Ever wonder what others ponder during the more mundane moments in life?  Wonder what they think about the big picture?  Empowermom is proud to present someone who tells it like it is in a way no other can.  His name may be a mouthful, but then, his mouth is full of all kinds of enlightening things.

Welcome our latest author, John Conley, a.k.a. "The Conversationalist."  He's got something to say on just about everything and you never know quite what to expect.  A great deal of wit, appropriate sarcasm, touched by an angel and a bit of the devil all rolled into one!

Check out our new Section "The Conversationalist."  He might post daily or weekly.  You just never know when he's going to pop up to brighten your day and lighten the load or give you great pause for a cause.  While you don't know what he's going to say, rest assured, you'll be glad you took the time to check it out.

For some of our long-term members, Hidden Hollow used to carry weekly articles which were much anticipated.  With my professional, family, and personal commitments, I am no longer able to continue writing weekly.  As life continues, time dwindles, sometimes, for me at least, disappearing!  LOL

This is not to say I have stopped writing.  I've just slowed down. For the record, members are encouraged to write their own articles and contribute to this category.  After all, that's what "community" is all about.  Multiple contributors means multiple, diverse perceptions and observations on life.  So come on guys, get crackin' and hit that SUBMIT button!

WE'RE ALMOST THERE

As you know, Empowermom is all about helping others learn how to create their own unique web presence.  This site was originally built as an example of all the things you can do with a website and to provide step by step examples/tutorials to get you going on your own. Things change so quickly in the web world, it's hard to keep up.  As Empowermom learns, you benefit because she shares everything she knows.

At one point, Empowermom was a compilation of several free sites with reciprocal links to each "Section" of the site.  Compiling these sites into one cohesive community has taken a great deal of effort and learning on my part, not to mention so many contributors and mentors there are too many to mention.  All those different links are now a thing of the past! 

Although still in Beta, Empowermom recently launched a social networking system.  Now you can create and maintain your own space for blogs, friends, family ... WHATEVER you want it to be without the hassle of creating all the framework, content management and administration necessary to launch your own site. It's bound to be a great learning experience for all of us.  Explore the site frequently as content changes daily. 

Please keep in mind it takes time and effort to test each new feature prior to installation.  I will keep you updated with the list below on my progress. The beta phase helps cut down on bugs and increase security but you can still enjoy our new "toys" with minimal interruption.

CURRENT PROJECTS

• Working on uniform Terms and Conditions for the Blog/Social Network.
• Working on tutorials for the Blog/Social Network.
• BLOG EDITOR FIXED! 
• COMMENT SYSTEM FIXED! 
• Member registrations are reinstated but there are a few rules for membership.  (See notice below this post)
• Forum features "temporarily" disabled.  Once security is finalized, forums will be reinstalled.
• Content is being transferred from old site and updated daily.  Be sure to check out new members blogs!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!  Contact Empowermom to volunteer.

As always, enjoy your stay as you wonder through the halls of Empowermom and don't forget to let me know how we're doing.  Whatever your passion, Empowermom was created for you and with you.  With your help, the addition of new content, links and features helps the Empowermom community morph into something fun, exciting and... well, PASSIONATE!

Along with our new EMOM Social features comes a whole new world of opportunity.  Until we exit the BETA phase, there are no hard and set rules and I'm still developing a set of Terms and Conditions for this area of the site.  Until the TOC are set and formally documented, there are a few simple guidelines you should be aware of.

Why give us rules you may ask...

• Empowermom is free to use and is non-profit.  At some point you may see ads and/or I may ask for donations.  Until then, space costs money (mine).
• Your account will be deleted if you do not respond to your e-mail registration letter within 24 hours AND login.  Those who do not provide (at the very least) any profile information and/or post at least one blog entry on the site within a week of registration will be deleted.  If you don't have time to complete the registration process and provide said information, wait until you do.  We'll still be here.  A simple introductory blog or "Hello!" will suffice as your first blog entry.
• You DO NOT need to register to view our site.  All posts, unless privatized by the author, are visible to everyone.  Registration won't change this.
• MEMBERS are expected to contribute to the community.  If you don't post anything, you're wasting valuable space for those who do.
• Please use your REAL NAME in addition to your USER name when you sign up.  (NOTE: You can hide your real name and use your USER name in posts).  This is the ONLY way we have of knowing you are a real person and not a spammer.
• Those using unreadable, illogical gibberish for names will be deleted.  Be creative with your user name but please be reasonable.
• Accounts with names, pictures or posts with nudity, sexual content or indicating sexual preference will be deleted.  Empowermom is NOT a dating service.  If you want that kind of thing, go somewhere else!
• Empowermom is a community built to share information and learn from others.  Names and/or posts using frequent cursing, disrespect and/or indicating hostility towards any one group will be deleted.  Again, if you want that kind of thing, go somewhere else!
• Strong opinions on controversial topics are most welcome.  Just keep it clean, to the point and respectful of others.  Common sense works well here.
• Those using e-mail addresses from known spammer sites will be removed without notice. (If you are in doubt, there are free accounts available from a number of sources including Google, MSN, Yahoo.)  While you may use an e-mail from your own site, your site will be reviewed for content. 
• Posting links to your site or others of interest in an article is acceptable, however, Empowermom does not condone using the site as a commercial advertising medium.  Please keep links to a minimum and make sure they are relevent to the content you are contributing.

Empowermom strives to remove all spam and objectionable content for the comfort of all members.  Alas, being a solo operator makes this both difficult and time consuming.  If we work together to honor the above guidelines, our community will become something worth developing and participating in.   More formal terms and conditions will be posted as soon as they are complete.

At some point, registration with Empowermom may require payment.  Most likely, it will cost $1.00.  Having tried several membership modules without success, this is the only way I know of (to date) to verify that you are a human and not some spammer or "registration bot" trying to harvest our e-mail address and membership lists.  This will keep our site free from such bothersome fools and you'll know you are a member of a SECURE and legitimate community.

If you have a better idea or are an experienced developer with knowledge on the above, feel free to contact me. 

BE ADVISED!  Should I find it necessary to utilize a paid membership program, I will grandfather in all existing accounts once we exit the beta phase.  (That means you won't be required to pay since you are going through the growing pains with us.) HOWEVER, your account will still be validated.  If you have not provided a legitimate SNAIL MAIL address or telephone number (required) your account will be deleted.  Keep in mind, you don't have to publish this information, but it is REQUIRED for proper administration of this site.  It keeps the site legal and your accounts secure.

If you believe your account has been deleted in error, send e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

It is important to insert the following in the "Subject line" of your e-mail: YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DELETED ME.  Explain in your e-mail why you feel this was an error.  If you do not use the above in the subject line, your e-mail may be overlooked or deleted.  With approximately 500+ e-mails per day, this will help me keep up with member mail.