Review Day: Saturday -> Monday

[mouser]

ok, it was getting harder and harder to hit the saturday deadlines for reviews, given that the weekend is the best time to do the bulk of the work.  So i've changed it to Monday.

The aim will be to have reviews available monday morning.

I think it makes a little more sense and it's a little easier deadline as well.

[tenseiken]

I couldn't agree more.  It was tough to do so much of the work Friday evening and Saturday.  An extra day should be most helpful.

But I bet you're secretly running behind this week... =p

[JeffK]

Don't stress yourself mouser.  I'm sure most members are very happy to have access to the reviews and other benefits of the site.  A few days or weeks wait won't hurt us.

Jeff

[zridling]

This is a good idea, but something I wonder is the commitment to a review every single week. That's a brutal schedule, especially since there is plenty of other contributing writers on the site between the blogs and forum activity. The amount of energy alone that it takes to sift through the features — or lack thereof — of so many apps within a category is mindblowing. Why not consider doing the current, extended reviews once a month or every three weeks, but having smaller, capsule reviews of 1-2 related apps in between?

The first reason I suggest this is, if you peruse the site right now, there is a significant amount of content available, and a newcomer would spend quite a bit of time reading to catch up on the reviews alone. Look at how the columnists' posts have filled out now. And the second reason I suggest it is burnout. Like any columnist or heavy duty blogger, they need to build in natural breaks to get away and reenergize their brains.

[mouser]

here's another idea that is sort of a combination of various ideas rolled up into one:

we could make all reviews like 2 part (2 week things),

where the first week would be a sort of short intro to the category and maybe a capsule overview and first impressions of
various programs, and then a week later the final conclusion award/review.

and in that week period, we could talk about issues and update the first part regularly as our discussions unfold,
leading finally to the conclusion review and award.

that approach might also help out in terms of having the review develop over the course of the week allowing us to get better feedback in the process.

[tenseiken]

I think extending the time is a great idea.  In cases like FTP servers and email clients, there are a lot of options, so the more time to experiment the better.  You could also interject a coding snacks weekend to give yourself some more time.

[zridling]

Breaking the reviews into a introductory, capsule "Part I," describing each app would build excitement and feedback. I have to admit, I couldn't wait for this latest email review to be published because of what I knew would be completely different from what I know and do (with email). Like now, any feedback in the forums could build toward the second, conclusive "Part II" review. That's still over 20 topics a year (assuming you build in breaks for life events like taking a vacation, getting sick, trying to get someone to bail you out of jail, etc.), which would cover a large swath of the software landscape every 10-12 months.

[mouser]

zaine, the new avatar is great, but i loved the trailer one; it reminded me of some maxfield parish landscape paintings.  i hope you will rotate the old one back every once and a while.

[mouser]

i do like the idea of having the initial easy part of the review up for an entire week where members could make suggestions and comments and help shape the review..

part 1 would be basically writing the skeleton part of the review.  the intro, and describing the set of programs up for consideration, and features of interest.  then we could essentially fill in the details and comments about the various apps..
then on the 2nd weekend the reviewer will make a final decision about which app is best and move that one to forefront of review, and leave the rest of the descriptions of the alternate programs.  this should also increase the size and completeness of the "alternative programs" section, which i think everyone likes.  i'm guessing this approach will shift the reviews to be a little less focused on describing the single best app, and a little more focused on the range of apps and features, while still clearly picking one program and describing why it was chosen as best.

this approach would also let people on the forum contribute content to the descriptions of various alternative programs, making it more of a group effort.

for example, let's say we do file explorer replacements next time (another hairy review, ugh).  then the idea would be that the first week would be posted an overview of the topic and a table of alternative programs with some screenshots, etc.  then in the course of the week, people could post their descriptions of the alternative programs they favor and why, and features they like, etc.

these comments could be collected and worked into the review over the course of the week, culminating in a decision about the final best program, and a more elaboarte description of its features and why the reviewer believes they are better.

i'm a little worried that its going to ruin the suspense though and make the reviews something that the participating members don't much care to read in the end since they've seen it coming for the last 2 weeks... not sure..

another potential monkey wrench: i want to reserve some weekends for coding snacks also..

so maybe weekend schedules would be like
Review part 1
Review part 2
Coding snacks
Review part 1
Review part 2
Coding snacks

or we could do
Review Part 1
Coding Snacks
Review Part 2
Review Part 1
Coding Snacks
Review Part 2

or we could do
Review Part 1
Coding Snacks
Review Part 2
something related to coding
Review Part 1
Coding Snacks
Review Part 2
something related to coding

[zridling]

I got a couple of hundred avatars (I like the trailer, too), but most of them are of Lucy Liu. I've also got an idea for coding program that involves ATM machines and remote-controlled spiders that will make us all stinkin' rich.

No wait, that was Bender's idea. I watch way too many cartoons.