Author Topic: Front Page News  (Read 28273 times)

Offline Diddly

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Front Page News
« on: December 23, 2008, 09:51 PM »
I hate to be "that guy" but I feel it's come time to point out just how... lacking the front page news has been. I know the site has been having to deal with certain things like Jeff's departure but I think that the site could post at least a few updates a week. Other than prototype images and Q&A's being posted every few weeks , there's really nothing.

I think there are plenty of newsworthy items regarding non Hasbro lines that could be posted on the homepage, info on local cons taking place, not to mention interesting articles from the official SW site (they happen once a year but yeah). If we need to stoop really low we could even post updates from sponsors.

I don't know, I feel JD could offer a lot more than it is... if you guys need help, I (and I'm sure a bunch of other forum members) would be willing to give a hand.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2008, 10:01 PM »
Unfortunately, you can't just pick up anyone who says they'll help on staff...  and honestly at this point most of the staff isn't "in it" like they used to be, if they're even still on staff.  Jeff basically did 99% of the work here, and I did the other 1%...  Ultimately we are focused now more on JD's forums and community, as that's what's always been more important to us here on staff.  Jeff's retirement from JD obviously meant a big decline in basically anything news on the front page.

I personally don't have the desire to keep up with the mundane day-to-day news postings that every site puts out on their front page, and obviously neither do the other staffers...  After umpteen years of doing a job you don't get anything out of, you basically grow tired of it.

I wouldn't count on a big JD hiring blitz to beef up the front page.  Our forums are important, and anything I decide to work at gets posted, but really I don't have the time nor inclination to work at anything else beyond what I do...  The Q&A's are even hard for me to stay on top of and usually only get posted because of help from Ryan or Scott lending me a hand.  My life just happened to take a change the same time Jeff's did, which wasn't good for JD at all.

We're still here, but honestly I get all the news I read off our forums anyway, even from other sites.  We're considering changing JD's format and things, and there's some discussion going on, but it's pretty slow-going. 

Basically I'm just saying don't count on us bringing anyone new on, and don't count on the front page changing.  There just isn't anyone with the heart to do it anymore.  I love collecting, but I don't love the thought of doing what Jeff did before his departure, as that's just a chore to me.  :-\  Sorry guys! 

Q&A's still going though, and I find it funny that we still have managed scoops without having the daily stuff up on our front page.  Not all sites can say the same about that. ;)
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Offline Sprry75

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2008, 11:26 PM »
Wait...JD has a front page??!?!?  ??? ??? ???
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Offline Matt

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2008, 12:35 PM »
Now is the perfect time for the return of Jango's Jargon.
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Offline Diddly

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2008, 12:55 PM »
Yeah Jesse I understand what the site and staff are going through. Like I said, I didn't want to come off as an ******* I just wanted to know if there were any upcoming plans to keep the site "up to date". Oh, I'm not expecting a hiring spree either. I'd honestly rather keep the same mods/staff than keep adding new 06'ers like certain other sites.
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Offline iFett

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2008, 12:57 PM »
I've been bypassing the main page after Jeff split and just dive straight into the forums.  Not really any point to - but JJ summed up whats been going on pretty good so I understand.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #6 on: December 24, 2008, 02:23 PM »
We get stories still, but usually I'll post something aobut them in the forums for you guys to sorta know to check the front page, so basically yeah, that's where we're at. :)

Some sites are real gung-ho and have a hard-on about news posting and stuff, and regardless of how rehashed it is or how cluttered it looks, it keeps going...  JD wasn't like that ever in the first place and we always liked that look...  Unfortunately though, as I noted, Jeff did 99% of the work here at JD, honestly.  He really was the backbone of the site, and with his stepping down from staff I'm the most active guy.  Sad huh? ;D  I'm active in the things I always have done and that's it...  I like doing news but the mundane daily updates stuff always just wore me out, and plus I'm not proficient at coding and stuff (as Jeff seemed to be), so my news posting is generally slower to boot.  Hell, Jeff always coded my reviews, hah!

