Suggestion for TPM
I don't get here every day - and the recommended posts seem to cycle out about every 24 hours so I know I miss a lot of good ones. I know someone tried to start a daily thread where everyone could list their favorite posts but I didn't have time to keep up with all of those, and I guess not enough people participated to keep it going.
I wonder if it would be possible for TPM to add a sidebar that would list the most highly recommended posts of the week. Or maybe have a TPM editor's post every Saturday where they give links to the readers' posts with the most Rec's for the week.
Or is there a tool already available that would help me find older posts with lots of Rec's?
I wonder if it would be possible for TPM to add a sidebar that would list the most highly recommended posts of the week. Or maybe have a TPM editor's post every Saturday where they give links to the readers' posts with the most Rec's for the week.
Or is there a tool already available that would help me find older posts with lots of Rec's?
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2DN
Agree & rec'd
March 14, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Co sign.
March 14, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great idea. May I also add a way to know if a comment was responded to? This was a feature formerly, and it was quite a time saver; it also allowed conversations to continue after the thread had long-since disappeared. Oh, and since I'm fantasizing about old favorites, it would be great to have comments that are un-read grayed out or in some other way to identify a new comment. Thanks!
March 14, 2009 6:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you can either blog or comment to see any respones in your dashboard but not both. I asked Al why I couldn't post a blog and he had to change something in my dashboard. By the time that was done it was too late for my blog and now I see nothing in my dashboard. Very annoying.
March 14, 2009 9:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe that you must be "following" posters to have stuff appear in your dashboard.
March 15, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, I'll try that.
March 15, 2009 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's not all the dashboard link gives you.
It also gives you:
1) All replies to your own comments, even if you are not following the people who make them, with direct links to those replies.
2) ALL comments on your own blogs, even if you are following the people who make them, with direct links to those comments.
I've seen evidence that this works no matter how old the comment or blog is; if someone posts a reply to one of your comments or a comment on one of your blogs, it shows up on your dashboard.
March 15, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes to both!!
I refer to notification (say on one's Dashboard) that a new comment to one's blog, or a new reply to one's comment on any blog, has come in. And, a quick way to skip previously read comments or highlight unread comments by any poster.
March 15, 2009 1:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
CVille: It's possible to see responses through the dashboard. The problem is, however, that the responses are mixed in with all the other comments that the people you are following have made. If you follow anyone who is a prolific TPM user who makes a lot of comments, it's easy to miss replies to one's own comments.
Another suggestion for the TPM Computer Gods: It would be nice to separate the two (responses to one's own comments separated from the comments made by users who one is following) in the dashboard. Perhaps a separate tab for each would be a good idea.
One other suggestion is to bring back the Rich Text Editor (or something similar). We can easily insert HTML coding in our blog posts through the handy buttons at the bottom which insert the code automatically (thanks for that!), but not in comments. I seem to have developed a mental block against learning HTML. Every time I want to do a link, I have to open up a text file I created that tells me how to do it, which is annoying and awkward. And I'm still having problems with paragraphs. Using the "blockquote" coding will work for the first paragraph, but any subsequent paragraphs won't be indented or placed within the text box, even if they're part of the blockquoted text; one can apparently use paragraph formatting (the "p" or the "br" code), but I still haven't figured out how to do that properly.
I don't think we should have to know HTML in order to do very basic formatting of comments here at TPM, should we? I'm not certain if this is a problem caused by my not participating here at TPM as much as I used to, and hence not learning the HTML code, or if this is the reason I don't post as much. Perhaps I've gotten spoiled by other sites that all offer something like the old Rich Text Editor.
March 15, 2009 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
CVille: It's possible to see responses through the dashboard. The problem is, however, that the responses are mixed in with all the other comments that the people you are following have made. If you follow anyone who is a prolific TPM user who makes a lot of comments, it's easy to miss replies to one's own comments.
Another suggestion for the TPM Computer Gods: It would be nice to separate the two (responses to one's own comments separated from the comments made by users who one is following) in the dashboard. Perhaps a separate tab for each would be a good idea.
One other suggestion is to bring back the Rich Text Editor (or something similar). We can easily insert HTML coding in our blog posts through the handy buttons at the bottom which insert the code automatically (thanks for that!), but not in comments. I seem to have developed a mental block against learning HTML. Every time I want to do a link, I have to open up a text file I created that tells me how to do it, which is annoying and awkward. And I'm still having problems with paragraphs. Using the "blockquote" coding will work for the first paragraph, but any subsequent paragraphs won't be indented or placed within the text box, even if they're part of the blockquoted text; one can apparently use paragraph formatting (the "p" or the "br" code), but I still haven't figured out how to do that properly.
