Articles in the Forums section is Redundant & Bothersome

[Brock Beauchamp]

10 hours ago, Team Canada said:

I agree with this. Well thought out articles are perfectly fine for generating discussion, but we really don't need to write up every transaction when there's already a thread about it.

To be clear, all transaction pieces are supposed to be moved to a separate forum. I've tried to do this but maybe missed a few over the past couple of months.

[Brock Beauchamp]

11 hours ago, zurch1818 said:

I don't have a problem with as long as duplicate topics get merged.  I just remember last season a thread would be started when something happened and then 1 or 2 days later, there would be an "article:" that regurgitated everything that was already said and it added nothing.  Either these topics should be merged or simply whoever wrote the article should just post it in the thread that already exists.

I realize the whole point of it is to drive clicks for advertising dollars but I am already a caretaker and just find the site to be cumbersome to navigate.

This is actually something I really want to start doing but from a tech perspective, it's ungainly. I will try to prioritize this once I'm able to get through my current backlog of tasks.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Okay @edfunderburk and @TURBO and others, after a bit more thought about this, I'll try to reach a compromise that should suit most of us pretty well. Articles will continue to populate in the Brewers forum but if it doesn't generate conversation or ages out a couple of days, I'll move them out of the forum. I did this to a bunch of threads this morning and now the first page of the Brewers forum goes back ten days.

That way we keep a revolving door of new topics in the forum while giving more of the Brewers forum back to user-generated topics.

[edfunderburk]

I’m disappointed this topic was moved OFF the main FORUM … not a classy move … one of the few non-article topics relocated - not impressed … no one will see this topic now which may be the goal … a tad frustrating to say the least 🥴

[edfunderburk]

20 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Okay @edfunderburk and @TURBO and others, after a bit more thought about this, I'll try to reach a compromise that should suit most of us pretty well. Articles will continue to populate in the Brewers forum but if it doesn't generate conversation or ages out a couple of days, I'll move them out of the forum. I did this to a bunch of threads this morning and now the first page of the Brewers forum goes back ten days.

That way we keep a revolving door of new topics in the forum while giving more of the Brewers forum back to user-generated topics.

I’m not a compromise sort of guy … I’m black or white, yes or no, right or wrong … there is a NEWS forum that is a great place to include the articles … they don’t belong on the main discussion board / forum … period

[Brock Beauchamp]

14 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

I’m disappointed this topic was moved OFF the main FORUM … not a classy move … one of the few non-article topics relocated - not impressed … no one will see this topic now which may be the goal … a tad frustrating to say the least 🥴

It was moved to the appropriate forum, which is the site conversation forum. Moderators do this all the time but a link was left for people in the Brewers forum so the visibility is still there.

Also, I'm not the person who moved it. Moving it was the right decision but someone had already taken care of it by the time I checked in this morning.

[Brock Beauchamp]

5 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

I’m not a compromise sort of guy … I’m black or white, yes or no, right or wrong … there is a NEWS forum that is a great place to include the articles … they don’t belong on the main discussion board / forum … period

Frankly, this is a really disappointing post. Surely you realize not everyone shares your opinion. Who should we listen to? A community is, at its core, a series of compromises.

[edfunderburk]

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

Frankly, this is a really disappointing post. Surely you realize not everyone shares your opinion. Who should we listen to? A community is, at its core, a series of compromises.

I’d still welcome a poll that excludes the writers of these articles

And … I’m sorry to disappoint you with my post

Seldom do I feel something so strongly

I love the Brewers & appreciate the improvements you have brought to this site in the past year

I simply “hate” the articles “cluttering up” the main discussion forum 

If there was another quality forum online, I would go there instead - there is not one so I toggle around an incessant list of mediocre articles to occasionally find a topic to read & potentially reply to

I honestly can’t understand why you have the NEWS forum if you repeat the articles in the discussion forum - seems unnecessary to me

[edfunderburk]

8 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

It was moved to the appropriate forum, which is the site conversation forum. Moderators do this all the time but a link was left for people in the Brewers forum so the visibility is still there.

Also, I'm not the person who moved it. Moving it was the right decision but someone had already taken care of it by the time I checked in this morning.

I accept your decision - you make a good point

In the same way my post belonged in another place, so too the articles belong in the NEWS forum - not the main discussion forum 

Be consistent 

[Jake McKibbin]

28 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

I’d still welcome a poll that excludes the writers of these articles

And … I’m sorry to disappoint you with my post

Seldom do I feel something so strongly

I love the Brewers & appreciate the improvements you have brought to this site in the past year

I simply “hate” the articles “cluttering up” the main discussion forum 

If there was another quality forum online, I would go there instead - there is not one so I toggle around an incessant list of mediocre articles to occasionally find a topic to read & potentially reply to

I honestly can’t understand why you have the NEWS forum if you repeat the articles in the discussion forum - seems unnecessary to me

I have to say I think Brock has raised some good responses to your points (and I'm sure you can see this is an appropriate place for this topic, as well as a notification in main forum about where the thread was moved to). I can see an issue with topics that are just repeats of threads that already exist, and said he'd sort these out

A lot of the articles (in particular recently with some new writers) seem to have been on things people aren't talking as much about, or are going more in depth than the average piece and then prompting discussion around these topics. Simply because they say "article" shouldn't prevent people from discussing them and I feel the forum is a fair place for this.

