A Few Changes Here at MMI.  You Like?

Orginally published on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 9:53 AM
by Todd Rhoades

I've made a couple changes here at the MMI website over the last few days, and just wanted to let you know about them and get your feedback. I'm one that likes change... but I realize not all website users do. Here are the changes and the reasons behind them...

1.  I’ve added a new featured “Blog of the Week” on the main MMI home page.  This week’s featured blog is PerryNoble.com.  I’ll try and change these weekly with a new blog each week that is ministry related.  You’ll find the most recent post highlighted at all times.

2.  Underneath that, I’ve added a ‘feed’ of sorts that has ten other recent links from other websites that you may (or may not) find interesting.  Essentially, this is a feed of other blogs that I really like (people like Tony Morgan, Mark Waltz, Kem Meyer, Mark Batterson; and other blogs like ChurchVideoIdeas, ChurchRelevance, ChurchMarketingSucks, and others.  What you’ll find in this section is ten of the most recent posts placed by all these blogs collectively.  That means they should update quite a bit throughout the day.  Each time you come, there should be something new for you to check out.

Here’s the underlying reason I’ve added these feeds:  Every day, I go through literally hundreds of articles, links, posts, and suggest resources to post on MMI.  I do much of this through Bloglines, Google Alerts, Reader feedback, Site Referrals, etc.  (I don’t want to give away all my secrets).  Actually, there is a lot of good stuff that just doesn’t make the cut all the time (I can’t post everything!).  So, for me, this was one way to include some other great content that constantly updates without adding to my workload.

The question is… do you like the new links?  Will you look at them?  and will you click them?  What’s your first impression?

3.  Another area I’m hoping to start beefing up is our category pages.  Our MMI archive is approaching about 1500 resources and everything is categorized and placed on a category page.  I haven’t really pushed this flexibility; and, to be honest, haven’t developed it near as much as I’d like.  You can check out any of the category pages now… just pick an area that is your passion and click on that category on the right.  You’ll find the last posts specifically on that topic; along with some featured resources (books, etc.) and a forum, where you can add your own discussion topics.  The key to filling up these category pages is to recruit some help adding content.  Over the next few weeks, you’ll notice some new names adding content in specific areas.  For example, Greg Atkinson today introduces a new column titled “Church Video Ideas” that will help us beef up our technology section.  As MMI takes on the voice of others (other than me), I’m really interested in your feedback.

4.  Lastly, I’ve added a bloglines button in the upper right of each page.  I’m planning on doing a tutorial on bloglines, but it’s a really neat way to get MMI updates and consolidate all your blogs you read in one place.  More on this later.

For now… what are your first impressions on the ‘featured blog’ and ‘other links’ section?  Something you’ll use, or not really?

You can be brutal… I’ll understand. 

Looking forward to the feedback.  Thanks for reading! 

Todd

This post has been viewed 911 times so far.


 TRACKBACKS: (1) There are 18 Comments:

Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

MondayMorningInsight.com | PO Box 446 | Bryan, OH 43506 |