Perhaps I've gotten spoiled by other sites that all offer something like the old Rich Text Editor, but I don't see why we should have to know HTML in order to do very basic formatting of comments here at TPM. I'm not certain if my problem is one caused by not participating here at TPM as much as I used to, and hence not learning the HTML code, or if this is the reason I don't post as much.
And I should add that I agree with debbiedoesnothing's suggestion. Oleeb's idea is good, too. Recommended.
March 15, 2009 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
But C'Ville,
The Dashboard link DOES give you all replies to your comments, even if you're not following the person who replies to you! Al Shaw altered the system so it does that in addition to as giving you all comments on your own blogs, whether or not you follow the commenters.
He did that precisely because people like you and me asked for it. The links you get take you directly to the replies.
The only way it is different from what we had before is that it is not in perpetuity.
So there is a "scrolling away" problem, you might miss replies that were on your dashboard but scrolled away. Even if someone replies to one of your very old comments, it shows up on your dashboard right away.
A dashboard that scrolls so fast that you miss replies to comments or comments on one of your own blogs can happen for lots of reasons, but you can adjust that some to accomodate that some if you don't visit frequently. If someone you are following makes a lot of comments, or a lot of posts, they push everything else off. So maybe instead of following that person, you should just get in the habit of checking their name to see what they posted.
I follow a lot of people but they are mostly people that comment infrequently, so I don't have much of a problem with seeing replies to my comments when I am visiting often. But if I don't visit for like a week, and my dashboard has scrolled away, I can go back and check my own comments lists to go back to the threads I was on and see if there were updates or more replies and commenting. If it's a popular thread with a conversation lasting a long time, since I am following a lot of people, a comment or two often still turns up on my dashboard to remind me to check it out.
March 15, 2009 4:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
C'Ville,
I just checked who you are following and your recent comments.
You should really be experiencing exactly what you claim you don't have--are you even checking "My Dashboard"?
Since you aren't following that many people and they don't comment very often, I would suspect ALL the responses to all the comments on your recent comments list are currently on your "My Dashboard," there should be plenty of room for them all, as the dashboard allows for a pretty long list. (Though all the responses you are getting on this particular comment might fill up a lot of the space, hah!)
March 15, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
We can dream.
March 14, 2009 7:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is fine idea. Not like a contest. A daily compendium or something. Although, I do catch some blog that few others did and find it a good ride.
Good idea.
March 14, 2009 8:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Stillidealistic used to keep this up. She hasn't been here lately?!? Anyone heard from her?
It's a terrific idea to have a weekly list as DDN suggests.
I know that if I've missed a few days, I go to blogs of few to see what they've posted and that I missed.
March 14, 2009 9:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
She had trouble signing in a week or so ago. I suggested she email Al Shaw. On the other hand it's possible that she's had to close up her vacation place and is on her way back home.
March 15, 2009 5:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
I vote yea. Several short posts in a row can shove the longer ones into never-never land.
March 14, 2009 10:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent suggestion!
How about a link where the top recommended posts for a week's worth of days can be found. Basically an archive of highly recommended posts.
March 15, 2009 1:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
I like your idea of an archive.
March 15, 2009 5:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Love the archive idea. . .
March 15, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the whole recommended posts function has something systemically very wrong with it. I think a few posters on here, however they do it, have a bunch of sycophants who somehow recommend their posts automatically (or they text their friends, campaigning to recommend their posts), or they recommend themselves repeatedly from different logins, or however it's done.
Once the material gets a few dubious recommendations and thus makes it on the recommended list, that's enough to attract pile-on recommendations.
So their stuff always gets like 18 recommendations, whether the material is good or not so good.
I could be wrong but I doubt it; I think something like this is going on.
March 15, 2009 5:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sometimes what you say is likely to be true, but take a look at the recommended posts right now. I think there's quite a bit of variation in terms of the authorship of posts. Some authors are more popular than others it's true but they don't close out or preclude others by any stretch.
March 15, 2009 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
So thanks for acknowledging the point.
Now if it is a popularity contest to some degree as you suggest, and if there are a limited number of posts that get recognition, then ipso facto the faves "close out or preclude others" all the time.
Not always as you say, but on each and every day.
March 15, 2009 11:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like a good conspiracy theroy now and then but I don't think anyone goes to the extent of texting friends to rec them.
March 15, 2009 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The do-ers everywhere *love* the I-wouldn't-be-so-paranoid smear. Nothing better!
"Yo, I got the coolest post on TPM and I'm looking for my homies to recommend! Take you one minute, LESS, okay?" This couldn't happend on a college campus, for example?
And seriously, a female using a porn movie's name as login might also attract a surfeit of devotees.
March 15, 2009 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really like these ideas. The one by cvilledem would really help me out so people would know when I respond to there comments (I only get here once or twice a week so nobody really knows if I read there comments or not
March 15, 2009 9:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Very good points in the blog and comments. There is an editor of TPMCafe, Lila Shapiro. I hope she will come in on this discussion.
