So one of the issues that we've been sort of putting off for a while is how to handle duplicate Weblists. Technically, they are against the Weblist guidelines, but we have been extremely lenient recently about enforcing this particular rule.
The primary argument for NOT allowing duplicate Weblists is to avoid diluting the ratings / reviews on lists. Reviews are more helpful when you don't have to go searching around the site for all the different variations of a particular listing.
The primary argument for allowing duplicate Weblists is to allow folks the opportunity to build a better list than what exists. For example, here is a list of Dinosaurs. It's not a terrible list, but there are only seven types listed, and there are no descriptions or pictures.
Should this really be the definitive RateItAll list of dinosaurs? If an expert came along and really wanted to do this list right, shouldn't that be allowed?
Especially as $ are introduced into the equation, I'd hate to encourage cyber squatting where folks "claimed" the interest topics, but didn't take the time to create a superior list.
Ideally, I would permit duplicates (in cases where the newer list was clearly adding additional value), and let the community rating feature determine which of the duplicate lists should get the most airplay.
I'd love to hear feedback on this.
8/3/06
8/2/06
Testing a Chat Service
Hi All, I'm testing a chat service (check out the right margin).
It's a "widget" called MeeboMe that was developed by the Web based IM service Meebo.
What I like about it:
- It's free, private, one on one chat.
- No downloads required (it's web based)
- You can put it anywhere that accepts html code - blogs, profile pages, etc.
- No logins required for folks who want to chat with the host.
One thing that's sort of a hassle is that in order for the host (in this case me) to receive the chat messages, they have to have a browser window with Meebo open.
Overall, however, I think this could be really powerful.
I'm sort of thinking that this would be something that some folks might want to add to their RIA profile pages. They wouldn't have to add it, but if they wanted to add it, they could.
Feel free to send me a chat message (edit your "guest" nick so I know who i'm talking to).
It's a "widget" called MeeboMe that was developed by the Web based IM service Meebo.
What I like about it:
- It's free, private, one on one chat.
- No downloads required (it's web based)
- You can put it anywhere that accepts html code - blogs, profile pages, etc.
- No logins required for folks who want to chat with the host.
One thing that's sort of a hassle is that in order for the host (in this case me) to receive the chat messages, they have to have a browser window with Meebo open.
Overall, however, I think this could be really powerful.
I'm sort of thinking that this would be something that some folks might want to add to their RIA profile pages. They wouldn't have to add it, but if they wanted to add it, they could.
Feel free to send me a chat message (edit your "guest" nick so I know who i'm talking to).
8/1/06
Calling All Taggers
Has anybody been using the Weblist tags to find related lists? I have. I also use the Weblist tag cloud quite a bit.
If you haven't done so already, now would be a good time to go back and tag your Weblists. Tagging your Weblists is a great way to get them more exposure, as they become more easily findable. It also does other cool things like help target the Google Ads on your lists, resulting in better conversion for those participating in the RateItAll Economy program.
Thanks to some help from Sperryc, aka my little bro, we just about have all of the main RIA lists tagged. We'll be moving onto the Weblists next. The goal is to get each of the more than 25K ratings lists on RIA tagged, and therefore, linked together by theme.
If you haven't done so already, now would be a good time to go back and tag your Weblists. Tagging your Weblists is a great way to get them more exposure, as they become more easily findable. It also does other cool things like help target the Google Ads on your lists, resulting in better conversion for those participating in the RateItAll Economy program.
Thanks to some help from Sperryc, aka my little bro, we just about have all of the main RIA lists tagged. We'll be moving onto the Weblists next. The goal is to get each of the more than 25K ratings lists on RIA tagged, and therefore, linked together by theme.
Prolific
What do you do when you've left 8500 reviews and you're seemingly running out of things to rate? If you are GTH, you combine your knowledge of history with some unique Weblists to start wrting about significant historical events.
I'm really enjoying GTH's, "on this day in history" posts. Who knew that RIA could be so educational.
I'm really enjoying GTH's, "on this day in history" posts. Who knew that RIA could be so educational.
The Wish List
Hi All, a few more items have been added to the RateItAll new feature wishlist. Feel free to sound off or add more.
7/31/06
How to Shorten URLs
Some of you may have noticed that adding very, very long URLs (or any text string without spaces) to a RateItAll post can break a page.
Stark's recent post on UFOs was a good example of this.
Fortunately, there exists a very helpful tool to shorten long urls - its called Tiny URL.
It's really easy to use, all you need to do is to plug in the long URL, and it spits out a short one.
Here's an example, I can reduce this link:
http://www.rateitall.com/i-924804-as-pure-as-the-driven-snow--the-winters-tale-macbeth.aspx
to
http://tinyurl.co.uk/9u72
This is a good way to avoid breaking a RateItAll page (and risk getting your post removed).
Stark's recent post on UFOs was a good example of this.
Fortunately, there exists a very helpful tool to shorten long urls - its called Tiny URL.
