7/31/05
Accreditation
One more thing... approving new weblist suggestions with the new tool will give credit to the submittor. No need for any more of these (thanks to Numbah for the suggestion!) qualifiers.
Weblist Suggestion Tool Ready to Go
As promised, we are ready to go with the Weblist Suggestion Management Tool.
On your user page, new item suggestions and personal messages are now separated. Clicking on the Weblist suggestions link will show you a summary of all of the Weblist suggestions that have been submitted by RateItAll users.
Here's how the tool works:
1) Click on the "View" link that corresponds with a particular Weblist suggestion to see the details of that suggestion.
2) Once you've clicked "View," you will be able to review and edit the submitted Item Name, Item Description, and Related Links submitted by the RateItAll member. You will also be able to upload an image to correspond with the item, and to see whatever rating / review the submittor has posted for the new item suggestion.
3) Depending on the quality / appropriateness of the suggestion, you can either check the "Approve" or "Reject" buttons, and then click "Submit" at the bottom of the page. Clicking submit generates an automatic personal message sent to the submittor, informing them of the status of their suggestion.
That's it. I'll hope that you'll find that this is an incredibly easy and effective way to manage new suggestions for your Weblists. We've had this tool active for a few weeks on the main RateItAll side, and it's been a great help.
One more thing: all user Weblist suggestions are copied in the RateItAll Administrator mailbox. I think the way we're going to handle these is that we'll wait a week before submitting/rejecting Weblist suggestions that have gone unanswered.
Please remember to delete processed Weblist suggestions! And keep an eye out for bugs, as this is a new feature.
Enjoy... you can give feedback here.
On your user page, new item suggestions and personal messages are now separated. Clicking on the Weblist suggestions link will show you a summary of all of the Weblist suggestions that have been submitted by RateItAll users.
Here's how the tool works:
1) Click on the "View" link that corresponds with a particular Weblist suggestion to see the details of that suggestion.
2) Once you've clicked "View," you will be able to review and edit the submitted Item Name, Item Description, and Related Links submitted by the RateItAll member. You will also be able to upload an image to correspond with the item, and to see whatever rating / review the submittor has posted for the new item suggestion.
3) Depending on the quality / appropriateness of the suggestion, you can either check the "Approve" or "Reject" buttons, and then click "Submit" at the bottom of the page. Clicking submit generates an automatic personal message sent to the submittor, informing them of the status of their suggestion.
That's it. I'll hope that you'll find that this is an incredibly easy and effective way to manage new suggestions for your Weblists. We've had this tool active for a few weeks on the main RateItAll side, and it's been a great help.
One more thing: all user Weblist suggestions are copied in the RateItAll Administrator mailbox. I think the way we're going to handle these is that we'll wait a week before submitting/rejecting Weblist suggestions that have gone unanswered.
Please remember to delete processed Weblist suggestions! And keep an eye out for bugs, as this is a new feature.
Enjoy... you can give feedback here.
7/28/05
Caching
You may have noticed that your new comments are not immediately showing up on user page. Not to worry. We've instituted caching on these pages in order to improve site performance.
So what does that mean? It means that your new comments will show up on your user page within the hour...
So what does that mean? It means that your new comments will show up on your user page within the hour...
Working on Site Speed
We're rolling in a few improvements to improve site speed today - doubling processing power on the servers, making some tweaks to the code, etc.
Be prepared for sporadic dowtime.
I'll keep you posted.
Be prepared for sporadic dowtime.
I'll keep you posted.
7/27/05
Larry Brown is a Knick
Is this a big deal? Comment here.
Or you can click through here to speculate as to how Larry Brown will do as coach of the Knicks.
Or you can click through here to speculate as to how Larry Brown will do as coach of the Knicks.
What we're working on....
Four new features are pretty far along development:
- Tool to let weblist creators manage new suggestions, complete with all the associated fields (item description, links, review, etc.)
- Expanded Alert functionality that will allow RIA members to set alerts for when 1) new items are added to a particular ratings list; 2) a particular reviewer posts; 3) new weblists are activated by a particular reviewer
- Control panel in the user page to manage ALL alerts, including the new ones listed above, as well as the existing "new review on an item" alert that is already functional
- Blocking feature that will allow reviewers to block specified reviewers from sending them personal messages, as well as block alert type #2 listed above
I'm hopeful we're going to get these up by Monday - cross your fingers.
- Tool to let weblist creators manage new suggestions, complete with all the associated fields (item description, links, review, etc.)
- Expanded Alert functionality that will allow RIA members to set alerts for when 1) new items are added to a particular ratings list; 2) a particular reviewer posts; 3) new weblists are activated by a particular reviewer
- Control panel in the user page to manage ALL alerts, including the new ones listed above, as well as the existing "new review on an item" alert that is already functional
- Blocking feature that will allow reviewers to block specified reviewers from sending them personal messages, as well as block alert type #2 listed above
I'm hopeful we're going to get these up by Monday - cross your fingers.
Three Stars for Saddam?
It all has to do with the scale. Check out Paul2505's "Military Dictator" ratings system.
It takes a lot of courage...
Tips on Uploading Images to Weblists
Has anyone noticed that images and item descriptions make for better, and more popular Weblists?
