First, I want to thank everyone that supports the MMD, either
through contributions of cash, content, or volunteer time. It is all
appreciated.

I'm starting this Spring Fundraiser late because I've been distracted
by working on some renovations to the MMD Website. The first couple of
these are now active and I want to describe them.

1) The foundation of the MMD Website is now implemented with a modern
Content Management System (CMS). This makes it possible to edit pages
outside the Archives with a web-based what-you-see-is-what-you-get
(WYSIWYG) editor. Individual pages or sections can be assigned to one
or more users and they can make improvements on the pages/sections
without my having to install their changes. And the WYSIWYG editor
means that those persons don't have to know how to edit HTML! (If you
want to be a volunteer, let me know.)

2) The Archives section of the MMD has a clever new improvement. When
there is a link to an image or YouTube video, the website will now
display a thumbnail image of that full sized image or video so you'll
know if clicking the link will be interesting. Having this feature has
been a dream of mine for years and now that it is working it makes
browsing the Archives on the website much more fun.

3) All of the usercodes have been imported into the new system. It is
not important right now for you to log in. We'll announce in the future
when logging is will get you new features. Currently the machinery for
changing email addresses and the like is still being worked on. Stay
tuned for announcements.

We are continuing to work on improving email delivery. If you aren't
getting our emails, please use the Contact form (link at the bottom
of every MMD Website page) to let us know. We'll do what we can. SPAM
has caused a lot of email providers to filter out things that look
like they contain ads, and there are so many collections for sale right
now that some days we look like an advertising rag. Never mind that you
subscribed via confirmed opt-in and may also be contributing. There's
no effective way to tell the email providers.

Ultimately, we may have to just email a link that gets you to your
personalized copy of the day's full MMD on the website. This would
bypass most of the SPAM filtering and would allow us to show the image
thumbnails in the Digest.

There are more changes coming, but we're over the hump!

  - -

Now the fundraising pitch...

Thank you very much to those of you that have contributed to our
funrdasing drives in the previous 12 months. Your contributions are
needed and very much appreciated.

If you aren't sure when you last contributed, please e-mail me at
kravitz@mmdigest.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep"] and I'll be happy
to look you up in our records.

If you want to send us a check, please make your check payable to
"The Foxtail Group" and send it to our mailing address:

The Foxtail Group
10338 Carreta Ct
Santee CA, 92071 USA

If you want to use PayPal, you can use the PayPal link near the bottom
of this page or the PayPal donation button at the bottom of most MMD
website pages. If you have trouble with PayPal, please let us know.

Thank you for your generous support!

Jody Kravitz - Publisher, Mechanical Music Digest
Santee, California, USA
kravitz@mmdigest.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]