I added the search form at the upper-right corner of the page.

This searches all articles and comments going back to when Menifee 24/7 started.

The search engine is powered by Google, so that it displays ads (more ads!).

The bad news is that this is a "free text" search, meaning it searches for words on the entire page, including the side columns, not just in the articles. So if you searched for "animals", you'll get about 800 hits, because that word appears in the side column under the "Archives by Subject". I can't filter the results by just the articles.

You can try surrounding your search query with "quotes", to find a string of words that match exactly that. If you searched for Menifee Lakes (without quotes), Google will return pages that have Menifee and Lakes appearing individually. If you search for "Menifee Lakes" (with quotes), Google will return only pages with those two words together.

So far, this is only available on the main 24/7 site, and it only searches the main 24/7 site. It doesn't find content on the other sub-sites. I'll implement separate search forms there.

With almost four years of content on this site, this should help you find every page where your name was mentioned.

Labels: Menifee247

I added a new feature to this website called, "Recently Commented Articles".

You can find it on the main page, in the second column (scroll down a little), in a darker-blue panel.

This shows the last several articles where comments were posted.

I created this because older articles continue to fetch new comments, and it's hard for you to know about them unless you check you every individual article on Menifee 24/7 regularly. And there are some pretty good comments being posted that deserve attention.

If you can't see it, it may be because you have Javascript disabled on your browser, or you have an ad-blocker installed, or your internet security software is blocking it. Blogger, which powers this website, does not actually support this type of functionality. I have to manage it manually through a Javascript file.

I may one day migrate Menifee 24/7 over to something like WordPress, Squarespace, or something database driven, that can do stuff like this automatically.

On a side note: My article about the Indian Gaming Compacts, "California Propositions 94, 95, 96, 97" has gotten a ton of hits over the past several weeks. There's quite a few comments there, check it out.

Labels: Menifee247

In case you haven't noticed already, I've added a companion blog to Menifee 24/7 called "Menifee Homes", which you can find here...

http://homes.menifee247.com

It's also linked from the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Menifee Homes is meant to provide news and analysis of the real estate market here in Menifee, and which many times reflects the market across California.

Menifee is one of those communities where real estate is always a topic of great interest. First, there's still a lot of people thinking of relocating to Menifee. Even though the market is down right now, I can see a lot of people hitting our website with search terms like "menifee homes for sale" or "new homes in menifee", as well as stuff like "menifee schools", "menifee shopping", or "menifee restaurants". It's evidence there are people out there curious about our town.

But second, even for those of us already living in Menifee, the declining property values and the rising foreclosures is something that's always on our minds.

I asked a few real estate professionals working the Menifee market to contribute to this new blog. Stefan West, Anna Hill, and Holly Kay are all seasoned real estate pros and know the Menifee Valley pretty well.

My goal with this new blog is two fold, one is to keep us all abreast of the real estate market here in Menifee, and two is to attract an audience of readers interested in moving to Menifee. Those prospective homebuyers are coming to Menifee whether we publish this new blog or not, so I'd love to get them into our community reading Menifee Homes.

Labels: Menifee247, Real-Estate

Sorry to have not posted much of anything the past several weeks, but it looks like I'll be able to get back into the swing.

Some of you know that I publish several websites, on a wide variety of topics, of which I write most of the material. I earn a living selling advertising on those sites, and it's those sites that pays my bills and keeps Menifee 24/7 online.

Since I'm the primary employee on all these websites, I can only spend so much time on each site. Often times, I can't spend any time on some sites in order to spend more time on others. That was the case with Menifee 24/7.

Since the inception of Menifee 24/7, I haven't really earned any money from publishing it. It was mostly a community service that I provided through the support of my business. The beginning of this year, I opened up advertising on it, but it's been pretty tough trying convince local businesses here that advertising online is just as effective as advertising on paper.

My other websites are "global", in that they serve audiences all over the world. The advertisers who want to reach global audiences already understand the power of online marketing, and as a result, I've been able to run a profitable business from it.

