What suggestions do you have for SearchWarp Spaces?
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I think I can safely say that the verdict is in, and SearchWarp Spaces are here to stay. There are a lot of benefits to the new structure on SearchWarp, and this will allow us to do some really cool things.
Other than this, what are the things YOU want to see on Spaces?
I'll start by offering a ideas for features that I have planned:
Add the block quote to article pages like was available on articles before.
Fix a few random issues with the new comment system. Does anyone want the ratings added back in to the comments? I saw Dianne raised that question earlier.
Add a few navigation links to the top for Home / Comment / About.
Convert the team system to a 'group' system, so that people can join more than one group. (Again, Dianne's idea, I think.) Each group will have its own home page, in the Spaces design, with recent articles from that group, a member list, statuses like the main SW home page, and a Q&A section just for that group. Any other ideas for groups? Maybe we could eventually add group leaders with admin responsibilities.
I'm contemplating ways for writers to earn money from their articles, and I'm open to suggestions.
Add special badges or 'gift badges' that members can give each other.
Add an instructional system, where the user can complete tasks and earn badges. For example, instructions on how to publish an ebook at each of the major electronic bookstores. Then it would be apparent which of us has been through the process.
A system to create 'series', and then add articles to the series. I've noticed that a lot of use have really gotten into writing series (myself included) and this would help us designate and promote these series (serieses?)
Any other suggestions? Anything that doesn't work like it should and you think I might be unaware of it?
I can't promise I'll implement all suggestions, but I will consider them all.
Thanks!
Answers to this question:Wow! Bruce, you've really been giving this a lot of thought.
I do like the Spaces. And in reality, I like not rating the article. I'd pretty much just begun giving everyone five stars unless there were a lot of very glaring grammatical and spelling errors in it. That always just seems disrespectful to me.
I like the idea of being able to join several groups rather than one team. But the team thing has gotten me to write a few more articles (wish I had more time) than I might normally. Especially when Team B recently overtook the A-Team. :)
I have a number of series that I would like to continue writing to. But I wonder if it's necessary to "promote" them. Because of the nature of my series', I don't have to worry about continuity. Each article will stand well alone. But for others this might not be the case and a place to collect them all in one place might be very nice and handy.
Personally, I would not have the time to take on admin responsibilities for a group and so I don't really think I'd like the addition of that. But others might have the time and inclination.
I remember you mentioned the ability to somewhat customize your Spaces page. At first I thought that sounded interesting, but then I got to thinking that if we all make our Spaces look different, would SearchWarp lose a visual sense of cohesion.
I do like the new Spaces author page. I like the way it highlights the more recent articles. But lower down where you have the option of looking at older articles, there is no indicator of how many articles the author has written. I believe it just says "next" or "next page" or something like that. I like to know the size of the data base I'm searching. But that's just me.
Also, what about being able to search a particular author's trove of articles for stories about a particular subject. Is that at all possible? You know, say someone wrote an article about artichokes and you wanted to see if they had anything else to say about them.
That's about all I can think of at the moment. But you know me :) and I'll let you know if I come up with anything else. I just can't keep my fingers out of the pie.
I haven't switched over yet.
I do like the colorful way my current page is. I am waiting for further additions to spaces such as all our neat little things we have beside our name. Such as our star colour, our blog icon, send private message to author, hall of fame icon, bio icon, and of course link to ones website. Spaces has nothing beside authors name and the color of the overall page is kind of drab and white.
Are we able to dress it up. And are our icons of achievement going to be added also.
New article icon also and recent articles.
Something else; how about our bio's on our pages also, so readers don't have to look
for a link or icon.
I tend to like to write in cursive fonts and was wondering also if any allowance for a more creative font will be given consideration. Also can we add color to our spaces and different fonts etc.
You mentioned making money from spaces. Waiting for that 5000 number to come around kind of deters our interest.
Can this number be changed or something else in its place.
Its not about numbers and page views either.
I think thats about it.
Thanks
Bruce, I like the Spaces and its homepage setup etc etc etc what more do we ask for ?
My suggestion is quite similar to some of Dianne's.
May be two assignments per week is exciting !
I'm in this one just for communication. No points, OK. While we are asking for what could be lacking, I want you to know some of the aspects I truly appreciate (or delight in):
#1: Communication--I love being able to respond to anyone's comment (articles). I believe that will help strengthen relationships.
#2: It would be cool to be able to respond to the short Twitter type updates.
For instance it could be very interesting to reply in an organized fashion.
The Latest SearchWarp Member Status Updates:
Ella Camp " Everything in life is a metaphor for Life itself." Updated 4 hours 31 minutes ago.
Fran Larson I have a solution for comp withdrawal-help me! See my article. Someone helpp! Updated 5 hours 54 minutes ago.
Bruce Horst Starting to go into broken-computer withdrawal. Help! Updated 5 hours 57 minutes ago.
Gregory Lewis Baby girl turning 21 before my eyes, still worry about her riding a bike through the city. Updated 8 hours 18 minutes ago.
Kellie Hastings News Flash: There are approx 50,000 landfills worldwide-doesn't include dumps. Shocking. Updated 17 hours 13 minutes ago.
I think presentation and decor is important- since it's the first thing people see-
Might the headlines be larger and more exciting looking? Just like a Texan! LLOL
I prefer the look of the old layout at the top - with the title large and in a different color, and the warp it etc. underneath. And the writer's name large and in a different color also. I also like the old high five. For me that part of the old look has more body to it.
I enjoy the ratings, it's really nice to see all those stars! and for me it adds more of a personal touch. I hear what Dianne says about always giving 5's and I do as well, but I like doing it, I like giving and receiving that stroke.
I love the block quote, and I think it's a great idea to have series and also to convert the teams to groups.
Just have to tell you I LOVE the pink when you highlight text on Spaces - it's out of this world!!
When it comes to allow authors to make $, why not just share the ad revenue from their articles. That would encourage authors to promote their articles and increase traffic to them and thus revenue across the board.
Thanks for the suggestion, Chris. We'd love to be able to do this. There are two ways to do it, one would be for us to pay the writers directly, which would be too much paperwork for us to be able to handle. The other would be to use Google's AdSense Revenue Sharing program, which requires a minimum of 100,000 page views per day, and we don't have that volume of traffic.
Another option would be to allow writers to display their own ads on their articles, this wouldn't be sharing, this would be giving them 100% of the revenue. This is the option we're looking at.
Currently writers can earn through Kontera, but AdSense usually pays significantly more.
Another site we have written for had ad blocks that were controlled by the writer and ad blocks controlled by the site. Probably because they couldn't meet the guidelines for sharing in the beginning either. (and our site wouldn't)
I don't think writers should get 100%, SearchWarp has bills, too. :O)
Total Answers: 8, Total Page Views: 380.money sources if you have been here say 6 months or so not talkin about just me!
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