I may be jumping ahead a bit, but since this pertains to abandoned sites (and subsequent
loss of membership), I thought I'd toss this out here...
How is it determined that a site has been abandoned? I'm speaking in part as a
researcher now. There is a particular county (in another State) that has had nothing new
added in at least 2 years, and the CC doesn't respond to researchers. However, the
main page always says that the site has been updated during the current month. As a
researcher, I have to surf through the whole site looking for something new, which there
never is. (Apparently, the only thing updated is the "Last Updated" line).
If I were the RC or person responsible for determining whether the site is active, I would
probably see the "Last Updated" date, assume that something new had been
recently added, and go on my merry way.
To avoid this problem, I think it'd be nice if each county had a "What's
New" page, with a description of each new record, page or link that's been added.
That would not only help the researchers, but the RC/DH/Surfer-person would be able to
easily see that the site is active. I have "What's New" pages on both my
counties:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~gaogleth/whatsnew.htm
http://www.rootsweb.com/~gamadiso/whatsnew.htm
This is really a topic for "Site Requirements" -- and I know CCs want to keep
the requirements to a minimum -- but it's just an idea to consider while we're on
the subject of abandoned sites.
Jeanne