Visitor
Forgot your password? Get it here...
Not a member? Register here...

New Home Page?

Before anyone starts thinking that I like the sight of my own writing, please let me explain the reason for this change to the home page.

Over the years, this site has been a platform through which former members of the school have found each other and renewed contact. I think we all want the site to continue serving this purpose.

Some changes were made recently to make it easier to use and to group all available information in a central place. But those aspects are secondary. The success of the site hinges on its database – i.e. the number of former classmates that can be found through this site.

For the site to fulfill its “mission”, we need to have as many members on the site as possible. I think that part is clear. I have been going through the various sites out there (classmates.com, reunion.com, usareunited.com, etc) and I’ve been “poaching”, contacting former students and encouraging them to register on this site. I’ve also made the rounds at Facebook and LinkedIn.

So much for finding TM Wilhoite / Kenitra alumni.

The next item would be to have former members of the school find us, without having to hunt them down. To this end, the search engines – be it Google, Yahoo or MSN/Live – can help us… if it’s done correctly.

For those who may not be familiar with the methods used by search engines, the simplest way to explain it to say that search engines regularly visit existing websites. While visiting a site, they take note of its content, and using a little science – some say magic – decide what a site is all about. There are a number of items that are used to determine how “relevant” a website is to a potential search. One of those items is “staleness”.

A website deemed to be “stale” is one where its content doesn’t change over time. If the search engines should ever define this site as stale, then, over time, the position of the site in the search engines will start slipping and anyone looking for these pages may have to look past the first result page in Google to find us – and most people don’t do that.

I will continue looking for former members and encouraging them to join the site. I will also be writing something on this page on a regular basis. There aren’t that many news in my neck of the woods (Costa Rica) that you’ll find very interesting but the search engines will like it – so please bear with it.

Of course, you are free and welcome to add your comments to anything you read here. In fact, it would be helpful.

Share a thought, memory or comment...

You must be logged in to post a comment.