KEY POINTS:
It started modestly enough. A toe in the water really. It was an experiment to see whether a 135-year-old icon of New Zealand publishing might find a spot on what was then being touted as "the information superhighway".
In November 1998, the New Zealand Herald - the country's largest
daily newspaper - made its debut on the worldwide web. And the first website didn't even carry any news!
It would be fair to describe the years since then as a rollercoaster ride for all of us fortunate enough to jump aboard.
There were the boom times of 1999 and early 2000 when fortunes were waiting to be made online. The motto of website entrepreneurs was "build it and they will come". Like many other pioneers, the Herald built a few websites, and indeed people did come - to some of them at least.
Our flagship website, nzherald.co.nz, has not merely survived some tempestuous times, it has become a vital part of the Herald. It enables us to deliver the news almost instantly to readers all over the world. And it works in both directions, putting readers and newsmakers in touch with our staff as quickly as sending an email.
As the Herald celebrates its 140th birthday today, the online edition is, by comparison, an infant. It's hard to imagine how the web will change in the next five years, but I'd like to share with you some highlights of the past five here at nzherald.co.nz. The links below will take you to pictures and brief descriptions of key stages in the site's evolution.
A few of the Herald's online "originals" are still working on the site, and their experience gives us a solid base on which to build an even better service to our readers and advertisers.
Many of the people whose vision, skill and enthusiasm helped create the site you are now reading are, however, no longer part of our team. Like so many others in the online publishing industry, their careers had to detour around the "dot-com bust" and subsequent rationalisations which began in late 2000. I hope they will look with fondness at just how far the website has come.
On behalf of all of us at nzherald.co.nz, I'd like to thank our colleagues throughout the Herald who have enabled the online edition to grow and prosper.
Most of all, thanks to you for reading, and for being part of our first five years.
1999: May 9
2000: March 3
2000: May 20
2001: Sept 22
The Herald's birthday
(Links no longer in use)