Best Of Blog - An Exciting New Feature at DonationCoder.com

[mouser]

Announcing the DonationCoder.com Best Of Blog:
An Exciting New Feature at DonationCoder.com

I had the idea for this feature almost a year ago, but only just recently bit the bullet and implemented it.

It's basically a blog-like view into the "best" posts on the forum at any given time.

http://blog.donationcoder.com/

In some sense, it turns the forum into a kind of digg-like cauldron, where the most notable posts can be recognized and promoted to the Best Of Blog page and presented for more casual viewing, in a form similar to lifehacker.  Clicking on an entry brings you into the forum discussion of that post where the reader can join in on the discussion.


Note: This new page is not for hardcore DonationCoder.com forum readers.  There will be nothing on this page that isn't already on the forum.  It's main purpose is providing a less overwhelming, more accessible view of just a few items on the forum each day.  It should provide a gentler way of casual visitors to get introduced to our site.

So, if you have a friend who would be too overwhelmed to jump right into the donationcoder.com forums, send them over to http://blog.donationcoder.com - it's the perfect introduction.

[mouser]

note:

currently, the decision about which posts on the forum get "blogged" (promoted to the blog page) will be done by select people on the forum, based on their best judgement.

we may add some more automated promotion procedures, but my feelings about the non-wisdom-of-the-crowd have been expressed here before, so my inclination is to leave this in the hands of a few people for the time being.

[jgpaiva]

This new page is not for hardcore DonationCoder.com forum readers.

-mouser (July 11, 2006, 10:35 AM)

But it sure is a great deal of fun, even for those who already read the posts!

So, if you have a friend who would be too overwhelmed to jump right into the donationcoder.com forums, send them over to http://blog.donationcoder.com - it's the perfect introduction.

-mouser (July 11, 2006, 10:35 AM)

Done!! Sure is a great idea, everybody should send the link to their friends (and mom, dad, brother, sister, cat, dog, hamster, house ghost, guardian angel, etc!)


Thank you so much for this new feature, mouser, it's looking great, it's a neat idea and i wish it all the luck!

[Josh]

This was a very nice idea mouser, and I think this will attract many more users to come into the forums and participate. Its definitely less intimidating, thats for sure, and I know that was your goal!

Great job!

[mouser]

thanks for the encouragement while i was working on it, makes all the difference, as usual.

ps.
we need to find a few people who regularly read most or all of the forum posts on a timely basis, who have good taste, and would like to be given blog-promotion permission, to promote the most interestings posts.  send me a message if you think you fit this criteria.

[mouser]

if you find this concept interesting, here's the link to digg it:
http://digg.com/desi...ted_from_forum_posts

(if you are not signed up for digg.com, might be a good time to do so)

[Josh]

Done and done!

[Carol Haynes]

Great idea ... and it puts pressure on me to get my panoram software review sorted! Sorry it is slipping to August at this rate but it will be done oh mighty scourge of the mice world!

[JavaJones]

Wow, I liked the idea, but frankly didn't expect such a nice implementation! (No offense Mouser ) Great work.

- Oshyan

[mouser]

thanks also to app for helping to find more public domain images and to everyone on the irc channel for their testing and ideas.

[Wordzilla]

Announcing the DonationCoder.com Best Of Blog:
An Exciting New Feature at DonationCoder.com

I had the idea for this feature almost a year ago, but only just recently bit the bullet and implemented it.

It's basically a blog-like view into the "best" posts on the forum at any given time.

http://blog.donationcoder.com/

In some sense, it turns the forum into a kind of digg-like cauldron, where the most notable posts can be recognized and promoted to the Best Of Blog page and presented for more casual viewing, in a form similar to lifehacker.  Clicking on an entry brings you into the forum discussion of that post where the reader can join in on the discussion.


Note: This new page is not for hardcore DonationCoder.com forum readers.  There will be nothing on this page that isn't already on the forum.  It's main purpose is providing a less overwhelming, more accessible view of just a few items on the forum each day.  It should provide a gentler way of casual visitors to get introduced to our site.

So, if you have a friend who would be too overwhelmed to jump right into the donationcoder.com forums, send them over to http://blog.donationcoder.com - it's the perfect introduction.

-mouser (July 11, 2006, 10:35 AM)

Genius idea and implementation! Well done!