Number 195 - August 1999

TOGGLE Goes On-Line
by Bob Thomson, TOGGLE Editor, Tacoma Open Group for Microcomputers
The title of this article is not news to most of you. We actually went on line with the June 1999 issue, although the links to articles listed in the Table of Contents were not fully active. Those TOC links that were active took you to the top of the selected article and you could scroll through the newsletter to find any other article listed because the newsletter was one continuous file. Oh, and another thing. It has just one column, not two like the printed newsletter. I attached the whole newsletter to an e-mail to Ray Mills, our Webmaster, and he configured it from there for loading on our website, http://www.toggle.org.    Personally, I favor a two-column layout. In general terms, it is easier to read since the eye doesn't have to track a line of type all the way across the page or screen. Imagine trying to read your daily newspaper if it wasn't divided into columns and you get the picture. So I undertook to post the July 1999 newsletter in individual articles, as they are acquired in the first place, and configured each of them into two columns. You cannot scroll continuously through the July newsletter. You select the article you want to see, read it, then use Back feature to return you to the Table of Contents, on page 1, to select another. Most, but not all, of our newsletter articles are short, so the need for scrolling is minimal if needed at all. Have You Looked At Your Label?     In case you haven't noticed it up to now, there is an extra word on the mailing label of all paid up members, including exchange newsletter editors. No, no, I don't mean the overdue notice! Pay up and that	will go away. I mean that other word that seems out of place. It is your password for access to the on-line newsletter. Maybe it's not a big deal, but we feel that since you paid your membership fee, you should enjoy a "perk" that the general public doesn't. If you are reading a complimentary issue and want to see what our members do, leave a message for SecretaryTreasurer Bob Henkel, at bobh@wa.net, or complete the application form on page 11and send him a check. His address is on the form. Not only will you gain more access to the Website, you will join a great group in promoting computing and made up of an active and vibrant group of computer users.     We may change the password from time to time, maybe even month to month, because on-line newsletter access is tied to paid up membership. As those rules change we will keep you advised either on the Website or in the printed newsletter or both. You may also find extra items, such as graphics, in the articles in the on-line newsletter because there wasn't room for them in the printed version. At least one user group truncates its articles in the printed version but publishes the whole article in the on-line version. Use your password and read it all. Interesting idea. We're not there yet.     At the last couple of meetings we have asked for feedback from you, in the form of preferences, constructive criticism and suggestions for improving our new baby. Ray has even put a Feedback area on the Website. Let us know what you like and what you don't like and we will try to accommodate you--or not, depending on the groundswell of member opinion.
Number 195 - August 1999