Ultimately, as long as threads aren't just duplicated topics with the word "article" in front I'm all for it (though as a newer member I maybe haven't got the same depth of experience with the forums intricacies, particularly during the season)

[edfunderburk]

5 minutes ago, jakedood said:

I have to say I think Brock has raised some good responses to your points (and I'm sure you can see this is an appropriate place for this topic, as well as a notification in main forum about where the thread was moved to). I can see an issue with topics that are just repeats of threads that already exist, and said he'd sort these out

A lot of the articles (in particular recently with some new writers) seem to have been on things people aren't talking as much about, or are going more in depth than the average piece and then prompting discussion around these topics. Simply because they say "article" shouldn't prevent people from discussing them and I feel the forum is a fair place for this.

Ultimately, as long as threads aren't just duplicated topics with the word "article" in front I'm all for it (though as a newer member I maybe haven't got the same depth of experience with the forums intricacies, particularly during the season)

Thank you. I appreciate Brock’s responses to my concerns. 

To your point, it is possible to respond & comment on the articles in the NEWS section.

My initial post & topic thread addressed the redundancy issue - the articles being in both places (NEWS & BREWERS DISCUSSION forums). 

If it is okay to have articles in both places, why not this topic too? 

[Jake McKibbin]

3 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

Thank you. I appreciate Brock’s responses to my concerns. 

To your point, it is possible to respond & comment on the articles in the NEWS section.

My initial post & topic thread addressed the redundancy issue - the articles being in both places (NEWS & BREWERS DISCUSSION forums). 

If it is okay to have articles in both places, why not this topic too? 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm sure its something to do with the forum thread being the main thread 95% of users make use of to navigate the sites, and nothing is really posted in two forums (unless overlooked by mistake?)

So unless you categorize this discussion as news and Brock agreed, it's unlikely to be on the news part of the site?

[True Blue Brew Crew]

I mean no newspaper would give certain writers an article a day on the front page. Maybe that's something to ponder Brock?

[Playing Catch]

I don't have any idea how running a website works, so I really appreciate Brock, the writers, and everyone else that's working to keep Breweran(atic) alive and well. It's quite possible that there are very real website concerns about 10+ day old threads, or "legacy" threads. But my opinion is that I like some of those threads. I miss seeing some of those threads.

I think compromise is great. My opinion is the sheer volume of Article Threads is part of the issue for me, as it pushes down topics or threads that may not have much traffic at first (especially in the depths of the offseason), but sometimes new information arises that changes the conversation a little bit.

Thanks again, everyone.

[TURBO]

Once the season starts, the over abundance of articles will push the actual poster thread topics from view.

The articles should have their own forum, and they do, so like other posters, I can't fathom why they need to be in two places.

If people love to read the articles, they surely know where to find them.  I myself come here for the interaction, not to read the articles.  If I want to read the articles, I'd go to that forum.

So by the logic spoken of earlier, am I allowed to go to the article/news forum and start my own topics?  If not, how is that any different?

Selfishly, I enjoy coming to this site for the poster interaction, not wading through articles, which can be found in another section of this website anyway.

I also do not think this thread should have been moved until a larger part of our population has seen it.  Yes, it is still here, but it no longer gets bumped to the top with interaction, it will slowly disappear from site, and if there are others who don't like the articles on this page, they will never know it was discussed.  That may or may not have been planned, but it sure seems like a plight to bury this discussion.

 

[jerichoholicninja]

I click on maybe 1 out of 5 articles, if that many, and rarely do I even do more than a quick skim of the ones I click on. They don't need to be on the main forum. It just makes it a mess of things.

[82brewcrew82]

22 hours ago, edfunderburk said:

This site was excellent for many years without the articles cluttering the FORUM section. 

I’m still hopeful for a poll - excluding the votes of those who write the articles. 

For the first time since I joined this board, I am seeking out other content and sites.  This issue by far outweighs many of the good changes.

[MrTPlush]

Okay here me out, imagine if the word 'Article' wasn't included. What exactly is the difference? They are basically just threads with a better opener than a normal thread. 

