’t done so yet, please designate a backup web manager so your website stays up to date when the primary web manager is unavailable.
Through August 15 the Web Team will respond to routine Help Desk requests with instructions for web managers to complete the update. After August 15 no support will be available for routine updates to the website – even in the absence of a web manager at post.
On this page:
Why was Help Desk Support reduced?
What will the Help Desk continue to do?
What are we asking missions to do?
Help Desk support during the transition: July 1 – August 15
Help Desk support: After August 15
What if my post doesn’t have a web manager or my web manager is on leave?
Why was Help Desk support reduced?
The following provides background information on the decision to reduce Help Desk support for mission websites:
- GPA’s budget hasn’t changed in the last three years, while demands and costs have risen annually. GPA requested additional funding from BP, but received no increase.
- WB has relied on supplemental funding from R, but funding is not available this year.
- WB must reduce its costs by about 20% within FY22 and in future years.
- As part of this budget reduction, WB is shifting work from contractors to FTEs, which means fewer resources are available to support mission sites.
We recognize this change to longstanding practice will negatively affect missions. We are appealing to you to take on more tasks for your websites to ensure the future viability and security of all 190 mission sites.
What will the Help Desk continue to do?
In addition to maintaining sections locked for administrative access, the Help Desk will publish time-sensitive alerts and messages that protect American citizens’ safety, such as:
- Travel advisories
- Security alerts
- Demonstration alerts
- Health alerts
- Weather alerts
- Suspension of operations notices
- Natural disaster alerts
This support will continue to be available 24/7/365. Continue to send these requests to GPADigitalHelp@state.gov.
What are we asking missions to do?
With the exception of the areas outlined above, missions are responsible for managing their websites. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Non-time sensitive messages to U.S. citizens (voter registration, tax deadlines, etc.)
- Consular services
- Leadership updates
- Hours of operation
- Embassy holiday closure announcements
Help Desk Support During the Transition: July 1 – August 15
- Through August 15 non-time sensitive update requests submitted to the Help Desk will be routed to WB FTE Staff
- Due to reduced resources and a large volume of requests, responses may not be sent for several days.
- WB staff will provide instructional support to help you complete your update. WB staff will not complete these requests.
- The goal of this period is to empower web managers to maintain their mission sites.
Help Desk Support After August 15
After August 15 no support will be available for routine updates to the website. The Help Desk will continue updating locked sections of the website in addition to publishing time-sensitive alerts and messages that protect American citizens’ safety, as outlined above.
What if my post doesn’t have a web manager or my web manager is on leave?
Until August 15, FTE WB staff will publish content on behalf of missions without a web manager.
After August 15, routine updates will no longer be fulfilled on behalf of missions – even in the absence of a web manager. Therefore, it is imperative missions designate and train a primary and backup web manager to publish content before the August 15 deadline.
Resources for Web Managers
Note: Users must be logged into a FAN.gov account to access recordings. Recordings are also available in the #GPA-MWP-Users Slack channel.
