We've been sketching out some new features for the site and we need your feedback.

Over the last six months we've listened very closely to your constructive criticism of the site, even if we haven't always been able to address problems as quickly. So the following changes, which we'd like your feedback on, are meant to address what have been the two most persistent complaints -- that the blogging interface is too buggy and that there's little way to follow the discussions you're participating in.

So, the changes are relatively simple. The first is a new approach to reader blogging: a consolidated profile and blogging page and a much improved backend interface for putting up your posts. The second is an interface to allow you to keep track of the discussions you participate in here at TPM and the people you think are making interesting contributions.

Pictures and further explanation after the break.

So, first the reader blogging. We know the interface for putting up your posts is frustrating and insufficient. We've been hashing out a new system that should dramatically upgrade that and give you an interface similar to the one we have here on staff. You'll be able to embed video and photos, use html (gasp!) and preview your posts before you put them up. More to come on that in the future, but I wanted to make sure that you knew that before moving on to how it will look.

Your blog will be much more customized. First, we've consolidated your profile and blog for the sake of simplicity. At your blog, you'll be able to click the tabs at the top to toggle between your posts, your comments, and your recommendations. In your sidebar, your readers will be able to see your general information and your favorites. At the top, you'll be able to name your blog whatever you like.

(CLICK THE HERE FOR THE FULL IMAGE)

Second, by popular demand, we've created a Community Dashboard. This will allow you to keep track of discussions you're in and people you like. If you choose to "follow" someone (by clicking "follow" on their profile/blog page), you'll see all of their activity listed in reverse chronological order. That includes when they post, when they comment, and when they recommend an article. At the top of the Dashboard, as with the blog page, you can toggle through to see only posts, comments, or recommendations by your friends. On the posts and comments pages, you'll be able to see the beginning of the actual posts or comments themselves. Our hope is that by allowing valuable community members to gain a following, you'll have a built in base of people to recommend your posts and an audience for your comments and recommendations.

In addition, with the Community Dashboard you'll be shown any time someone responds to a comment of yours. That way, you can easily follow and jump back into threads just by clicking on the link. We know this is something you all loved about the old Drupal site and we hope this works.

(CLICK THE HERE FOR THE FULL IMAGE)

So what do you think? Ignore the messiness of my sketches, things will look pretty once we do the graphics design. But like I said, this is a first draft, so don't hesitate to let us know what you think is missing. What do you want to make your experience better? What are we missing? And, heck, what about it do you like?

Let us know.