Editor: Dave Uphoff
This week marks the start of the 5th year for the MinonkTalk web site. It is hard to believe that
four years have gone by since the first editorial was written on January 21, 2001. Four years is the
time it takes to go through high school or get a college degree. In a way, it probably takes four years
to receive an education in how to run a web site.
During this time I have tried to forge a concept of what the goals and purpose of a
community web site should be. The main purpose for starting this web site was to provide a
community forum for local issues. I believe that the web site has achieved this purpose. Based on the
number of hits that have been tracked for each different web page on this site, the most popular is
the email section. This suggests that people are interested in ideas and opinions more than just
the rote reporting of news. This is heartening to me as it shows that people are interested in community
affairs even if they don't want to actively participate. The latter observation is something I would like to change.
I have been working hard to come up with newly designed web pages that are professional in appearance and
easy to read and navigate. The redesign of the home page was introduced 2 months ago. In the next
few months I will be introducing newly designed web pages for other sections as well. However, the
biggest change that I will be introducing is a web page that allows you, the viewer, to submit your own
articles, photos, news events, births, recipes and other items of interest. Instead of emailing me
this information, there will be a form for each different type of web information in which the author can
enter the information on a simple web page form.
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There are two reasons for introducing this new web based input form. First, it will save me time
from having to copy and paste the information from an email into the appropriate web page and then
having to tweek the web page so it looks right. Secondly, by simplifying the submission of information
to this web site, it hopefully will encourage more people to provide input to the web site.
The new web design soon to be released will allow nontechnical users, which constitute 90% of the
viewers, to be able to create their own web pages without having to learn any new syntax or be familar
with HTML code which is the language behind all web pages. Hopefully, this will allow the creation of more
new web pages for this web site. For example, each church, organization, or business could have their
own web page that can be continually updated by the person(s) responsible for reporting its news.
The process could be as simple as copying and pasting from a Word document into a text box on a web page.
The purpose behind this new design is to truly make this web site one that is
run by the community and not just by me. Therefore, I want any organization in the Minonk area to seriously
consider starting up a web page that they can use to report their events or news on this web site.
In a few weeks, I will be releasing more information on how you can create and maintain your own web page.
As the web site start its fifth year, I encourage feedback from our viewers for suggested improvements and
changes. I want to thank those who have contributed to this web site and hope that more will contribute
when the new version of MinonkTalk is released next month.
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To reply to this editorial please send your comments to
Your letter will be published in the email section. Viewers
are welcome to submit a guest editorial.
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