Five years young

Roll out the bunting, don yon ridiculous party hats and grab yourself a slice of celebratory cake because Birmingham and Beyond is five years old today!

What started five long years ago on a whim as Alan Collins’ Political Opinions has evolved into the centrepiece of a fledgling online political collection – the well-read and well-respected Birmingham and Beyond.

It has gone through four designs, three server changes, two URL changes (though old URLs still point to the site to ensure that existing permalinks still work) and one major relaunch when Alan moved from Medway to Birmingham in August this year.

Despite the changes, though, the website has been consistent in quality and maintains a balanced check on local authorities and the coalition government whilst supporting the Conservative Party and the conservative movement.

It is now also seeking to integrate more with social media – embedding tweets in posts and creating Twitter-friendly headlines and first few words. For example, today’s Quote of the Day referenced Medway Messenger reporter Alan McGuinness, who is on Twitter as @Alan_McGuinness. The first paragraph of the post read:

“@Alan_McGuinness, writing¹ in today’s @MedwayMessenger, seems to doubt recent Medway Labour claims surrounding the new bus station in Chatham”

Note how the reporter and the newspaper are named using their Twitter usernames, with links to their profiles? This also means that when the automatic tweet is sent out to signal a new post, it appeared on Twitter thus:

Latest: Quote of the Day: 12 December 2011: @Alan_McGuinness, writing1 in today’s… http://t.co/YN4UXXPy

Monday 12th December 2011 17:34 via GoogleReplyRetweetFavorite

@BrumAndBeyond

Birmingham & Beyond

Note that once posted on Twitter, the reporter’s username is automatically turned into a mention.

There is also a Facebook page and, though incomplete, a Google+ page for Birmingham and Beyond.

But, there are bigger changes afoot. As you are probably by now aware, Alan will be moving back to Medway next month. It would therefore be inappropriate to continue the website with a Birmingham focus and title.

It is perhaps fitting, therefore, that on this website’s fifth birthday, as we look forward to a glorious future, we can announce that, on an as yet undecided date, we will be once again re-brand, as: