Commentary
eNews Park Forest has a new look.
The site was recently updated to the most recent Content Management System (CMS). This update was very labor-intensive. It was not simply a matter of upgrading the software. The upgrade required a migration of the database.
What does that mean?
If you’re familiar with word processing, imagine converting a Microsoft Word document to Word Perfect. The conversion is simple but necessary. Each word processing program interprets the data in the page differently.
That’s the situation we faced in making this major upgrade, except on a much larger scale. Image converting several thousand Word documents all at once, and then making sure they all go in the right folders on your desktop.
It was a bit involved.
We’re happy to announce, however, that the upgrade is largely complete. The “behind the scenes” picture is very nice. As you read articles, you’ll note the clean template and a few new features.
We were able to bring along all comments readers had made on respective articles. However, the comment component we’re using is actually different, and very robust. In the near future, look for an online business directory. eNews Park Forest will offer a free business listings with added features for a modest fee. Our site exceptionally transparent to the search engines, and our page rank guarantees that our content shows up on major search engines quickly.
If you wrote blog entries, they are here as well, but we could not bring the previous blogging component along for the upgrade. So, we added a new one. If you login to the site, you will see a button on the new User Menu that appears where you can click and write a blog entry.
Please tell us what’s on your mind.
The face of journalism has changed completely. The advent of the Internet has forced the media to continuously reinvent itself, and as more and more of our colleagues in the media continue to move toward their own “New Face of eNews,” we’re exceptionally pleased that our community-based grassroots news project is so successful. We are very much a part of the future of journalism.
Still, I had to chuckle over the weekend when a friend shared his lament that there is no local media in Park Forest. My friend is well aware of eNews Park Forest, and I’m only left to guess at what he meant. But we’re the “real deal,” so to speak. As publisher I’m proud to say, with memberships in the Inland Press Association, the Online News Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists, this return to community-based journalism has been a great ride so far. And I look forward to the coming year.
We’re entering our own election season in Park Forest, and we intend to be there telling our readers exactly what’s going on.
We are, after all, the new face of eNews.
