Stroke Network Highlights

by Steve Mallory

March has brought change not only in the weather but to our message board. The warmer temperatures are already evident in my home state of Maryland and my body cannot wait for the temperature to heat it up naturally. I am trying to make our web site as interactive with the members, as possible, so volunteers, or lack of thereof, are not the reason that the site is not updated regularly.

I want to speak first about the Gallery. The Gallery has always been a site feature but the method which photographs were added was limited to personal photographs of members. The previous Gallery was embedded within the site and most likely one of the least visited areas of our entire web site. Now, you click the Gallery link on the message board and you will find a number of Gallery forums, which are themes for members to add pictures to and any length description to tell everyone what that particular picture is about. You can show everyone pictures of a younger you, family vacations or even your bio. Bios can be typed in the description and then your personal photograph added. The nice thing is that you can do this all, and automatically -- within seconds you can add any number of pictures.

You can see that I have added many of the existing bios to the new Gallery. If you do not have digital photographs to add here your best bet is to take pictures to a local Wal-Mart, or some place equivalent, and for a minimal fee they can provide you back with a cd of digital photographs that you can share with friends and family. Getting digital pictures are no longer the hassle of the past.

What does a gallery have to do with stroke support?

It has EVERYTHING to do with! Many of us have been supporting each other in the forums or in chat rooms. Some of us would like to know who our friends are and know more about their family, hobbies, previous life, etc. The Gallery is the perfect way for the members of our organization to become more of a community, a community of stroke survivors and stroke caregivers. Where else can you do something like this? Instructions for adding pictures and bios can be found on the message board in a forum created for problems or feedback about the gallery in a forum call Gallery!

A second new feature is another message board link called Top Sites List. This feature previously existed and was limited to the Web Ring, only. The Top Sites has a web ring but it does several more things! It keeps a running list of sites, automatically selects a top site for you to review and allows others to rate, plus comment about the site. I understand that not everyone has a personal web page. Those of you who do should be proud of yourself and show us what you have done. Those who do not have a site can still show off by adding sites that they think may benefit other members. To add a site, go to the Top Sites link on the message board and click the Control Panel link. Just click the Add a Site link. This area has been in a preliminary state for the past week and will be upgraded in the next few days

The Stroke Network, Inc.

P.O. Box 492 Abingdon, Maryland 21009