Shedding Light Online

Officially relaunched Friday, November 6, 2009.

This new website allows us to do a lot of the multimedia things larger information providers do (i.e. breaking news, audio, video, etc.) while tying into our other social networking sites, back end processes and payment systems.

This doesn't mean we're "going online only" or that our staff will transition into "bloggers." For one, we're too busy to post things that you already know, like "it's raining outside" (although our weather update is probably the most popular portion of the site). No, print is still our game, but we feel this will offer readers added value, convenience for those trying to get a hold of us and a place to commune online.

The plan is to allow commenting by registered users -- this means no anonymous postings. What we've noticed and, in Steven Youngblood's case, wrote about in the past is the tendency to abuse the comments section. Most comments start off negative -- which is fine...we can handle criticism -- then they turn crass, then they turn racist or sexist within about 10 posts. That, or the board gets spammed out of existence.

To that end, we're asking our commenters to register with Google (look, it's inevitable and they do offer a lot of great stuff to web surfers) and to do so with their real names (your online handle can be whatever you wish) so people can be held accountable for their posts. We don't want to spend an inordinate amount of time policing or moderating these boards, we're just looking to share opinions and ideas with one another.

Over the next few weeks we'll be adding more functionality and our archives to the site. Should you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comment space below or contact our publisher, Mark Vasto via e-mail: mark at parkvilleluminary.com. Thanks for visiting!