Anyway no problem Diddly, as I know what you were saying and you didn't come off as an ******* at all.  I knew this day/question was coming actually. :)  If anything I'd think JD's front page would maybe go to a non-news format at some point and really just divert to the forums since this is the real bread and butter for the site.  The people here are great, and honestly that's all that matters.  We're still one of the top forums and communities, and it seems a front page isn't necessary for that.

Now...  If someone brings up some form of compensation package, I could see things turning around a little bit on the front page. ;)  Seriously though, it's so much work that it's hard to do it all for free, especially since I started a new job and life just is too busy a lot of the time.  I'm technically on call as we speak, but killing time incase I get a call to go back to the office today.  JD just got pushed aside for me too I'm afraid.

No harm no foul guys...  And look for the latest secondary character's dwelling to get a special weekly segment in our forums maybe.  Perhaps Bossk's Bungalo?
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #7 on: January 1, 2009, 08:24 PM »
Now is the perfect time for the return of Jango's Jargon.

Thanks for the suggestion Matt, but we've already contacted Cory, and apparently this is a no-go.  He's too busy polishing his Jango toothbrushes and washing his Jango underoos to devote any time to the (defunct) main page here.

We have however contacted Rob Gailor to see if he wants to start contributing again.  Our last ditch plan is to see if Angry Ewok is still alive...

Offline Matt_Fury

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #8 on: January 2, 2009, 06:26 PM »
Hell...I think most of us are surprised to see YOU'RE still alive!   :D
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Offline JediJman

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #9 on: January 3, 2009, 11:25 AM »
Basically I'm just saying don't count on us bringing anyone new on, and don't count on the front page changing.  There just isn't anyone with the heart to do it anymore.  I love collecting, but I don't love the thought of doing what Jeff did before his departure, as that's just a chore to me.  :-\  Sorry guys! 

I have to say I think this is pretty weak response.  You're basically saying that no one on staff wants to do it, but you're not willing to bring in anyone new who might be willing to help you out.    ???  I'm not aware of too many successful organizations who's motto is "we know there's a problem, we understand your idea for improvements, but we're not going to do jack about it."

The front page is a pretty key element to any site.  I'm not really sure how the site is maintained financially, but if your sponsors are on the main page and people are bypassing to go right to the forums, that doesn't seem like a very wise strategy.  You can also say that you're "focusing" more on the forums, but I think that probably means you're just spending your time blogging like the rest of us.  That will only last for so long before the majority of folks start migrating to more "active" sites.  I personally have started hitting up other sites more often and I know others here who have done the same.

I'm no expert on running websites, but it seems pretty silly to me that you have an able group of supporters who might be interested in helping and you're not even giving it consideration.  To Diddly's point - some news/any news on the front page is probably better than absolutely nothing.
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Offline Chris

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #10 on: January 3, 2009, 02:16 PM »
Basically I'm just saying don't count on us bringing anyone new on, and don't count on the front page changing.  There just isn't anyone with the heart to do it anymore.  I love collecting, but I don't love the thought of doing what Jeff did before his departure, as that's just a chore to me.  :-\  Sorry guys! 

I have to say I think this is pretty weak response.  You're basically saying that no one on staff wants to do it, but you're not willing to bring in anyone new who might be willing to help you out.    ???  I'm not aware of too many successful organizations who's motto is "we know there's a problem, we understand your idea for improvements, but we're not going to do jack about it."

The front page is a pretty key element to any site.  I'm not really sure how the site is maintained financially, but if your sponsors are on the main page and people are bypassing to go right to the forums, that doesn't seem like a very wise strategy.  You can also say that you're "focusing" more on the forums, but I think that probably means you're just spending your time blogging like the rest of us.  That will only last for so long before the majority of folks start migrating to more "active" sites.  I personally have started hitting up other sites more often and I know others here who have done the same.