Two good recent examples are spartacus007's "people who are screwing up america" list and James76255's "Democrats say stupid things too" list. Some might not be crazy about the subject matter, but these guys' use of images and descriptions is impressive.
A couple of tips on uploading images:
- Wikipedia.org is an excellent source of images. Not only do they have a wealth of high quality images on virtually any topic, ALL of their images are in the public domain and may be republished legally.
- Images should be sized to 110(width) x 94(height). Sizing can be done with a wide variety of photo editing software. I use Photoshop, which works great.
- If you don't have photo editing software, or just can't be bothered, don't despair. A quick and easy tip to finding images that will look great on your weblist is to look for images that are slightly wider than they are tall. These images won't get stretched out when you upload them to the site.
That's it for now... I'm sure some of the Weblisters extraordinaires will have more tips.
Two good recent examples are spartacus007's "people who are screwing up america" list and James76255's "Democrats say stupid things too" list. Some might not be crazy about the subject matter, but these guys' use of images and descriptions is impressive.
A couple of tips on uploading images:
- Wikipedia.org is an excellent source of images. Not only do they have a wealth of high quality images on virtually any topic, ALL of their images are in the public domain and may be republished legally.
- Images should be sized to 110(width) x 94(height). Sizing can be done with a wide variety of photo editing software. I use Photoshop, which works great.
- If you don't have photo editing software, or just can't be bothered, don't despair. A quick and easy tip to finding images that will look great on your weblist is to look for images that are slightly wider than they are tall. These images won't get stretched out when you upload them to the site.
That's it for now... I'm sure some of the Weblisters extraordinaires will have more tips.
The Dangers of Flip-Flopping
CanadaSucks explains why flip-flopping is a dangerous thing.
(do i detect a little sarcasm in this post?)
(do i detect a little sarcasm in this post?)
7/26/05
RSS Help Page Now Live
Here's an RSS help page that explains the technology in the context of RateItAll.
Excuse me while I whip this out....
A collection of classic Blazing Saddles Quotes brought to you by Numbah.
The movie, of course, was directed by Mel Brooks.
The movie, of course, was directed by Mel Brooks.
Expanding the Language
One of the more inspiring things about RateItAll reviewers, is that they're never content to just let things be.
For example.
Some would say that there are plenty of words in the English and Swedish languages. What need could there possibly be to create more?
Nonsense says Sundiszno. What about these Ikea sounding words that sound Swedish?
Not to be outdone, EO applied his surgical mastery of English to create useful, Franken-words. How else could we have known that Kamylienne was Aquadextrous?
For example.
Some would say that there are plenty of words in the English and Swedish languages. What need could there possibly be to create more?
Nonsense says Sundiszno. What about these Ikea sounding words that sound Swedish?
Not to be outdone, EO applied his surgical mastery of English to create useful, Franken-words. How else could we have known that Kamylienne was Aquadextrous?
Google Customizable Home Page
Is anyone using the Google Customizable Home Page yet? I am. It lets you pick your own content for the Google search page. For example, I added my stock quotes, weather for where I live, sports scores for the teams that I follow - it's pretty handy.
Well anyway, I was doing a search today and I noticed something new on my Google page. There is now a section on the left hand panel that lets you add RSS feeds to your Google page. So yes, I immediately added the RateItAll Recent Comments feed to my Google page.
Here's how you do it:
1) Go to your Google home page. If you don't have one set up yet, you can do so HERE.
2) Click on the "Add Content" link in the upper left hand corner
3) Click on the "Create A Section"
4) Copy and paste this url into the field: http://www.rateitall.com/recentcommentsrss.aspx
That's it. Presto, you have the freshest snapshot of RateItAll comments summarized on your Google home page.
I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this stuff, but I think RSS is pretty powerful.
Well anyway, I was doing a search today and I noticed something new on my Google page. There is now a section on the left hand panel that lets you add RSS feeds to your Google page. So yes, I immediately added the RateItAll Recent Comments feed to my Google page.
Here's how you do it:
1) Go to your Google home page. If you don't have one set up yet, you can do so HERE.
2) Click on the "Add Content" link in the upper left hand corner
3) Click on the "Create A Section"
4) Copy and paste this url into the field: http://www.rateitall.com/recentcommentsrss.aspx
That's it. Presto, you have the freshest snapshot of RateItAll comments summarized on your Google home page.
I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this stuff, but I think RSS is pretty powerful.
Another Example of an RSS Feed
OK, I added an RSS feed of the "Feedback on RateItAll" ratings list to the left hand column of this page... check it out. All the items are automatically linked to the correct pages, so you can click through to rate anything you see there.
If anyone needs help doing this for their own blog, let me know as I would be happy to help, as I think it's a pretty cool feature. It's not that hard.
If anyone needs help doing this for their own blog, let me know as I would be happy to help, as I think it's a pretty cool feature. It's not that hard.
7/25/05
Shades of Gray
Here's a creative and unique Weblist from CanadaSucks laying out the various shades of cheating in baseball.
Get your weblist buy back suggestions in...
.... as RIA is itching to give away some money.
For those not familiar with the program, here's the info.
To nominate a weblist for buy back, click the "Administrative Review" icon on any weblist, and select the "Nominate for Buy Back" option.
For those not familiar with the program, here's the info.
To nominate a weblist for buy back, click the "Administrative Review" icon on any weblist, and select the "Nominate for Buy Back" option.
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