Thoughts From the Front Porch

I cannot recall the exact year that StClairCountyAl.com was born but according to the Wayback Machine it was first published November 26, 1999. I was contacted by Rep. Dave Thomas to build a website that would promote St. Clair County. He wanted visitors to be able to access the site and learn about our towns and to promote our schools. I had recently decided to start learning website design and had built my first website for Epperson Realty Company in Moody for $100.00. I was eager to try my hand at building another one.

I soon found out that building StClairCountyAl.com was more than I had bargained for. I visited towns and cities gathering information and taking photographs. I was rejected by some towns completely. The mayor at Riverside told me that he did not want his town mentioned on the internet. I politely obliged his request. I met with St. Clair County Superintendent Marie Manning and she supplied me with information about our school system. I then begin the building process.

The original design was poorly done. It was red and white and proved to be of little interest to citizens or visitors. I paid a service to track website visitors and discovered that my second website averaged a whopping 10 visitors per day during the week and less than 5 per day on weekends. Rep. Dave Thomas seemed pleased with the effort but I knew that it was not a very good website and a waste of money.

The following year very little went on with the site. Few changes were made to it and the visitor count remained the same. I knew Rep. Thomas was disappointed with the numbers so I asked him if I could take over ownership of the site. He quickly agreed and I became owner of my very own website. I had no idea it would turn into a monster and an old friend.

I felt like StClairCountyAl.com would be a good place to practice website design and I could use some of the server space to practice the tricks of my trade. I had created a dinky discussion board in 1999 that I never expected anyone to use. I learned a lot creating it and that satisfied me.

Surprisingly. in 2000 Jim Burton who lived near Low Gap Methodist Church made the first post and I replied. Before long, two or three more people started posting. I named the board “The Breakfast Club” and we had a nice and friendly little board. Except for Jim Burton’s complaints that St. Clair County High needed a new school not an ill word was posted.

The site was redesigned in 2000. The site looked better though quite gaudy. The site was navy blue, green and orange in the header and on the borders. Each color blended into the other. The members of the discussion board grew gradually but still only had a few members. The site still only offered the same basic information.

In 2001-2002 nothing was added with any significance. I had added a listing of all county churches and restaurants in the county. Very few people used these pages so they did not last long. I also sold advertising space and this helped offset the cost of hosting a website.

The year 2003 turned out to be the year StClairCountyAl.com would start to show signs of becoming a decent website. I received an email from a retired school teacher named Joe Whitten. He had taught my oldest brother in high school and he offered to send me periodic history articles. I did some research and quickly learned that Joe Whitten and his wife Gail were loved and respected throughout our county. I emailed Mr. Whitten back and accepted his kind offer.

Also in 2003 Jerry Smith, who was one of the first members of “The Breakfast Club,” offered to do a series entitled “The Grouchy Glutton.” The Grouchy Glutton and his articles soon became fairly popular. Some restaurant owners hung his reviews up in their restaurant and that added visitors to StClairCountyAl.com.

Also in 2003 I met with two realtors and they verbally agreed to hire me to build a website for their new company. I needed a robust commercial product specifically designed for realtors so I purchased the product from a company called Interactive Tools for $299.00. A month later the two realtors decided not to start the company and I was stuck with a loss of nearly $300.00. I decided not to let the product go to waste; I reworked the design and coding so that it would function as a photo gallery. The gallery proved successful immediately. Many current and past citizens began submitting very good historic and modern era photos that visitors thoroughly enjoyed viewing. It became obvious at that point that StClairCountyAl.com had ceased to be my site and became a website belonging to everyone who contributed to it.

Finally in 2003 Jerry Smith contacted me about doing a second series that would be called “Driving Dixie.” This would be a series of articles describing great one day trips St. Clair County citizens could travel to that few people knew about. They were very informative and people enjoyed reading them.

In 2003 alone StClairCountyAl.com had added three new series and a popular photo gallery. The site had finally found its legs.

