Alternatives For Entry Of The Week

I have some possible alternatives for Entry Of The Week that I will be thinking about over the next few weeks. One of the problems I had with EOTW was simply not having enough time to review the entries and in any case I am a REALLY bad critique because I’m of the opinion that the online world of publication should present similar high standards of grammar and spelling that any offline publication would. Of course that’s not what EotW was about so it made it hard for me to judge suitable entries.

I should also point out that I’m only one guy 🙂 I am up to my eyeballs in things for the site at the moment, and the whole place desperately needs an overhaul – which is under way. That’s what the new front page is all about, the beginning of the overhaul. So bumming around reading entries to choose for EotW wasn’t feasible. Having volunteers isn’t really all that feasible either (at the moment) because there’s no easy way to update the entry of the week and such like. Katrina did a fantastic job while she was looking after it, but the level of spam in her inbox got a bit too much I think!

So who knows, maybe it will come back in a different incarnation later, when it can be easier to manage and less controversial (ie not judged by me :)).

In the meantime I am also looking at overhauling the Top 10 Diaries system because as everyone has pointed out, its always the same. It’s also majorly skewed right now by the Search Engines that are spidering us every single minute of every day. Those hits need to be weeded out from the calculations. I’d also like some kind of ‘unique readers’ system so that the diary with the most readers, rather than the most hits, is in there instead… All that sort of stuff.

I’d like to bring back the Vote For Me option somehow, so that maybe the Entry of the Week is an automated thing based on votes, but it needs careful thought so its not abused by clickhappy voters and fraudsters.

But at the moment, I am working on getting Plus services working properly after the move, and migrating to the new template system so that finally people can have proper control of fonts, headings, keywords, robots etc etc… Its a lot of work, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.

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20 Comments

  1. I may have to opine differently from yours when it comes to the EOTW issue.

    True, this is a diary and any entry is not up for competition as it is written solely based on what an individual feels or experiences.

    True, you may have chosen not-so-good entries lately as EOTW, but it doesn’t discount the fact that it gives readers an option to read something which could have been worth reading.

    True, your choice may be unpopular at times, as judged by the comments gathered by such entry after being posted as EOTW, but some of those I have read were very good ones too.

    True, some may feel uncomfy about the so-called ‘limelight,’ but it gives a diarist motivation to hone their writing skills and aim to be better in expression, organizational content, grammar choice, etc. I always believe it is an honor to be placed there and shine for a moment among so many.

    I would have suggested that:

    1.) You should have sought help of some diarists who read the DD alot of times and post their recommentdations or nominations in a forum which can be easily accessed in the front page.
    2.) Ask someone you believe in to critique and choose the entry of the Week or MONTH (to lessen the effort of doing it frequently)
    3.) Make that choice and post whether it gets a stir or not. (aint that what makes DD community exciting & alive to many?)

    The EOTW, i believe is an avenue to recommend an entry which may have escaped a diarist’s eye. What have anyone got to lose? No prize at stake. No promotion to do. But it means something.

    I aint saying this cuz of any vested interest. (People and DD friends who knew me well would know I am not a spotlightgrabber. Lol.) I am saying it cuz it’s a feature that gives spice to DD life. Others may take it or leave it. It’s that simple for me. Nothing personal.

    Still, DD has opened me to an avenue of being artistic and expressive. I owe that to you, Steve and to someone who pulled me to be here. Thanks. Now, must I say this is my 25-cent long-worded opinion? lol.

    Always,
    Orient:)

  2. I put you on my friends list about two weeks ago. I wish I thought of it sooner as it is very helpful. *grins*

    The notify for this message however did not have a direct link to the message; only the secure link to my manage friends page. Thought you should know.

    Too bad about entry of the week, but the reason for the change makes perfect sense.

  3. I’m so out of the loop as far as the community is concerned but I’m antisocial too. I didn’t know there was all that much controversy around the EOTW thing. Personally I really enjoyed it because I got to see diaries I might not have had a chance to see and read some pretty decent entries. And honestly sometimes it’s nice to see other names being spotlighted than the same old names on the top 10 list.

    I thought it brought a little community around here too. Like I said you see the same general people and diaries all the time. Seeing other people kind of widens the community and it doesn’t seem so much like there’s an inner circle and all the rest of us. You know? I don’t mean to sound bitchy I just type that way sometimes.

    Understandably people don’t necessarily want all that attention but it seems to me that you would really only have to e-mail the person or comment in their diary saying that they are in the running for EOTW and ask them to write back to you with a yes or no on if they want to do it.

    Not that I’m going to make you change your mind or anything. Just putting in my bits and pieces.

  4. Dang, i hadn’t realized causingchaos used the expression inner circle in his or her comment. No offense meant to CausingChaos.

