Main page article tracker

[SenatorShriv]

Is there any possibility that we could create a running tracker of articles on the Brewers for the main page? It could be kind of like the running thread in the Major League forum, where posters or staff could provide the titles and then direct links to articles at brewers.com, MJS, ESPN, etc...

 

I think that this could help solidify Brewerfan.net as the "one stop shop" for all the brewers news that someone can handle. I don't think the other sites would get upset since it would link directly to their site and the article, in fact it would probably increase the overall hits and readers they get. It might also increase traffic to brewerfan?s homepage (I think a lot of people skip straight to the forums.)

 

I love the short updates and articles that the staff writes up about major transactions. Those could stay prominent for major transactions, brewerfan inside scoops, and minor league announcements.

 

Just a thought.

[Brian the Automator]

We have a home page?? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

It's a good idea.

[1992casey]

I think that's an excellent idea. It would address the logistics involved with the Running Article Tracker thread vs. individual article threads.

 

If articles are tracked on the main page via member submissions, we'd have our index. If someone wanted to start a thread discussing an article, s/he would feel compelled to add some significant commentary to the thread starter.

 

Also, this would take a lot of guesswork out of moderating. That's always a huge plus when that can happen.

[1992casey]

Another thought:

 

I'd submit that such a tracker should probably be given a page of its own like the Daily Brew index, Link Report Index, Brewerfan Article Index, etc. That way, the main page would remain neat and clean and the length of the list can be virtually unlimited.

 

Maybe the 5 to 10 newest articles could go on the main page itself with a "Read the whole list" type of link at the tail end.

[SenatorShriv]

Yeah, I guess I kind of viewed it as a "Wiki" type operation with the 5 most recent featured in a slot on the main page and then some general oversight from the moderators.

[BillScottCanRake]

Maybe the 5 to 10 newest articles could go on the main page itself with a "Read the whole list" type of link at the tail end.

 

Since not every source archives their old articles, I think we should be careful about that. Nothing worse than having a list full of dead-links.

[Mass Haas]

Not sure how this would work.

 

Currently I input all non-game story minor league basedarticles into the Article Tracker, and it is a bit T-E-D-I-O-U-S to do so.

 

Would staff be responsible for including all big-league Brewer links within a similar tracker? We've always just felt that folks know to look to the Journal-Sentinel and the Brewers' official site daily, why would we link to all those articles here as well?

 

Just a thought, as I officially would not be volunteering for that duty http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif .

[1992casey]

Dead links would be a definite concern. I know the W3C has a link checker, and maybe a "report dead link" function could be included. If it the process can be made reasonably easy, I think the Usability Director could be talked into monitoring this thing for cleanup. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

I think we'd definitely want to exclude links going to JS Online and mlb.com. I think we'd also want to limit this to feature stories. If there are sites that are known for dropping pages, those could be excluded, too. Excluded sites could be noted in submission guidelines, and if members miss the guideline, those submissions could be 'intercepted' by the underlying programming.

 

Another issue would be subscription links; those should have some kind of notation. Maybe an icon with an alt attribute and tool tip?

 

I don't think it would hurt if there were a bit of overlap as far as stories included in the Link Reports, but I also wouldn't want to see this become a clone, either. I think the "feature story" vs. "game story" idea might be enough to cover that.

 

And Jim, I think you should certainly be excused from any of the work involved in something like this. You're already doing tons for this site. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif