Classified Ads introduced

I have been running this internet site for over 3 years now at no cost to the viewers. This is my first attempt to make some money from this website. However, I will not be lighting my cigars with dollar bills just yet. Any amount I can make to help defray the cost of running my office will be appreciated.

To stimulate the use of the classified ad section, all classified ads will be free until April 1. After that, ads will be priced competively to other media outlets. One week is $3, two weeks is $5, and one month is $10.

Announcements of a community nature such as weddings, births, and special community events will remain free. Personal ads or ads of a suggestive nature will not be accepted. All ads will be reviewed for content before they are published on this website. An invoice is automatically emailed to the submitter after the ad is accepted.

If you wish to place an ad, you must first register as a subscriber. This is a one time event. After you are registered as a subscriber, you do not need to re-register to place an ad. You must use your email address as your user identification for two reasons. The first is so that correspondence can be sent to those who place an ad. Secondly, fraudulent or fake email addresses will be filtered out so that only serious users are accepted.

An attractive feature of the ads is the ability to include a picture with the ad to improve the marketability of the item being advertised. In addition, an ad can be changed online by the submitter of the ad.

If anyone has any problems registering themselves or in placing an ad, send me an email describing the problem. I have been testing the system for over 2 months now and, hopefully, there are no bugs remaining. However, I have been in this business long enough to know that bugs can still crop up even after exhaustive testing.

For those of you who are technically inclined, I designed the classified ad section using Microsoft's NET framework system which has many features that allow the creation of sophisicated web pages. The system has rekindled my desire to write computer programs again. There is so much potential for the use of the internet that it literally boggles my mind. I don't know which to do first.

I want to thank James Weistart of Rochester, IL who helped shake down the classified ad system for me. Jim is a retired computer worker and provided me with many excellent suggestions in designing the system. I also want to thank Jim and his brother John Weistart for their donation to help purchase the two 12 foot display cases for the MinonkTalk office. I am looking for people to lend their old Minonk artifacts to put in the display cases for the upcoming sesquicentennial celebration the weekend of June 11-13.

To go the classified ad section, click here. Good luck everyone!