    I have always enjoyed reading EOTW’s. A lot of heart usually shined through even the ones where the writing wasn’t as polished. But I completely understand the decision to eliminate something that was a hassle-magnet.

  5. I, too, enjoyed the EOTW. You could, possibly, ask the writer of the entry if he/she minded being spotlighted. However, you da boss.

    Hugs,
    Ani

    PS Just playing devil’s advocate here: If you put your latest entries on the home page, doesn’t that serve as a de facto notify?

  6. real pity about eotw. it was a fun idea, ya know. maybe you could incorporate the suggestions given above and give it a new life? because i agree with labyrinth that it served as an impetus to diarists to write better and more regularly.

  7. It’s a real shame that you decided to end the EOTW posting. I usually go there and read the selected entry. In fact, I’ve found a couple of truly great diarists through your selections. If people felt that their entries were good enough to be used, then they should have nominated themselves, so had a friend to do it for them.

    EOTW was the one bit of recognition that I was so sorely looking forward to since I came to this site over a year and a half ago. I have worked hard to make my entries interesting and well-written. I do my best to stay on top of my grammar, spelling (which I am HORRIBLE at), and design of my journal.

    Just knowing that there was the slightest possiblity that I would one day be featured on the front page of your website for an entire week was sometimes what kept me writing here.

    I am simply sad to see that feature go. I just wanted you to know that there are those of us who appreciated the hard work you must have put into the EOTW to keep it constantly updated.

    Have a good one.

    Sincerely,

    Danielle

  8. I would like to applaud you for taking notice about the Top Ten list. I have nothing against them. But I am a very observant gal when it comes to stuff like this.

    Judging the top 10 not by hits but my readers is also good. To be honest, I always check my hits and I get an average of 1500 a week but I am NOT even sure if 2/3 of it was done by me. LMAO! I doubt it though since I see the IP addresses in it. I think my best hitters are inktomi and googlebot. ROFLMAO!

    Orient:)

  9. See? My opinion wasnt an isolated one after all.

    I would suggest if ever you need to revive the EOTW that you ask personally 1 diarist of your choice whom you deem has good judgment about entry writing to do the job for say, at least 3 months (like a free contract or a presidential appointee). If she/he agrees, let her/him swear not to tell she/he was chosen as a judge. Then make her/him submit to you her/him choice for EOTW for you to post it in the front page.

    You can tell if you have chosen an objective critique by the comments that EOTW gets. After 3 months, request another one to do the job. It’s just a matter of a private comment to such a diarist. See, less effort on your part. Plus, you hit 2 birds with double honor. It would be a pride for the one chosen as judge and also to the one chosen as EOTW. Cue word: DELEGATION of the task.

    I dont sound preachy, do I? If I do, I think it must be the consultant in me. Lol.

    More power, Steve.

    Orient:)

  10. Thanks for not giving up on the Eotw altogether and looking at the top 10 thing. Voting is good too for the Eotw. I honestly didn’t think your choices were so bad for it either so I’m still suprised that people didn’t like them.

  11. Steve~

    I’m sorry to see EotW go. I feel like it’s partially my fault and I apologize for that. I was getting a lot of spam and no nominations. If you decide to bring it back, let me know and I’d be willing to work on it again. Or maybe we could take turns or something…since I know you and I have very different tastes…lol.

    Take care and good work on all the things you’ve been doing.

    Katrina

    PS If people thought their choice was better, they should use the nomination process. Also, as far as the Vote for Me button…I would still like to see it as a Vote for this entry type of thing which would automatically nominate the entry…just a thought. =)

  12. You are So right about the search bots, and I do like the idea of using unique viewers as the criterion for Most Popular.

    Also, when I went to the home page and saw the blank spot where Ten Most Popular would normally be, and Ten Most Recently Updated right next to it, it occurred to me that maybe you could let us see more of the recently updated diary titles. I’ve read more than a few diaries that were new to me because the entry title caught my attention.

    Thanks again for all the hard work, and the thought, that you put into this website.

    Hugs,
    Ani

  13. "I’d like to bring back the Vote For Me option somehow, so that maybe the Entry of the Week is an automated thing based on votes"

    THAT was also gonna be MY suggestion….that is, until I read further and saw ya mention THIS:

    "it needs careful thought so its not abused by clickhappy voters and fraudsters."

    Gotta admit it…THAT thought never even entered my mind (silly trustin’ fool that I AM!).

    Oh well, for a very BRIEF moment there I was thrilled that we were on the same wavelength. Guess I really outta learn how to rethink my half-thought-process! 😉

  14. "Fairly shortly I hope to implement an RSS feeder for the site so that people can stay up to date using RSS as well…"

    Tee hee hee. RSS. Yummy. Maybe ATOM feed, too?

    Must keep the syndicated junkies happy. 🙂

    Eli

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