I think the issue could be changed to help the forum a bit. First off, I do see an issue that a lot of these articles are covering something already waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay gone over already. Why is an article being written and approved about the Contreras trade, Winker acquisition, or something related to the shift. Then one guy is grading the offseason and another is questioning if it was a failure or not. I mean, really?  I also question the frequency of articles. Multiple articles a day with C grade quality? It feels very forced and not at all caring about quality. Is anything actually denied?

The articles and the concept aren't the problem. It is the topics being chosen and the approval of some shotty work. I view the articles much like just a regular thread starter....but really, the expectation should be better than that. I don't think people really want to hear some guys opinion on a topic that has already been beat to death for months. That person should just go make a simple response to an already existing post...not waste time writing an article. We all have already made our opinions known. 

[CheeseheadInQC]

The problem is some of the articles are generating discussion you say you want. If you want to make a case for the Brewers history ones feeding into a different category, that I might be able to get behind, but until I actually see them overwhelming threads with ongoing discussion, I don’t think it is a big deal.

[edfunderburk]

1 hour ago, 82brewcrew82 said:

For the first time since I joined this board, I am seeking out other content and sites.  This issue by far outweighs many of the good changes.

What have you discovered?

My search hasn’t been successful. 

I end up back here - frustrated by all the articles in the discussion forum. 

[torts]

11 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

It's not solely about clicks. Forum clicks actually earn us very little money.

The goal is users. I'm open to reducing the number of article threads and I'll start moving more of the less-conversation-starting pieces to a separate forum but even with Article threads populating this forum (and getting a lot of conversation), the Brewers forum has a week of topics on the first page alone. If I reduce that a bit, we'd still have 10+ day old threads on the first page of the forums.

That's... not great. It's not terrible but it's not great, either. Ideally from a user perspective, the first page of a forum should be revolving pretty quickly with lots of *specific* topics that generate conversation. That's how we bring in new users and get them active on the board. We're getting new posters on a pretty regular basis right now, which is the goal. When we took over the site about a year ago, its traffic levels were about 50% of what they were just three years prior. Now the site is back to 2019 user levels but we need to increase engagement, drawing in new users who contribute to the forums.

It's a grinding process and we're playing out a long-term strategy here.

With that said, I will begin picking and choosing some article threads to move outside the Brewers forum to reach a compromise point.

I am curious as to what paths youre taking to gain more users.  How are you promoting the main page (and forum) to get new users to join (and participate in) the forum?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I think that part of the problem is that a good portion of the writers are not regular forum contributors. There's a disconnect between the authors and the main core of longtime forum posters here. I feel like I've gotten to know the posting style of the lot of the regulars around here, and that's part of what makes this place so comfortable and inviting. But the writers are mostly new, and their opinions are somewhat unfamiliar territory.

I know the answer here is "Well, regular posters should try writing articles". I did try that one time, but my work schedule, not to mention other family and coaching obligations, often get in the way of doing them in a timely manner. I may take more cracks at writing something here and there, but I really come here more because I enjoy the community, and most of the time if I have an original thought regarding the Brewers, it is merely paragraph-worthy ... not 1,000-word article worthy LOL. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

10 hours ago, torts said:

I am curious as to what paths youre taking to gain more users.  How are you promoting the main page (and forum) to get new users to join (and participate in) the forum?

We're pretty aggressively growing our footprint on Facebook and Twitter, for starters. We've put a ton of effort into SEO to raise the site to prominence in searches. We're trying to break into Reddit a bit more without stepping on toes. And hopefully we'll be able to host a few more events this year that will bring in users.

It's a slow grind, there's no magic bullet that we've found; just determination and a lot of work.

[Brock Beauchamp]

So I've been moving older Article threads out of the Brewers forum. My plan is to keep an article there for a day or so unless it's really getting a lot of comments and then shuffle older articles to the News forum. The Brewers forum first page now goes back about two weeks, which is quite a long time in forum terms.

I appreciate everyone's feedback on this and we will continue to adjust as necessary.

[TURBO]

7 hours ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I think that part of the problem is that a good portion of the writers are not regular forum contributors. There's a disconnect between the authors and the main core of longtime forum posters here. I feel like I've gotten to know the posting style of the lot of the regulars around here, and that's part of what makes this place so comfortable and inviting. But the writers are mostly new, and their opinions are somewhat unfamiliar territory.

I know the answer here is "Well, regular posters should try writing articles". I did try that one time, but my work schedule, not to mention other family and coaching obligations, often get in the way of doing them in a timely manner. I may take more cracks at writing something here and there, but I really come here more because I enjoy the community, and most of the time if I have an original thought regarding the Brewers, it is merely paragraph-worthy ... not 1,000-word article worthy LOL. 

I'm going to guess that some of them aren't actually Brewers fans, and are probably holdovers from the Twins page that Brock runs.  There have been articles written over time that just can't be Brewers fans, the takes were that bad.