So, the past few weeks I've been putting some extra time into my other websites in an attempt to increase their profitability, which includes increasing the audience, finding new advertisers, and improving the sites. Since I'm the only guy working on this stuff, I can't spend time on Menifee 24/7.

But I think I've reached a breaking point where I can spread my time to more of my websites. You should start seeing more activity from me on Menifee 24/7.

Remember, that Menifee 24/7 was originally conceived to be a "community-based forum". That is, it was originally my intent to get people in the Menifee Valley to sign up as "bloggers" and post new articles of their own, and get other people to comment. You can see on the left-side of this website, the names of a few people that have signed up and posted an article somewhere.

Eric Madrid has probably been the most active participant, and I want to thank him for stepping up. I also want to thank Holly Kay who has been active with sports and real estate related articles. I had hoped the other names would have been more active in posting articles here.

I welcome others to sign up and share their news, announcements, and opinions. I know we have teachers, business owners, construction workers, county employees, and many other professions, who all know something about our community that most people don't know. Use Menifee 24/7 to increase everyone's awareness of our community.

Labels: Menifee247

I haven't blogged much here because I've been stuck in a hospital recovering from a motorcycle accident I incurred on January 21. I was discharged home yesterday.

Long story short, I have a kidney contusion, fractured right wrist, a black & blue big toe, and scrapes along one side of my face. They put a cast on my wrist, which makes it difficult to type, and to make matters worse, I developed a really nasty allergic reaction to the cast. Go figure!

If you want more details, read the full story on my corporate blog.

I hope you check back more often, I'm gonna start blogging again, though it'll be slower for awhile.

Labels: Menifee247

We are looking for people interested in becoming a blogger for Menifee 24/7. These are non-paid positions. You would do this just because you like to write, a lot, and because you want to inform the public of something, or provide your insight on what's going on.

You don't have to be anyone special. You just have to like to write, and you have to be able to provide news, opinions, or insight that local residents would find interesting. You could just be a local resident like myself. Or, you could be involved with a local club, or involved with the Cityhood Committee, or on the Menifee MAC, or a School Board Member, or a business owner, or serving on a homeowners association, or someone who has lived here for decades and have seen it all.

As a blogger you will have access to post new articles directly to Menifee 24/7 at any time.

We need people who can contribute something at least weekly, preferably more. But the good news is that doesn't have to be a lot of writing. Just a paragraph will do.

If you're interested, contact me:

Labels: Menifee247

Menifee 24/7 is owned and operated by Clear Digital Media, Inc., an internet publishing business located here in Menifee.

Clear Digital Media is owned and operated by Steve & Lisa Johnson, residents of Menifee since September 2001.

Menifee 24/7 is meant to be a hyperlocal source of news and opinions of interest to persons living in Menifee Valley. Much of the material published here comes from local residents, businesses, and organizations in the form of articles and comments.

Only persons having registered as a "blogger" may post new articles. However, anyone can post a comment to an article. To register as a blogger, visit, "Become a Contributing Writer".

Tell Your Friends About Menifee 24/7

Menifee 24/7 largely depends on word-of-mouth to attract new viewers. The more people visiting this website, the more comments and articles we can share. Tell your friends to visit, "Menifee247.com".

Steve Johnson

Labels: Menifee247

If you operate a business, organization, or club in Menifee, Sun City, or Quail Valley, and you have some news or announcements to share, we will publish it on Menifee 24/7 for free.

Currently about 6,000 people visit this website and read our pages, almost all of them residents of Menifee Valley, including others in the outlying areas, as well as prospective home buyers wanting to learn more about Menifee.

Some ideas of news and announcements that we're looking for:

• Your church is hosting a concert
• Your business reached a new milestone
• Obituaries and notices of death
• Your company signed a major new deal/contract
• Your church is hosting special event
• Your club is doing a fund raiser
• Your little league team won a game

To submit news and announcements, send them to Steve at:

Labels: Menifee247