10 Years of Site Postings - Interview with the editor of the Province Website.

You have edited the website for 10 years?

Yes, beginning on August 17, 2010. In fact, the website had been set up by one of our IT priests from CFA, the Communication foundation for Asia, an MSC Media Ministry in Manila. This was 2006. With the establishing of the website, new items appeared until 2009 when the site seems to have gone into abeyance.

How did it start up again?

I remember getting in touch with the provincial of the time, Tim Brennan, asking about the site and its possible revival. He organised a meeting at the MSC house in Kew, attending himself, Brother John Dyson, Marist brother, who was responsible for our IT work, Mark McGuinness MSC and myself. I should have remembered Tim’s shrewdness from the past – he suggested I sit at the computer, compose a sample news item (a Formation meeting taking place at that time in Bangalore). When I had finished, he blithely remarked that now that I done it, I would be able to continue. “Inveigled” is the word that came to mind then and does so now.

I started putting items on the site on August 17, 2010. Now, a decade.

How did you begin?

We had a provincial chapter in September 2010 which led to posting items about the chapter for those not there, for visitors to the site. And there was the possibility of posting text as well as photos. And, in the early months, there were various stories about members of the province, recognition of confreres at the time of their deaths, other news items that I thought might be of interest to visitors to the site.

In fact, this is still the principle for selecting items but, of course, it has broadened considerably.

What changes have been made in presentation on the site?

In 2013, we had several meetings of the committee to look again at the contents of the site, headings and layout, homepage… This committee included Mark McGuinness, Chris Chaplin, Dominic Gleason, Rene Balboa, John Dyson and myself. John made all the technical connections. Chris Chaplin contacted artist Stephen Whatley in England for permission to use his illustration of the Sacred Heart for the homepage. The homepage was redesigned with four ministry pictures (which could be illuminated as one moves the mouse across the page) and a new set of headings which intended to be comprehensive. Not only headings, but also a range of pull-up headings.

The intention at the time was to be quite comprehensive – on the one hand, a great deal of information for those who are interested in the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, text and illustrations of Who We Are, the same for What We Do (including the listing, illustrated, of all our ministries and website and email links). We also included items: Pray with us, Spirituality of the Heart, Justice Matters, Join Us, Media and Publications.

But, there was also the news, under the heading e-Magazine with the pull-up, Current News. Eventually, there were six items a week under this heading, the five weekdays and one item for the weekends. The other area where there was frequent posting was the Justice Matters.

There seem to have been some changes more recently?

Yes, while the visuals of the homepage remain the same, there has been quite some simplification of the headings, with fewer pullups, to make access easier. You will notice that they are only five headings across the top of the page. There is the simple, About Us (which incorporates a lot of the basic information, about the congregation, about the founder, and about the Chevalier family, as well as the invitation to Pray with us and all the information and for Join Us.

The next two headings cover all our ministries, parishes and schools, and the range of all our works and ministries, mission, justice, adult education, media, music and publications.

There was a very significant addition in 2016, made in the light of the Royal Commission into Institutional Sexual Abuse, but given more prominence in 2020 with its own heading, Safeguarding, with MSC apology, documentation, redress information, as well as how to make contact in the context of professional standards, policies and procedures.

This simplification was the work of Brett Adamson from the Chevalier Institute.

Are all the postings still there in Cyberspace?

Yes, that is a benefit of the site – all those posts are still there, a contribution to the Province archives. The Search engine in the News section provides a way of finding posts. Type in a name or place and various entries will come up.

And the MSC Province Facebook Page?

Several years ago, Chris Chaplin and John Dyson were able to create a Facebook Page for the Province, so that when I posted an item on Current News Justice Matters, it went immediately as an item on the Facebook page.

Which meant that the site for was for those who found it easier to visit sites and Facebook for those who prefer Social Media, the two outlets covering, we hope, all potential visitors. While the site itself lists a number of hits for each item (no specific information on names), with the Facebook Page, anyone can read the Comments and check with the different emojis, who has liked, even loved, the item.

Have you any observations about which items make an impact – and any which don’t?

The most read postings are those which are personal, especially about members of the Australian province. And, of those, it is the death notices and funerals which receive the most hits. Special events, of course, are also popular, tributes to those who turn 80, 85, 90 – and those who turn 95. Jubilees of profession and ordination are also important. Photo stories of our confreres in Vietnam are also popular.

On the other hand, I have found over the 10 years, that social justice issues do not receive so many hits, slow movers, and the same with, surprisingly, books published by members of the province. I find it important to try to find a heading which will entice visitors to the site to click on the item, to find a number of photos to illustrate the story.

I should mention that I rely on my Facebook page and friends’postings to find a range of stories and photos, and Facebook pages from other members of the MSC around the world.

And the next 10 years?

Looking for volunteers to be my successor! Any takers?