Its your turn to update MinonkTalk

For this website to be truly a community website its content must come from the community and be maintained by the community. This week MinonkTalk embarks on a new venture by enlisting the input of you the viewer to provide content for this website. New webpages have been designed to allow you to submit your own articles, photographs, announcements, etc.

In the past, I would take whatever input is provided by a viewer whether it be a photograph, an email, or an announcement, and re-enter it into a webpage so that could be displayed on the internet. This procedure is time consuming and somewhat cumbersome. To eliminate this bottle neck, I am requesting you the viewer to submit your information through these special webpages that are defined below. By doing this, you can reduce my workload considerably. But more importantly, you can now interact directly with this website without having to send everything to me by email.

The most important aspect of this new update feature is that we as a community can now collectively maintain a website. These new webpages will guide you through the steps it takes to place information on this website and allow you to become a reporter.

You will notice that there is a new menu item at the top of the webpages entitled Viewe Updates. This the item to click on allow viewers to submit articles to this website. To further understand the changes that are being implemented, I suggest that you click on this link and read the help infomation for entering updates to this website. Below I will summarize the changes that are being implemented.

Alumni updates: The alumni updating has been automated so that you can make your own changes directly. These changes will take place immediately rather than having to wait a week or two for me to manually make the changes. In addition, you now will be able to add much more data about you life style or current status. Up to 300 words can be submitted as compared to 50 words previously allowed. Also, you can upload a picture of you or your spouse or family. For those who want to have a mini-blog or a venue for announcing changes in your life, updates to the Alumni section may be the answer. To make your changes, go to this link and enter your name in the Search Name box and hit the Display button. When you record is displayed, click on the Update link.

I recommend that those who are listed in the Alumni section, to review their record and make any changes or additions. On your first update, you will be asked to enter a password. It is important that you make note of this password so that you can make changes in the future. Your alumni updates will be published within 24 hours of submission to give me time to review them.

Community Webpages: Community webpages can now be created and maintained by individuals for themselves or for an organization. These webpages can be designed online and can be edited for format in much the same way that you edit a form or letter using your favorite text editor. The community webpages can be changed or updated by the originator at any time. Any time a webpage is changed, it will be noted on this website so our viewers are aware of the changes.

Community webpages will be ideal for organizations such as churches, social organizations, and schools. Each community webpage will have a built in calendar in which announcements can be made.

Individuals can use the community webpage feature to create their own blog. A blog is a webpage that allows the authors to submit their own announcements, comments, pictures, etc. Blogs can be a good way to let people know of a vacation you took, a promotion you received, or a new home you built, etc. To create your own community webpage or individual blog, go to this link.

Birthdays and Anniversaries: The event calendar has been updated to include birthdays and anniversaries. I recommend everyone to enter their birthday in the event calendar to provide a fun feature for this website in which everyone knows whose birthday is today. To enter your birthday, go to the following link and click on the button next to the Webpage Categories box and select Birthdays. After entering your birthday, it will be shown on the Event calendar.

Updating MinonkTalk webpages:Now the viewer will be able to update the many webpages on the MinonkTalk website by going to the following
link and selecting the on the appropriate webpage update from the Webpage Categories dropdown box. The following webpages may now be updated directly by the viewer - Alumni, Birthdays, Births, Events, Email, Gardening, Internet stuff, Jokes, Lost-Found, News story, Obituary, Photographs, Recipes, Stories and Sports News.
When you submit an article, you will be given a reference number that you can use to change the article later before it is published. Normally, articles will be put on this website 24 hours after they are submitted.

I encourage everyone to try their hand in updating the MinonkTalk website through the features described above. This will be the great experiment to see if Minonk can be the first truly community supported website in the country. Let us continue to be the trail blazer for the other communities. I will be reducing my input into the website for the summer as I have to tend to my software business. I will discontinue my editorials until September. However, I encourage our viewers to submit an editorial.

One last thing. Do not be afraid to try to submit something to this website. You will not break the computer or bring down the internet. This is your chance to help make MinonkTalk the best community website anywhere. Don't let me down. If everyone participates in this venture, it will be fun for everyone and definitely will make this website more interesting because everyone always wants to know what everyone else is doing. Don't worry if your article or webpage will look right. Content is the most important thing and you will improve with practice.

Finally, all input will be reviewed by me before it is released to the internet. So don't try to slip something by that is inappropriate for this website because it will be rejected. Have fun everyone!