It's really easy to use, all you need to do is to plug in the long URL, and it spits out a short one.
Here's an example, I can reduce this link:
http://www.rateitall.com/i-924804-as-pure-as-the-driven-snow--the-winters-tale-macbeth.aspx
to
http://tinyurl.co.uk/9u72
This is a good way to avoid breaking a RateItAll page (and risk getting your post removed).
7/29/06
The Return of Dirk
RIA Veterans will remember a reviewer called DickDirk from back in the day. He was prolific, he was talented, and he was feisty.
A while back DickDirk decided to leave RIA to do other stuff, and took his writings with him.
I'm happy to say that Dirk has returned. If you haven't checked out his stuff, please do so. This guy can write.
A while back DickDirk decided to leave RIA to do other stuff, and took his writings with him.
I'm happy to say that Dirk has returned. If you haven't checked out his stuff, please do so. This guy can write.
7/26/06
Building a Good Weblist is a Team Effort
When Magellan started the Eighties Music Weblist a while back, I think it started with 40 or 50 songs. I thought it was fairly comprehensive, and a pretty good list.
Now the list is up to 174 songs - primarily due to tons of great suggestions from Virile Vagabond and Jamie McBain.
I have to think that this list is one of the best, and most comprehensive, selections of 1980's music on the Web. When you combine it with the ratings and reviews, it really is a nice resource.
The way that the Web works, I would imagine that folks are going to start stumbling onto this list and referencing it. Maybe they'll put a snapshot up on their own blog or MySpace profile using the RateItAll Widget feature. Maybe they'll just link to it. Maybe they'll invite their friends to rate it.
However they get here, my guess is that this list, by virtue of its comprehensiveness through teamwork, will get traffic.
And through the RIA Economy program, Jamie Mcbain, VV, and Magellan will all share in ad revenue as this happens.
I know I'm sort of a geek about RIA stuff, but when all the pieces come together, and people are sharing their knowledge to create quality lists, I think it's pretty cool.
Now the list is up to 174 songs - primarily due to tons of great suggestions from Virile Vagabond and Jamie McBain.
I have to think that this list is one of the best, and most comprehensive, selections of 1980's music on the Web. When you combine it with the ratings and reviews, it really is a nice resource.
The way that the Web works, I would imagine that folks are going to start stumbling onto this list and referencing it. Maybe they'll put a snapshot up on their own blog or MySpace profile using the RateItAll Widget feature. Maybe they'll just link to it. Maybe they'll invite their friends to rate it.
However they get here, my guess is that this list, by virtue of its comprehensiveness through teamwork, will get traffic.
And through the RIA Economy program, Jamie Mcbain, VV, and Magellan will all share in ad revenue as this happens.
I know I'm sort of a geek about RIA stuff, but when all the pieces come together, and people are sharing their knowledge to create quality lists, I think it's pretty cool.
Profanity Filter Game
I just posted in the RateItAll Bug List how the RIA profanity filter is messed up at the moment. Currently, if your post triggers the profanity filter, you can't get the post up. It's supposed to always post on the second submission.
Last night, I wrote a very long and time consuming review of Orson Scott Card's book Pastwatch: the Redemption of Christopher Columbus.
But somehow, it triggered the profanity filter, and I could not, for the life of me, figure out why.
After going through the long, long post numerous times, I finally figured out that the problem lay right in the title of the book itself. Pas twat ch.
Annoying, I really need to get this fixed. Reminiscent of the time that the profanity filter kept nixing my spicy chicken post.
Last night, I wrote a very long and time consuming review of Orson Scott Card's book Pastwatch: the Redemption of Christopher Columbus.
But somehow, it triggered the profanity filter, and I could not, for the life of me, figure out why.
After going through the long, long post numerous times, I finally figured out that the problem lay right in the title of the book itself. Pas twat ch.
Annoying, I really need to get this fixed. Reminiscent of the time that the profanity filter kept nixing my spicy chicken post.
RateItAll Bugs
I've set up a Weblist to keep track of known RateItAll Bugs. Please feel free to add any that I may have missed.
7/24/06
Thanks Vudija
Vudija spent some time in the wee hours of the morning adding a ton of actresses that should have been on RIA's main list but weren't.
If Vudija were participating in the RIA Economy program, her Google Ads would be in 50/50 rotation on the listings she contributed indefinitely.
If Vudija were participating in the RIA Economy program, her Google Ads would be in 50/50 rotation on the listings she contributed indefinitely.
7/21/06
Interesting Exchange About RIA Economy
I just had an interesting exchange with an RIA member about the RateItAll Economy program.
Here's the gist - realizing that he can make money by referring new members to RateItAll via the invite friends tool, this member asked me if there was a link available that he could put on his blog inviting his readers to join his trusted network on RateItAll.
In other words, he didn't want to send email to his friends, he wanted readers of his blog to be able to join RIA at their discretion via a link on his blog.
Of course, if any of his readers clicked through on the invitation link and became contributing members of the RIA community, he would earn a 10% ad rotation share going forward on the pages that they contribute.