I'm no expert on running websites, but it seems pretty silly to me that you have an able group of supporters who might be interested in helping and you're not even giving it consideration.  To Diddly's point - some news/any news on the front page is probably better than absolutely nothing.

Jesse was very nicely saying that we don't really care about the main page or keeping people reading it anymore (this should be apparent by the lack of news). Things are absolutely not the same as they were when we started, the market is different, the movies are over, etc. If someone wants to come and take over the main page, that's fine, but we're not actively looking at fixing it. If you want to go somewhere else for your up to the minute news on the George Lucas whoring of a once good thing, please do. At this point, JediDefender is a forum for old friends. If we have new friends find us along the way- fine. But otherwise, we aren't too concerned. With or without sponsors, it is ultimately up to me to pay the bills and they get paid- so I would say our strategy is working just fine. A successful organization is relative to the mission statement.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #11 on: January 3, 2009, 03:26 PM »
I have to say I think this is pretty weak response.  You're basically saying that no one on staff wants to do it, but you're not willing to bring in anyone new who might be willing to help you out.    ???  I'm not aware of too many successful organizations who's motto is "we know there's a problem, we understand your idea for improvements, but we're not going to do jack about it."

And I have to say that I don't give a **** what you think of my response Jman. ;D 

Seriously though, Chris gave you the polite response to this, but honestly I'm not here to sugar coat it...  First it's not my place to bring on new staff to deal with the site.  I've made suggestions in the past, but it's Chris' site and we genearlly had a forum over who came in and who went on staff.  Do we feel like picking out who we think would gell with what's left of our staff?  Do we feel like seeing who has the time/desire to put in the hardcore effort like Jeff did (because we're not gonna pick up a person to just do a story a week, that's for certain)? 

Basically in a nutshell, no.

This isn't a for-profit organization here, so it's not like the staff's got the drive to make this "succeed" at this point.  It's a lot of work to do what Jeff did...  To replace him with one person is virtually impossible, and to replace him with multiple people is not going to happen.  Why?  Because getting one new guy involved and active is a pain.  Starting from scratch isn't even close to reasonable then to the "old guard" here I think.

It's not that we don't want JD to succeed...  We made it work for how long?  We trumped a lot of sites with scoops/news, and like I pointed out our front page had images and stories up that are still there that other sites didn't have...  Kinda funny that even with Jeff's departure and the downturn in the front page, we still had stories that beat the competition. 

But the reality is that we are letting JD go gracefully because the guys that are still here care about the forum and the community, and I think we've collectively agreed the front page isn't important to us now.  If it were, Jesse, Ryan, Paul, Rob, myself, Chris, and even Dale would be pitching in to make the front page better...  It's kinda like customizing to me.  I love it, but when do I do it?  Never...  It just isn't important to me right now.  Jeff's leaving just kind of made this realization come about to the others I think, that's all.

Quote
The front page is a pretty key element to any site.  I'm not really sure how the site is maintained financially, but if your sponsors are on the main page and people are bypassing to go right to the forums, that doesn't seem like a very wise strategy.
 

True, if you're competing...  Right now the staff seemingly aren't interested in competing with other sites anymore though.  I used to enjoy it, but really I'm bored with it, and again it all goes back to basically starting over, and how starting over just doesn't strike any of us as an option.

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You can also say that you're "focusing" more on the forums, but I think that probably means you're just spending your time blogging like the rest of us.  That will only last for so long before the majority of folks start migrating to more "active" sites.  I personally have started hitting up other sites more often and I know others here who have done the same.

That's fine by me...  I'm not going to beg people to stay here.  I don't really have much drive to post anywhere but here, so that's why I stay.  I have other forums I visit, but for SW I stick here.  Will people leave?  Probably...  But others will come here to remain friends with who stay here, if they want.  If the group becomes smaller I'm fine with that.  I put my time in here, worked hard, and now I'm not doing so quite as much.  I like chilling in the forums, and that's what I'll continue to do as part of the staff.  If something comes up for me, I'll post it on the front page, but otherwise don't count on it changing much out there.