I agree there are blogs that should be left up longer than 24 hours but the choice should be made by editors not a pure popularity contest. Reader comments and recommends should play a part in the selection process.
Being singled out for a good blog is encouraging for the writer and encourages us all to reach higher.
Anyone know how to contact Lila or other TPM editors?
March 15, 2009 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
As one who has not yet mastered the art of recommending, I have to say that I have read many posts with few recommendations that I thought were pertinent, even prescient.
There's a certain High School Popularity Contest thing that has happened here at times, sometimes more graphic than others, sometimes these mutual admiration circles have moved trivial posts up the list while meaningful ones languish, lurked over obsessively, but never recommended or commentted on because "well, they never recommended MY stuff!"
Some of us aren't as invested in any one blog site the way others are, and our lack of proper acknowledgment is not negligence, while many of you read every post and comment, some of us have chosen to "follow" a select list, rather than try to keep up with the whole project.
My own list that I follow, for instance, represents people I've found very enlightening and/or interesting, but by no means does it represent everyone I read here. I just haven't found the moment to put all my favorites on my list. And I have only recently grasped the import of the "rec'd" button.
So, while the number of rec's on any post tends to reflect the best stuff, it isn't always the best qualifier.
March 15, 2009 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll agree that the number of rec's doesn't always reflect the best stuff but I don't know of a more efficient way to find the best stuff when my time is so limited. It's easy enough for me to skip over the silly stuff (such as blogs that seem intended solely to rile people up).
March 15, 2009 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
sounds like a good idea. we'll discuss tomorrow.
March 15, 2009 7:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Josh. I love this site for lots of reasons, but your responsiveness to our requests is one of the biggies.
March 16, 2009 1:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wholly seconded.
March 16, 2009 1:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
1. As others, I totally love the site. For me, it's the best thing on the web, period. Weekends a bit slow, though, and you might think about that -- just an idea.
2. Adopting this recommendation without change will merely exacerbate the problem some of us have described, i.e., how the recommendations get up there and how sometimes not-too-great posts are highly recommended eludes some of us. Preposterous? If one wants to laugh off this issue (as Debbie does), one needs to also recall that on IMDB, "The Dark Night" was rated the best picture of all time for a while during 2008 by anonymous recommendations, outstripping The Godfather. It didn't even get an Oscar nomination, though, and as some have observed, there was never any evidence that any of those recommending liked the film, or even saw it. http://current.com/items/89147853/the_dark_truth_behind_the_dark_knight_s_imdb_rating.htm
March 16, 2009 1:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, in the first place, I never use anonymous polls on the internet as a way to judge good movies or good posts.
The only reason I suggested using Rec's as criteria is because it's something that could be done with a little bit of coding and wouldn't require extra time from the staff to weed through all the posts and find the good ones. And usually, the silly and downright stupid posts aren't all that informative but they can be highly entertaining.
I like what they decided to do (as Kyle posted below) - "The Ones That Got Away." That's much better than going by rec's alone and I'm glad TPM has decided to do it.
PS: I'd rather use a porn star name than always overreaching to start a fight with someone.
March 16, 2009 7:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm just trying to describe (further below) what I think is going on here. If I got it wrong, I did. JMHO.
March 16, 2009 8:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the basic dynamic is like this:
People's friends recommend their posts however they find out about them (some may be "following" their friends and get then heads up, then click the recommend button).
That gives the poster enough recommends to put him in the recommended posts column.
Then TPM in effect advertises these artificially recommended posts by listing them prominently all over the place. On TPM Muckraker, TPMDC, TPM Cafe, and even TPMTV! This brings in readers who then provide pile-on recommendations and the numbers climb.
Recent Reader Posts, by contrast, is buried way at the bottom of the TPM Cafe page. Almost nobody sees those, and they get few recommendations.
Interestingly, if some Recent Reader Posts get more recommendations than certain Recommended Reader Posts, TPM is normally slow to notice (however the cycle works is unknown and may never have been explained, not sure). So very often/usually the recommended Recent Reader Posts will never be recognized, even though they have more recommends than some of Recommended Reader Posts.
March 16, 2009 10:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi There,
My name is Kyle and I am the intern here at TPMCafe. First of all, thanks for the constructive conversation on making this community better.
Starting this week, we are going to be re-instituting a feature we had a lil while back, "The Ones That Got Away." It is a compilation of a few of the notable reader posts that might have been missed.
Keep an eye out and please let me know what you think.
Thanks!
Kyle Krahel-Frolander
March 16, 2009 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's great. Thanks, Kyle, Josh and all the staff!
March 16, 2009 7:32 PM | Reply | Permalink