In 2004 another major series was added. Jerry Smith’s third and most popular series began, “The Time Machine.” The first article was first published June 28, 2004 and it was entitled “The Neighborhood Picture Show.” The series featured life in the fifties and was immediately popular with visitors.

A book and movie series was tried but it did not do very well. I discarded the series after only a few months.

In 2005 the site was doing well. Visitors were gradually increasing in every  major section of the site. I think all of us who had contributed to the site were pleased with it.

In 2006 StClairCountyAl.com averaged over 200 visitors daily. A new series entitled, “This, That & Nothing” was started and many regular visitors to the website contributed to it. The series ranged from the humorous to the sublime. It, like all the other series proved successful. Over 100 visitors each weekday were reading each series. The history articles and photo gallery were proving to be a great resource for students, history buffs and those involved in genealogy. “Meet Your Neighbor” surpassed the 300 membership and was growing steadily.

I began to seriously believe that StClairCountyAl.com could eventually average 500 visitors a day. I knew it would take a major new section that had yet to occur to any of us but we were on a roll and 500 visitors seemed reasonable considering the rate our county was growing.

The 2007 year started much like 2006 had ended; all the series were doing well along with the growing photo gallery. The website was being visited by over 225 visitors per day. There were no major additions in 2007 since all the series continued to be successful and the discussion board was growing daily. But, for the first time problems loomed on the horizon and I knew of no way to combat the problem. Springville and Argo politics began to creep into the discussion board topics.

By the end of 2007 “Meet Your Neighbor” became a microcosm of our society. Instead of being a place where friends met and discussed and debated local, state and national issues without bitterness, the words “free speech” and “my rights” began to show up in posts. Though there was still good camaraderie among the daily visitors one could feel the gradual erosion of the discussion board. Springville and Argo political posts increased and deleting of posts became a common occurrence. Though the membership on the board was increasing daily, there was little doubt that 2008 would not be a great year for StClairCountyAl.com.

The year 2008 will be regarded as StClairCountyAl.com’s low point. For the first time a major section of the site had to be removed entirely. Membership on the discussion board continued to increase. By late spring the number of members surpassed 600 members. The discussion board had become a major force for both good and bad thus causing headaches for me and Jerry Smith who had volunteered to help moderate the board.  In the late summer I hit the delete key for the last time and “Meet Your Neighbor” was removed from StClairCountyAl.com. It was like killing an old and dear friend.

“Meet Your Neighbor” was only a part of the overall site. The articles, photo gallery, weather information and general information about our towns and libraries were still the foundation that held everything together. The discussion board loss gave me the opportunity to add a sub-site called “Thoughts from the Front Porch.” I decided this new mini-site would allow me to introduce blogging to visitors of StClairCountyAl.com. So far “Thoughts from the Front Porch” has increased its audience each week and now welcomes over 40 readers daily to the blog. Only time will tell if these numbers will continue to increase or eventually decline.

StClairCountyAl.com was redesigned once again in October, 2008 and the site continues to draw over 225 visitors daily with a slight drop-off on weekends. The site that started out as a poor excuse for a website now contains a large amount of valuable information and entertainment that continues to increase weekly. The site still and will always belong to everyone who has contributed to it.

As we draw close to 2009 I really do not know what will eventually happen to StClairCountyAl.com.  I do know that more improvements are planned. Hopefully the site will continue to be something so many people can be proud to have been a contributor. My hope is that it will one day be taken over by another designer and the wealth of information will be passed along to another generation of contributors and visitors. For now, I think I will hold on to StClairCountyAl.com though; she has become a daily and delightful companion.

StClairCountyAl.com Facts
The most visited page - The Battle of White’s Chapel
The most viewed photo - Klu Klux Klan
The most viewed discussion board thread - The Stupid Thread

“Rollin’ Along” is a series written by Mark Martin

Rollin' Along