InnerSelf

InnerSelf News

November 2nd, 2011:  Another major overhaul... 

* We have changed the "look" of InnerSelf providing a more stream-lined experience.

* We have added (and are still in the process of adding) graphics to the article and sections.

* The article submission area has been redone and simplified.

* We are adding "current issues" articles and videos to our Social & Political area daily.

* We have provided links to funnies in our "Funny After All" section (also in the Social & Political section)

* As of earlier this year, we have resumed our weekly newsletter which brings you the new articles posted to the website for the week (with the exception of the daily updates to Social & Political. Those can be seen by visiting that section daily.) Subscribe to the newsletter using the box on the left hand side of every page.

We wil keep you posted as other changes and upgrades take place.

Prior News:

InnerSelf has been online since 1996 and has gone through several transitions. We are adding new features to the articles, an interactive community section, and a new store.

The current website at InnerSelf.com has had some server crashes and some of the features are no longer working. Rather than trying to fix the old software, we have used our resources to bring you a new and improved site. InnerSelf.com will be rerouted to the new server once we have all the new features installed.

We will keep this page updated as new features come online. (updated April 17th, 2007)

New Hardware:

1. New servers. In the past we relied on one fast webserver that was upgraded every year or so. Lots of work and if it failed, InnerSelf.com was down. Now we have split the parts between webservers, database server, mail server. Now we can improve performance, as needed, by merely adding new servers to the web cluster.

WHAT NEW FEATURES are being considered?

Website:

1. Select your own template (choice of colors and widths) (not yet active)
2. Easy "one button" access to change font size on website (not yet active)
3. Article menu with more detailed categories (in progress)
4. Listing of "most popular" articles (active)
5. RSS feed to load into your browser news reader. Feature InnerSelf articles on your own website. (Active/Subscribe)
6. Manage your subscription to the Daily Inspiration (active)
7. There will be no obnoxious and deceptive 3rd party advertising. All advertising will be strictly controlled by InnerSelf :) (done)
8. Google ads will continue. We have found their ads to be "content-related" and generally useful and unobstrusive. (active)
9. New easy method to handle your donations (active )
10. The ability to advertise directly on InnerSelf and manage your account. Supervised of course. (not yet active)

Newsletters:

1. Newsletters and The Daily Inspiration are now delivered straight from the InnerSelf server rather than bounced from our local computers. This should allow for faster and more reliable service. Daily Inspiration active, InnerSelf Newsletter resuming soon.
2. You can now manage your own subscription information. You can change your email, which newsletters you want to subscribe or unsubscribe, without interrupting your service. (active)
3. In the future you will be able to select the type (ie: html/text, text only, or pda version). (not yet active)

Articles:

1. Easy print button   (active)
2. "Send to a friend" feature (active)
3. PDF format (not yet active)
4. Comment section at the end of each article (active)
5. Articles will have a link for "related articles" (not yet active)
6. Previous and Next links to facilitate browsing through a category (active - below the comment section)
7. We will be adding many more new articles (in progress)
8. Improved search capabilities (active)

Community Section (not yet online):

1. Forum for ongoing "discussions" between readers
2. Ability for the InnerSelf community to submit articles for InnerSelf and once approved, authors can edit their own article(s)
3. Interactive polls
4. Audio and Video capable
5. Add a Link to your website or blog
6. Submit favorite websites links on InnerSelf
7. A user interactive calendar to keep InnerSelf readers informed of coming events

Holistic Politics (online): HolisticPolitics.com

1. Forums (not yet active)
2. Incoming news feeds (Over 2000 online) Latest feeds from New York Times, Google, Yahoo, Washington Post, Reuters, National Public Radio, CBC., BBC and more. (active) News Feeds are here
3. Ability of users to submit news (not yet active)
4. Preapproved user blogs (not yet active)
5. Resource Links (active)
6. Interactive polls

InnerSelf Store (online, but still in progress):

1. Easier way to access & buy books and products sold by InnerSelf (active)
2. Payment by major credit cards as well as PayPal (active)
3. Currency conversion (see item prices in US $ as well as your currency)
4. Instant shipping fees calculator (active)
5. Real time tracking on orders
6. Ability to save items in your basket for later purchase (active)

COMMENTS?

Please submit your feedback and suggestions using the comment form below. Comments will be visible to all readers and therefore stimulate a "brainstorming" of ideas. Let us know which of the above proposed changes you like or any you feel are unnecessary. Also suggest other features you think would be of benefit to the readers of InnerSelf.

The InnerSelf website is for you the readers, so please participate to help make it an even better site. Thank you.