What to write in the first post in a site's blog.

The "Why"? The "How"? The "Who"?

Probably all the above.

We'll start with the "Who". Well, nothing special here. We're no entrepreneur hot-shots, doctors, or natural goods wholesalers. We're just people interested in natural health and greater good. The idea came about from a need - illness of the mother of one of the co-founders. Since we're in the High Tech business, and been using the internet for a while - it seemed like a match:

1. There's a need to know about natural treatments from all over the world. Could there be something the Chinese have been using for ages against headache and told no one? And the Hungarians? And Canadians? What do you know? What treatments run in your family? What did you try and know that actually works? What better way is there than using the web to tell and learn from others?

2. And does a treatment work or not? How many people can you ask about Wheatgrass? Did anyone have the financial encouragement to actually check (remember you can grow it at home for practically no cost)? And here comes the web to our aid again. We can spread the word and ask many people around the world to finally get an answer.

3. And what about the simple need to communicate directly with people interested and in the know of natural treatment? And again - here comes the web to our aid.

So here we are. Trying to help with all that. Supplying a tool, for you to tell, learn and communicate. And the key is YOU - tell the world what you know, talk to people, comment, vote, participate.

And tell us what you think is needed to be changed, fixed and added to the site. We're here. 

So we changed:

1. There's a new home page. Both wording has changed, to give first visitors a better understanding of what the site is aspiring to do, and we added a new (rather sophisticated, actually) sub-condition alphabetical browsing system (into which I'll go into in the next post).
2. Each page of the site enables you to take action. Subscribe to receive updates on new treatments to an interesting condition, send and invitation to friends, add a user to your friend's list and so on. In the former version, all these actions were rather "scattered" around the page. Now - they're all in one place - in a gray rectangle at the top of each page. So it's easier to know what can be done in each page. True, sometimes one can do more than just the actions in the rectangle (like rate treatments, click on the "Helped me" buttons or send messages to friends using the envelope icons), but all these actions can now also be found in the "Take Action" area at the top of each page.
3. We also made some minor  design  changes. Frames have appeared here and there to make things more easy on the eyes (health site or what :-), we changed some color here and there, buttons changed color and size and so on.

We'll be very happy to receive more feedback. Continuing to improve is something we'll naturally (...) always do, but since the site is brand new, now is the time we value most.

Thanks to all the folks who wrote to us, supported, commented and suggested. It's also great hearing so many of you think the site is a "do go" thing. Keeps the winds blowing in our sails :-)

Little had we known.

It appears this issue is a bit more complicated. And here's why:

1. Some illnesses (we call them "sub-conditions") have more than one name.
2. Some sub-conditions have more than one spelling (!).
3. Some sub-conditions relate to more than one condition (Sun Burn is part of what? Wounds and Injuries? Skin?).
4. And what do we do with treatments that have been built relaying to a specific sub-condition? How are people going to find them later in the synonym, spelling and conditions' labyrinth?

So we built a rather complex Conditions-Sub-conditions system:

1. Each sub-condition has all (that we found. Please tell us if you know of other) of its synonym' names and spellings listed.
2. Each sub-condition is "connected" to all the conditions it might relay to.
3. One can upload treatments relaying to any "version" of the sub-condition their treatment is aiming to help. The treatment will be listed under all the other synonyms and spellings automatically.
4. And - we added a multi-level navigation system. One can locate treatments of interest either according to the sub-condition (in the ABC list on the home page) or via the conditions list on the left (appearing in all pages but the personal ones), where all conditions and the sub conditions under them are listed, in any combination.

This might sound a little complex, but the goal is opposite (and I hope we achieved it). No matter where you'll be looking from for the treatment of interest, you'll find it fast.

Hope we managed to do so, but we'll be more than happy to hear your thought on the subject.

We used it to describe the building stones of the treatments. "Take these and these remedies twice a day, and your headache is good as gone". But Remedies have another meaning, that of a single-ingredient-TREATMENT. Apparently many got confused and submitted treatments under Remedies.

So we switched.

Say hello to Ingredients. The new term for the treatment's building blocks. 

Very useful to ask specific questions and get clarifications on common subjects of interest or just for plain, good-old socializing. 

We're seeing almost all specific conditions with a treatment attached to them, many new and exotic ingredients have been added and new users from all over the world are joining daily.

Still, there's much more work to be done to reach our goal of finding out what actually works in natural health. But we're sure we're on the right track.

We're also getting great feedback about the site's layout and comfort of use, but these things, we know, can be even further improved. Your feedback will help us do that.

Elad. 

One of the recent posts can be found at thenextweb.org. It's a thorough and well written post. It's conclusion is interesting as well. Steven, the author writes:

    "The sick have no time to waste when it comes to their health and by turning your back on any range of treatments which could potentially cure you, will most likely result in continued discomfort and leave you worse off."

His conclusion is that Mamaherb would have better been a site covering the whole wealth of solutions - Conventional as well as Alternative. 

Our point of view on that is different. We would have been missing our focus if we did that. The scope would have been to broad. Alternative does not come "Instead of" Conventional. Many seek both to achieve a comprehensive solution or when not happy with the results of the other.

We're offering and focusing on one side only. That's where our value is. For the finding out of what works in Conventional medicine there are huge research organizations (the FDA to name one). In Alternative there aren't as many and as funded. 

What's your thoughts on the matter? Feel free to share in the comments, and in our Suggestions page.

Elad. 

Medical 2.0 wrote a great post about us.

Thanks guys! :-) 

We've reached a "round" number.

May you never need to use the treatments we have and the ones to follow, but just in case - it's good to know they're there.

Elad.

Now, when you upload a treatment, choose a condition, a sub-condition and an ingredient, the system compares this information to what's already stored in the database. If there's a match (all three), it will show a window, stating the treatments which are suspected as same as what you're planning to add.

You can then decide if you wish to continue uploading (maybe it's a new treatment and only a coincidence?) or stop, go to the existing treatment and contribute there - vote, rate and comment.

This way you can leave the browser open (while being logged in), do something else on the computer, and if someone wants to ask you something or just socialize, you'll be able to know (you'll hear a tiny "bling" :-).

It's mostly a "technical" web-oriented blog, so recieving a good feedback from the pros is great to hear.

Not that you'll be seeing us resting on our laurels or anything.... :)

After a few weeks of running the site in private beta (as to say - only a handful of testers could visit), we’re launching to the public!

Mark the date, January 4th, since it’s also my birthday, and I’ll be expecting gifts! :)

Simple for me to remember when the site was born....

Seth Godin is right on the spot in his postscrip to this post about Sinusitus and why it is so hard to find information about common health issues:

There are actually 117 natural remedies for Sinusitus (to date). You can find them all here:

http://www.mamaherb.com/sinusitis

An Apple Cider close-relative remedy can be found here:

http://www.mamaherb.com/stuffed-nose-home-remedy-using-apple-cider-vinegar

Healthy winter (northern hamesphere....)

Founded by and with continued support from UNESCO and others, the World Summit Award is held every two years. Mamaherb.com has been selected by an international jury of experts from a total of more than 20,000 submissions from 157 countries.

The WSA, being held since 2003, honors the world's best e-content and e-services. The global competition is supported by UNESCO, UNIDO and the Internet Society. One of the most famous Internet experts in the world, Prof. Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the initiator of the 'One Laptop per Child' initiative, described the World Summit Award as “The Nobel Prize of Multimedia” (humble blush.... :).

An affirmation to the effort of turning the world to a healthier place.

Thanks for the support :)