Quote
I'm no expert on running websites, but it seems pretty silly to me that you have an able group of supporters who might be interested in helping and you're not even giving it consideration.  To Diddly's point - some news/any news on the front page is probably better than absolutely nothing.

Again...  starting over, multiple new guys over 1 guy that does it all and enjoys it, blah blah blah...  Chris has ultimate say on this, so if you guys really want to pester him to change JD, be my guest.

Like I've said, I don't mean to be a dick, but I don't get paid to do this, so what anyone really thinks of what I"m saying is going in one ear and out the other.  There's few important people in the world to me, and even they couldn't sway my opinion on this right now.  I loved JD, and still like the community here, but picking up the slack left by Jeff's departure is more than a guy pitching in for a news post here and there.

To be honest I think most people just don't understand the level of work that Jeff did, and that someone HAS to do, to keep a front page active, fresh, and to make it competitive.  I'm talking getting good news ahead of the competition, exclusive news, etc.  We've been one of the only sites that did that, and it's a major chore.  Jeff's leaving is the equivalent of Curto leaving Scum, in every way.  It would be devastating to their site as well.

Sorry guys...  Doing it was fun while it lasted though!  :)
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Offline JediJman

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #12 on: January 3, 2009, 09:21 PM »
Wow, you're awfully gabby for a guy who doesn't care about what I think.   ;)

In all seriousness, I appreciate the responses.  I guess I didn't realize that the "mission statement" of the site was to just use it as a communication tool for those already signed up and that the staff was planning to just let it die out.  I certainly felt like that was happening, but didn't know that was the intent.

I've very much enjoyed the site and am sorry to hear that no one's interested in revitalizing it.  I've met Jeff once or twice and am vaugly aware of how much time and effort he's been putting into the site over the years.  Its frankly impossible to be a regular visitor and not have noticed the very day he decided to hang up his cleats - it just hasn't been the same since.

Anyway, I respect the decision of the staff - it's just a very foreign concept to me.  I personally have a very hard time letting go of things that I've invested a lot of time and energy in, so I feel like if I was vested in the creation of something like this I'd be checking into some different options to keep it alive.   Not saying that's right or wrong for you and your buddies - that's just my perspective and the rationale for my comments earlier.

Anyway, thanks for the good memories.  Who knows - maybe someone will come along one day and incorporate the best of what was JD into a brand new SW collecting site?
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Offline Chris

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #13 on: January 3, 2009, 09:26 PM »
Who knows - maybe someone will come along one day and incorporate the best of what was JD into a brand new SW collecting site?

That is my hope. :)

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Front Page News
« Reply #14 on: January 5, 2009, 02:06 AM »
It wasn't really the staff's intent to "let it die" either, but Jeff was the captain of the front page, and without him I know I'm not inclined to pick up the slack, and I honestly can't think of anyone off the top of my head (well, one guy I'm friends with but he's busy "elsewhere") who would just jump in and do what Jeff did...  I personally don't relish the thought of new staffers who would post a story a week or something, so relaly that big key is one guy that can (and wants to) do it all... 

It's not a huge deal to me...  I didn't "invest" anything into JD but my free time, which has decreased, and which that decrease basically is why I'm not doing more...  The site's been a blast, but for me as long as I've got the forums I'm happy to stay in touch with everyone here since I think that's truly the best thing about JD.  News is news...  It's usually recycled on every website, and like I mentioned, you only get attention when you out maneuver the other guy with some scoop on your front page...  The day-to-day stuff would drive me nuts if I had to do it all...  Maybe that's my lack of speed with posting and coding and whatnot. 

I'm pretty happy though with the run JD's front page had till now.  The boards are a reall testament to the site's success ultimately.  If someone has the experience, and the drive/desire, they should PM CHris about the site though, by all means.  I really don't know anyone who'd donate their time like Jeff did though, but if that person is out there and wanted the job, maybe Chris would entertain the idea.
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