Yeah, its about that time: We will be updating the blog design to add some functionality over the next few weeks.
The following are the latest additions to my Blog-Tool-Wish-List:
1. Print functionality: Typepad has created some advanced scripting tools that will allow just the post, and not all the extra graphics/headers/junk to be printed. A popular request from many of you.
2. Hide Email Address for Comments: Another occasional request — and I am sure the source of many garbage email addresses. This was a less requested, but nonetheless ardent request demand.
3. Advertising: You folks have pretty much convinced me to do so. All I request of advertisiers are these 3 rules: 1) No pop ups, 2) no blinking/flashing/dancing junk, 3) no porn.
I expect to start running Blog Ads
and Google AdSense. If anyone has any other advertising suggestions, I am all
ears.
A few people have privately suggested sponsor ads. For suitable sponsors, I would expect that to make a lot of sense.
4. If I can, I’ll remove the link to Google in the Big Picture search box (yeah, I keep accidentally clicking it also!)
5. I want to tighten up the sidebar headers to each section – I am going to move a lot of the content to “Pages,” a new feature of typepad. The sidebars will be less cluttered
6. Changing the indent color to #000066 — Yeah, the bright blue was tough on my eyes also.
7. Add a few "subscribe" features: Posts, Feedburner, etc.
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Any other ideas, suggestions, structural changes? Something I should add/substract/modify?
Feel free to use the comments below to let your ideas fly!
You may want to rethink 3.2 (no blinking/flashing/dancing junk). Think of all the mortgage ad revenue you’ll be losing!
As far as additional advertising, might I suggest:
http://tinyurl.com/247avk
Not for the blog but might help ease the pain of the new house. Love the blog and keep up the great work!
Advertising?!?! I thought I’d never see the day. Was it something I said? :-)
I’ve had the best luck with Adsense and direct sales to advertisers. Yahoo’s system pays peanuts vs. Adsense and Yahoo’s ads aren’t nearly as well-matched contextually as GOOG’s BlogAds doesn’t have much inventory. Ditto for FeedBurner’s ad system.
I got an email today about ContextWeb’s new ad exchange called ADSDAQ. It sounds really promising. Hopefully they’ll be a great alternative to Adsense.
Pages… wow. We’ve had them in WordPress for awhile now. Nice to see Six Apart join the modern blogging era. ;)
On a serious not, If you’re going to have ads I second the no flashing/blinking/annoying ads kind of thing.
And keep up the great posting Barry. Really do appreciate it.
Paul
I don’t know if it is possible but to give people who want to insert links into their comments the ability to make them clickable would remove a huge source of frustration for me. I know many member forums have html programming in their posting abilities. I don’t know if that is an option in the blog universe.
It may open a Pandora’s box though with all sorts of posts linking to everything and suddenly needing to be policed
Another one is the charts. Have you been able to figure out a way to make charts much bigger than they are when you click on them as opposed to slightly bigger as the system is now?
Otherwise, don’t change much unless it is towards functionality. You’ve got a good thing going here and we wouldn’t want to see you jump the shark
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BR: You can insert links — you have to use HTML code:
Use a “<" or ">” in each place you see a * below
* a href=”http://bigpicture.typepad.com”* The Big Picture */a*
and you end up with: The Big Picture
no porn , too bad, why :D
You deserve to make some ad money dude.
Did you notice Wallstrip is now wallstrip.cbsnews.com? Well I just noticed it today. Are you next?
p.s. since you mentioned porn…check out yourfilehost.com where you can now watch all kinds of sexually educational videos sponsored by popup and adsense(like) ads from the likes of circuit city, kodak and all others sorts of mainstream advertisers.
Congrats on the revisions and increased traffic over the years…..but at times I yearn for the early days of big picture when this site has for the hard core alpha seekers.
The comments section has become a time-sink and is evolving into a “you’re a hypocritic/idiot/I can’t believe you just said that” free-for-all.
Everyone who posts a comment should click-thru a disclaimer that she/he read the primers to Big Picture (eg. “the follies of forecasting,” “apprenticed investor,” etc.)
Must every outlet of discourse become a shouting match?
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BR: Yeah, I’ve been watching that, and getting annoyed about the sniping.
