APEX News Interview - July 2009
Disclaimer: Interviews published express the views of the contributing parties and are not necessarily those of the APEX Board of Directors and / or the APEX Newsletter Editor.
Introducing Paula Moore - the owner of A Passage In Time and Life with a Scrappin' Mama
Interviewer - Hi Paula - welcome to the APEX interview room and thank you for giving our members the opportunity to learn a little about you.
To begin, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself? ( You may include any personal information you wish to share. )
Paula - I am 42 years old. I have been married to my college sweetheart for 20 years and we have three children ages 16, 15 and 13. Currently, we live in Ely, Nevada, but I will always consider myself a Texas girl. I have a degree in special education from BYU-Idaho. I love teaching and currently teach advanced html classes at Web Tech University. I have been with them for 11 years and I love it. I am very active with my church. You can typically find me there on Sunday and Tuesday working with the young women. I am also very much into genealogy and digital scrap booking as well as helping my kids with whatever they need help with. My son is currently working on his Eagle scout project. In my spare time, like I have any, I love cooking, baking and crocheting, as well as maintaining my web sites.
[ TOP ]
Interviewer -What was it that initially stirred your interest and convinced you to create and / or manage web sites?
Paula - When I first got online in 1997, the first thing that I looked up was genealogy. I went to many personal genealogy sites. I was so impressed that I set out researching how to build one of my own. I have been blessed with so much that I wanted to share it with others. So, I set up house at GeoCities © and went from there. Once my site got too big for GeoCities and I didn't want their advertising on my site, I bought my own domain and continued to hone my web site building skills.
Interviewer - How long has your web site been online and what benefits have you personally experienced by having a web site?
Paula - My genealogy web site has been online since 1997, but it has undergone several name changes. It was originally Paula's Family Connections which turned into Got Genealogy?. But, I wanted it to have a classier name, so I renamed it A Passage in Time. Having my web site online has gotten me in touch with many wonderful people who share family ties with me. It has brought me more information on lines that I thought were brick walls, and it has gotten me reconnected with distant relatives that I lost contact with. It has been a labor of love.
[ TOP ]
Interviewer - What ( if any ) do you consider to be the positives and / or negatives of having web sites?
Paula - The positives far outweigh the negatives. The positives for me have been reconnecting with lost loved ones and connecting with new loved ones. It has brought me information on lines that I thought were brick walls and it has brought me information beyond my wildest dreams. I have even acquired a few out of print books and some precious photographs too. The only real negatives that I have found are those people who have to be so negative in their comments. This is one reason that my site no longer has a guest book or comment section. I got so tired of having to weed out the ridiculous comments and ads for the true comments.
Interviewer - Who, if anyone, influenced you the most when you began to create your web sites or when your web sites initially went online and how did this person or these persons influence you?
Paula - I would have to say that the one that inspired me the most was my community leader over at GeoCities. Her name was Bari Nirenberg and she was awesome. As I branched out into GeoCities, she and I got to work very closely with each other as not only community leaders, but also on the critique and review committee. She later became the Liaison over the Heartland community at GeoCities and I was a co-liaison under her.
[ TOP ]
Interviewer - In your opinion, what is the biggest mistake a non-professional web site designer might make?
Paula - To be honest, I would have to say putting their true email on their web site. I did that because I wanted people to be able to contact me. But, I got so much spam, that I had to set up a contact email where people can email me. It is a shame when you can't use your true email for fear of getting spammed. I think another common mistake is putting too much trust in who visits your site. I have seen so many web sites where people put all their private information on there such as address, phone number, etc. This is a BIG mistake if your site is a personal, non-professional site.
Interviewer - What tips can you give to web site owners who are looking to improve their web sites?
Paula - I would say to learn CSS. It's such an easy language to use and it is awesome, especially if you have a big site like mine. I would also say to investigate ways to make navigation easier. I see so many web sites where the navigation gets so confusing that I just have to leave the site. One other thing that I would like to add is that even though it's a nice touch, forced music on a web site is an immediate withdrawal for me. If there is no way to turn the music off, then I am out of there.
[ TOP ]
Interviewer - Do you consider accessibility and validation of coding to be important? Whether yes or no please tell us why..
Paula - Absolutely! I have a friend who is legally blind and it was watching him try to surf the web that got me to want to make my sites accessible. Some people just don't understand what people with disabilities go through to look at a web site. Validation of the coding is vital, because things change all the time. When I was going through my site to get it accessible, I never realized how one little thing can throw off the validation. I think it's important as web site owners to stay on top of these things and to make our sites as accessible as possible.
Interviewer - You are the owner of at least one APEX Member web site. Why did you decide to join APEX originally and what benefits has this membership provided to you over the years?
Paula - I am a new member of APEX, only having been accepted a month ago. But, I really love how APEX works hard to educate those on accessibility as well as copyright. I think it's important to educate people on these two important issues and I appreciate APEX for doing this. I wanted to join APEX because I wanted to be able to say that I belonged to a group dedicated to integrity, which I believe APEX is.
Interviewer - Is there anything further you would like to add?
Paula - I don't really have anything else to add, only that I feel honored to be a part of this group!!
Interviewer - Thank you Paula. The time you have given is much appreciated.
Acknowledgement: The above interview is Copyright © Paula Moore 2009 - 2010 with sole publishing rights being held by APEX and may not be republished and / or redistributed without the written permission of the Author.