Getting The Word Out (ie: death of CPA rumors)

[Notepad]

Originally posted by Spiderman
As far as I know, I can't change the layout of the front page. But I can try to make it more noticeable and make it stand out more.

Here's how you've been doing:

And how did the Mirrodin block affect your playgroup? Do ya love it or hate it (or somewhere in between)? Talk about it here

Here's my recommended style:

Discuss: Mirrodin's effect on your playgroup
Was your group completely transformed by Mirrodin block? Did your friends merely grab a few of the new powerhouse cards and nothing else? Do ya love it or hate it (or somewhere in between)? Talk about it here!

A discuss headline (maybe bold or not. I just wanted to see how it looked in bold...). Definitely needed to match the look of the article titles, at least. Also needs something like the Discuss prefix to let you know its a forum discussion, not just a random link. You could also use a little shock jock style there, Spidey. The way SCG does it, and I'm tempted to post in their stuff because of it, is make their featured threads seem like something YOU MUST POST in response to. Just a tad bit of spin is all it takes.

 

[Chaos Turtle]

That's a good suggestion.

I used to just put Featured Thread I think. Anything that would draw attention to it.
It's too bad we can't have article replies go directly to the forums. I've never really liked the reply system, especially as it's just another layer of work for whomever is working the front page.

I wonder if there's a way to bypass it?

 

[Limited]

There must be someone maintaining this site right? Able to log onto the webhost?
There's got to be a way to remove the articlereplies (and then we can add a link to the forum ourselves)

right?

 

[Spiderman]

yeah, it's Ed Sullivan, one of the Founders. He checks in here and there and uploads files for me (like Notepad's comics, back in the day).

I don't think there's currently an easy way to bypass the front page reply system. You'd have to go into the page design of the front page articles and re-code them. I can try setting up a thread and linking to it when I post them though.

And I was gonna do what Chaos Turtle said he did: bold a Featured Thread title and maybe try putting a better description like Notepad did.

 

[Limited]

Originally posted by Spiderman
bold a Featured Thread title and maybe try putting a better description like Notepad did.

Now it kinda looks like the Featured thread and the article are somehow connected.. Referring to same topic or something.
It looks kinda.. wrong?
Is there no way to post the Featured Topic as a new item?

 

[Spiderman]

It does? I don't get it... I'll edit it to set it more apart.

I don't like having two "updates" for the front page for the same day though, I personally think it looks cluttered and messy.

 

[Limited]

It's just my opinion of course, but usually you don't have more than one new item a day.. so i got used to having one item announced in one "block"..

Originally posted by Spiderman

I don't like having two "updates" for the front page for the same day though, I personally think it looks cluttered and messy.

Very valid reason. Any other opinions?

 

[Notepad]

Spidey, *please* for the love of Dr. Garfield, use my suggested formatting...

Featured Thread: Sushi Helps Play Performance
Blah blah you eat fish and cats eat fish, so are we all just cats on one giant litterbox? Why play cards if that's the case? Discuss here!

When you do it this way, it looks like a title, and separates it from the article without having to resort to a whole bunch of equal pressing, man.

 

[Spiderman]

Limited: Yeah, it's just that I figured Monday/Thursday were good days to break up the week, rather than Monday/Wednesday (and I'm not here all the time on Friday). Otherwise I would spread them out more.

Notepad: Actually, I meant to do that but forgot the thread's title... doh! I'll go back and edit it. Thanks.

 

[Killer Joe]

Yup, the double lines caught my eye immediately. Looks good to me.

As for NoteFro's teaser idea, I like, I LIKE!

"Wiz Co is brining back the 3 fer 1 cards! See Here!"



NOT!

 

[Ferret]

Notepad's idea is good. We might be able to get more activity from the featured thread by making it a little "flashier".

Now, as for the reply to article problem, I have an idea:
1. figure out a way to disable the reply to article feature.
2. for each new article create a forum thread w/ the same title and the first post will be a link to the article.
3. at the end of the article insert a link to the thread w/ "Tell us what you think"

It's crude, but effective and might divert more people to the forums...

-Ferret

"It could also work in reverse if someone could take a featured thread idea and turn them into articles..."

 

[Spiderman]

Unfortunately, I don't know of a way to do 1 and automate 2 & 3 like the front page replies are currently done. I can manually create a thread and add the line at the end of the article and manually move people's replies to the thread if they inadvertently use the front page reply system. You might want to check with Ed to see if it's possible.

As for turning Featured Threads into articles, it's "a good idea But" the problem with that is that people don't know if their thread is going to be a Featured Thread until after the fact. It's easier to just jot down a couple thoughts and post them in a thread than write a "formal" article for the front page (and no, I'm not posting those couple of thoughts on the front page )

Maybe you mean they could take the thread after it's been Featured and try to make an article out of it. Seems kinda redundant, but maybe it'd work...

 

[Ferret]

Hmmm...actually, turning a featured thread into and article would be a bit redundant. Not a good idea at all, really.

I wish I knew more about the HTML makeup of the site or how the articles worked so that it can be tweaked. I'm not sure how to do it myself, but I happen to be married to an award winning-website creator that I might be able to persuade to help...

-Ferret

"That, and due to random things lik War, I sometimes don't have time to dedicate to that..."

 

[Spiderman]

Ed might be able to point you in the right direction if he okays it...

 

[orgg]

My suggestion: remove replying to articles and instead include a forum thread for each article. It would generate more forum support and help get some of those people that have never posted in the fourms over here to see what's going on...

-Ferret

"Hmmm...if a person only replines to articles then their post count would be zero...it would look like they're almost dormant..."

WHOAH! NO!

Article replies under the article itself is one of the BIG things I love about the CPA-- Those who shove the conversation into the forum always made me feel that conversation was being 'pushed away' and hidden-- I much prefer to see the comments attached to the articles.

PLEASE don't make the article replies on this site like EVERY OTHER MAGIC SITE OUT THERE.

We did the commentary system first, others aped it, then fobbed it off to the forums-- the CPA should allow the talk to be seen.

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Hm. Seems like this topic warrants further discussion.

I think each system has its advantages. Keeping it as it is, as orgg pointed out, keeps the replies attached to the articles. That way they can be read right along with the article, without having to to another page. Unfortunately, this system also seems to provide for slower discussions than in the forums, due to the requirement that the article replies be individually approved before they are posted.

I can't say I necessarily prefer one method over the other. I wonder whether the other members have an opinion on the matter?

 

[Nightstalkers]

Methinks that Mr. Ed is trying to revive the boards...

 

[Spiderman]

Honestly, in general, the articles don't generate a lot of replies to make the "approving process" a factor. I check every couple hours when I'm here and there's not a whole lot in the queue - usually just one or two. And usually replies to "old" articles. Now, I don't know if that's indicative of the articles themselves or maybe people are used to the system - I don't know.

So now we have a dissenting opinion. What shall we (I) do? We can use both and see if one gets more activity than the other...

 

[jorael]

I'm ok with the way it is right now. If you aren't convinced that a change will generate more forum visitors, why make the change?

The highlighting of forum discussions on the front-page looks promising. That might be enough forum promotion.

 

[Spiderman]

Well, it doesn't hurt to try. That way we know if it works or not.

Although I'm still skeptical of the Featured Thread thing. I don't think it's brought in anyone except maybe DragonbloodThirsty(?) who seemed to show up after they started. But I guess one is better than none