Any suggestions as to how to moderate and keep things civil? (I may just start unpublishing comments where people go off the deep end)/
I’m all ears!
Would be nice if you had little mini stock charts on the page somewhere.
how ’bout weekly no rules cage matches pitting the most obnoxious posters of the week against each other with the loser being permanently banned?
Sorry I can’t offer any good suggestions. TBP is already just too damn good!
I will purchase almost anything that appeals to me were it to be found advertised on your blog.
BR: You can insert links — you have to use HTML code:
Use a “<" or ">” in each place you see a * below
* a href=”http://bigpicture.typepad.com”* The Big Picture */a*
and you end up with: The Big Picture
Yes, I know that(with the example of bolding and itaicizing above via html), having built many webpages myself, but many of your posters don’t. That is why I suggested it. I’m just too lazy to copy and paste the url myself for something that may or may not be profitable to my limited brain information tray. It’s less of a gamble to just click (:
Yesterday I typed a post to put up –
made the mistake of copying it before posting for my “remember I said this” file – and Typepad called me a Spammer and wouldn’t let me post it. I then went to the trouble to type it in a second time / new window, word for word and Typepad called me a Spammer.
Is there a way to type offline – copy the text – log on to TBP – and add it as a comment? Or do all comments have to be typed live in the box, before your labeled the derelict of the hour?
Heres and idea for the Typepad programmer people and others like them.
The thought on discourse and non marketers in here but have interest in keeping America strong like me who some of you may wish would take it somewhere else.
Create a “Ignore Blogger” operation. Then this persons comments are wiped off the page. I do wish the function would report to this annoying blogger that # of readers are sick of you and you should shape up because you are being “Ignored”.
I do wonder if the NSA has this capability but with a twist, ie Let people think they have a voice, but in reality NOT.
Just a minor suggestion from a long time reader: a tag cloud might be nice, where you’d be able to, say, click on “Inflation” or “Apple” and immediately get all the posts related to either one. Something like the left side “Categories” list. Good thing about tag clouds is that size of each tag tells you how many related posts it has and the colour (shades of grey, for instance) tells you how important (as in number of views) they were.
Thanks!
I’ve been thinking about a tag cloud — any preferred vendor or software for that ? Or is it pretty much “Tagcloud.com” ?
Blog Roll could be re alpha sorted, but its a major pain so I wouldn’t do it myself.
http://www.rtumble.com has ads that roll from bottom to top, too many of them blink, but for whatever reason the ads to tend to be somewhat related to the blog.
How do we just search the Big Picture? I’ve seen it on other blogs, blogger mostly
And of course, don’t change too much no matter what we say, you’ve already got the best business blog according to me and this site says the same.
http://www.gongol.com/lists/bizeconsites/
‘Create a “Ignore Blogger” operation’
I’m with ya man. In fact I have suggested many times to the editors at RealMoney that I would pay a premium if I could filter all pictures, postings and references to, or or by Cramer.
One ad block per page is fine. Too many and you lose the trust the reader.
Maybe the Ignore function needs to identify a computer terminal instead of screen-name.
I forgot to request “Time & Date Stamp” of the last blog entry in each article. No need to open comments to keep up with aging stories.
There is a time and date stamp — but its at the bottom of each post
I’ll see about moving it up top . . .
Here’s another suggestion/observation. The link below is to a website for my Canopus videographics card and other products conceived back in the early days of bugs to fixup with an emerging market.
This threaded style is maybe not what your TBP attendees would like (they like the tabloid style I think) but in a complex world of various subjects I like it. John Kerry for President used this style and this style allows you to focus on subjects.
IMO I think this type would help the US Intelligence Services … especially if the site allowed YouTube type ratings in various genras, say … Important / Interesting FYI / Discussion Logs / ?
The link didn’t post – messed it up
http://ediusforum.grassvalley.com/forum/
While your talking about moving up things – if the line
Posted by: Greg0658 / Jun 22, 2007 9:24:32 AM
went up to the top of my comment – a Google search would supply my words with a search on me
Greg,
That seems to be the typepad default — I don’t know how to change that (or even if you can!)
You want to take this place to the next level?
Adopt a forums format. Plenty of opportunity for you and your posters(traffic) to grow.
I know it’s a big leap. But anything worth doing usually is.