We're celebrating our sixth birthday!

January 15th, 2016
[by David Armstrong]

Motueka Online has marked its sixth birthday by launching a that will allow followers to see and read items of local news directly after they are published online.

The new page received 150 "likes" within its first 24 hours, so these people will receive notifications on their Facebook feeds when news items have been added to the site.

We've been proud to have been able to contribute to the vibrancy of the Motueka community by posting news about what's going on, particularly at the local government level.

But we know this couldn't have happened, or continued to last so long, had it not been for the generous support of our sponsors who pay a monthly sum for their small adverts.

Those sponsors are Ray White Motueka, NBS, House of Travel, Patisserie Royale cafe, Steph Wills Dental and Unichem Motueka. We are always happy to acknowledge their help and encourage our readers to use their services.

Last year we were particularly proud to have been one of five finalists in the Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards under the Community Sites category.

Surprisingly, over the years of operation we've found that a large proportion of our readers are people living elsewhere in the country and the world, who want to maintain a connection to the town they once lived in.

And another significant slice of readers are people who are moving or have recently moved to the town and want information about happenings, clubs and facilities.

Since our early days we have provided a weekly notification service to people who subscribe, telling them what has been added to the site over the past week. At present about 260 people or families are subscribers.

We decided it was time to use the more immediate facilities of social media to give instant notifications and links to new articles, so the Facebook page will provide that for people who have Facebook accounts.

If you are a Facebook user and want to receive those notifications and links to the articles, simply open your page and use the search box at the top to find "Motueka Online"; then when you see it, "like" the page.

Some of the income received from our six sponsors is now being recycled back into the community, with four-figure donations made over the past year to the swimming pool fundraising campaign, to beautification work at Beach Reserve, and to the administration work of Vision Motueka.

Comment by Coralie Smith:
[Posted 16 January 2016]

Congratulations on giving yourself a birthday present on your sixth birthday. Hope it isn't just more work but spreads the word even further that you are a great online community newspaper.

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We wish to thank these local community-minded businesses who generously sponsor our site. They recognise the value of supporting this community asset, and in return Motueka Online is pleased to use and recommend their services whenever appropriate.

Ray White Motueka, Nelson Building Society, House of Travel,
, Steph Wills Dental Surgery, Unichem Pharmacy