Here's what we discovered: when you click the "Invite Friends to Join RateItAll," link on your profile page, and click "Send Invitation," the tool generates a personalized link in the email that goes to your friend that tracks back to your account.
This personalized link does two things:
1) it tells the RateItAll system that anybody clicking through that link and registering for RateItAll should immediately be added to your trusted network (and you should immediately be added to theirs)
2) it tells the RateItAll system that you should earn 10% ad rotations on all qualifying contributions of the new member, for the purposes of the RIA Economy program.
So, if you're looking for a link to add to your blog or MySpace profile that invites your readers to join your RIA network, here's what you should do:
1) Send yourself an invitation to join your own RateItAll Trusted Network
2) Copy and paste the link in the invitation email that you receive (from yourself) into your blog or MySpace profile.
Btw, if anybody reading this does not yet have a RateItAll account and wants to join my RIA trusted network, they can do so here!
Here's the gist - realizing that he can make money by referring new members to RateItAll via the invite friends tool, this member asked me if there was a link available that he could put on his blog inviting his readers to join his trusted network on RateItAll.
In other words, he didn't want to send email to his friends, he wanted readers of his blog to be able to join RIA at their discretion via a link on his blog.
Of course, if any of his readers clicked through on the invitation link and became contributing members of the RIA community, he would earn a 10% ad rotation share going forward on the pages that they contribute.
Here's what we discovered: when you click the "Invite Friends to Join RateItAll," link on your profile page, and click "Send Invitation," the tool generates a personalized link in the email that goes to your friend that tracks back to your account.
This personalized link does two things:
1) it tells the RateItAll system that anybody clicking through that link and registering for RateItAll should immediately be added to your trusted network (and you should immediately be added to theirs)
2) it tells the RateItAll system that you should earn 10% ad rotations on all qualifying contributions of the new member, for the purposes of the RIA Economy program.
So, if you're looking for a link to add to your blog or MySpace profile that invites your readers to join your RIA network, here's what you should do:
1) Send yourself an invitation to join your own RateItAll Trusted Network
2) Copy and paste the link in the invitation email that you receive (from yourself) into your blog or MySpace profile.
Btw, if anybody reading this does not yet have a RateItAll account and wants to join my RIA trusted network, they can do so here!
7/18/06
RateItAll Wishlist 2006
So what features would you all like to see on RateItAll? How can we RIA more fun / better / easier to use?
To start a discussion on this, I've put together a list where people can add suggestions of new features that they'd like to see on RateItAll.
Please feel free to comment on the ones that are already there, or to add other suggestions for new features that you would like to see.
7/14/06
When it rains it pours
More site issues - we're working on the problems. We should be back up shortly.
7/13/06
More Host Problems
I am told things will be fixed very soon. Apparently there's an electrical issue with RateItAll's hosting company that has knocked down a whole bunch of sites.
They're waiting on a part to get things back up.
7/12/06
We are Back Up
We seem to be back up. For these sorts of situations, it's a good idea to bookmark the blog.... as we've deliberately hosted it in a different place from the site.
At least you'll be able to get status reports that way.
At least you'll be able to get status reports that way.
Did You Know: Adding New Listings To RateItAll
Ok, in the latest of my series of what I hope are helpful tips towards maximizing your pleasure from RateItAll, I'm going to discuss adding new listings.
When I talk about adding a new listing to RateItAll, specifically what I'm talking about is clicking the link that says "Add a New Item to this Topic:"
One important thing to realize about adding a new item is that, if you are logged in when you do it, you will get credit for any new listing that is approved (RateItAll, Weblist, Local). What does credit mean in this context? A couple of things:
- It means that you will earn 50% of the Google Adsense advertising on this page for the foreseeable future as part of the RateItAll Economy Program.
- It also means that you will be acknowleged on RateItAll for this contribution in a couple of places: on the RateItAll Contributors Page, specifically, in the column that is called "New Items."
Here is the snapshot of the current top 10 new listing submitters, led by ma duron, who is submitted a somewhat demonic total of 666 new listings.
- You also will get credit on the "Total Contributions Section" of your profile page (although the counter is all screwed up at the moment):
We do our very best to approve new listings within 24 hours - sometimes it's within minutes, and sometimes it can take a little while. One idea we are toying with is potentially letting folks with more than 100 reviews on the site add new listings in real time.
So what does this all mean? One thing it means is that RateItAll is almost entirely dependent on the new listing submissions of RIA members to stay current. We don't do any data licensing on a regular basis here - every new listing is added the old fashioned way - one at a time. This can be a pretty daunting task, especially when you consider that our area of focus is.... everything.
In fact, we are so dependent on these submissions, that we are willing to pay for them through the RIA Economy program. Think of it this way - let's say you beat us to the punch and suggest a mega hit new product like the Apple iPod before we get around to adding it - the payout could be substantial for a page like that in terms of advertising income.
Something to think about.
technorati tags:submissions, rateitall, rateitalleconomy
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