Webologist http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:14:50 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Online ordering of photo reprints Photo Gallery). Download file ]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2008/03/online_ordering_of_photo_repri.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2008/03/online_ordering_of_photo_repri.html Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:14:50 -0500 Post your events in our online calendar calendar where you can submit your events to be published on our web site for everyone to see? You can post events, search for everything that is happening in the area, get maps to locations, and even post reviews of events that you have attended. Just click the add event link, and fill out all the fields and get your events listed. No event is too minor, and there is no fee. So start posting.]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2008/03/post_your_events_1.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2008/03/post_your_events_1.html Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:28:57 -0500 The value of anonymous posts We had a spirited meeting in the last week about our policy of allowing anonymous posts to articles on ConnPost.com. Do we value anonymous posts? Would requiring people to register stop some of the venomous posts that some people continue to leave on our site? Will some of our readers become so disgusted with some of the comments being left they will stop reading the Connecticut Post altogether? Should comments be reviewed before they are posted? These were some of the questions being debated. Traditionally, newspapers do not value anonymous comments. If you aren't willing to attach your name to a statement, that statement doesn't have any credibility. Generally, readers don't like to see stories with information from anonymous sources, so what has changed where we would allow anonymous comments on ConnPost.com? The web has changed everything. Not long ago, when I wanted to trade in a camera for a new model, I would take it to my local camera shop where they would offer me practically nothing. Since it was better than nothing at all, and let's face it, I didn't have any other choice, I would be forced to accept their offer. Fast forward to the internet age, and the birth of Ebay. Now, I can sell it on Ebay and get market prices for it. No longer do I have to own a camera shop to be able to sell my equipment. Years ago, if I wanted to find out what was going on with my local high school football team, I had to buy the local paper, and hope they covered my school, since they were the only game in town. Fast forward to today, if the local paper doesn't cover my team, I can probably find a local blog that covers them, (like the FCIAC blog, or Birdseye Sports here in Fairfield County), or you might even get all the information you need from the students themselves on their own blog. My point is the newspaper is no longer the only game in town. The time when the owner of the printing press gets to decide what the community is told is over. The web allows everyone to create their own virtual printing press. No longer do you have to send your letter to the editor to the local paper and hope the editor who received it values your opinion enough to put it in the paper. If the paper doesn't want to print your letter, you can post it on one of thousands of web sites that want to hear what you have to say or you can create your own blog and start your own discussion. The rules have changed, thanks to the technology. Clearly, you want to express your opinion, unfiltered by us. So do we allow you to comment? Or do we tell you we don't value anonymous comments and send you elsewhere. We do have the ability to prevent you from commenting on our stories, but should we? Are we telling our readers we don't want to hear what you have to say, we only want you to read what we decide is relevant? Many newspapers ignored the web for many years, and are now scrambling to catch up. I sure hope we don't make more mistakes by telling readers we don't value their opinions and we end up sending them to sites that do want to hear what you have to say. http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2008/02/anonymous_posts.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2008/02/anonymous_posts.html Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:43:44 -0500 Let them speak! What single issue brings the most problems for newspaper Web sites? Commenting on articles. There is a lot of debate on whether it is appropriate to let the public post their comments on articles. As you might expect, the overwhelming majority of the time, the comments are negative. People like to write about their outrage over just about everything, and then we start getting emails from people saying we need to remove lots of comments or turn them off altogether. For the record, we remove a tiny fraction of posted comments. The controversy over the Iranian President Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University points out again, there are a lot of people that want to silence those who have different views than their own. Whether you agree with Ahmadinejad's views or not, he is the leader of Iran and we should be engaged in a dialog with him, not trying to silence him. How can we deal with people if we don't understand their views? and how can we understand where they are coming from if we never let them speak? If you don't agree with what someone has to say, engage them... post your own comment showing how wrong they are, or what a ridiculous argument they are making, but don't argue they shouldn't be able to express their views. It seems to me, silencing people is never the proper approach. http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/let_him_speak_1.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/let_him_speak_1.html Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:57:40 -0500 Newspapers now adding video video player. I suspect when we look back at some of these early videos, we will be surprised at how primitive they were.]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/newspapers_now_adding_video_1.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/newspapers_now_adding_video_1.html Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:42:47 -0500 Busy week Sports of all Sorts, UConn, (for football and men's basketball) and UConn women basketball. Tomorrow, (Friday), kicks off the 07 football season, so we got everything done just in time. Football season keeps us very busy, so hope you will visit our football page and tell us what you think. And don't forget to check out Sean Patrick Bowley's podcast, which returns. By the way, his podcast is now available on iTunes, so sign up to subscribe so you won't miss an edition!]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/busy_week.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/busy_week.html Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:09:23 -0500 End of year 1 Suggestions are welcome. Tell us what you think we should do to make ConnPost.com better and you just might see it in the future. We are just an email away.]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/end_of_year_1.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/end_of_year_1.html Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:44:58 -0500 Are you ready for some football? High School Sports blog. You should check them out and leave him your own thoughts on the new season. He assures me he is gathering the info he needs for the return of his podcast, which by the way, is now available on Apples iTunes. Just search for Sean Patrick Bowley and subscribe to his podcast so you don't miss any of them. ]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/are_you_ready_for_some_footbal.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/09/are_you_ready_for_some_footbal.html Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:31:16 -0500 How do I.....? Well, Tomorrow, (and every Tuesday afternoon for the foreseeable future), I am going to try and provide the answers as I start weekly web training sessions.
No questions will be turned away.
The questions I expect to get tomorrow are, "How do I post a story on the web site?, and How do I get a photo on the site?". I could get some questions about how to edit a story, how to delete an inappropriate comment, how to set up a blog, or maybe how to get a story onto another page?
Well, it should be interesting. ]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/how_do_i.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/how_do_i.html Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:31:08 -0500 Complaints I guess today was complaint day. I received a complaint from a reader about a story that we posted (and published) over the weekend that this reader felt was inaccurate, and I received a complaint from another reader that the comments being left on the message boards were wrong. In both cases, there was nothing wrong with the items posted- rather the people who complained didn't like what was being written. If you disagree with articles that we post, feel free to post your comments at the end of the story. If you don't like comments being left by other readers, feel free to voice your objections on the same thread as theirs. There are two sides to every issue. Just because you don't agree with what is being written doesn't mean it is wrong. But whether you agree or disagree, discussing the issues is surely better than silencing people, isn't it? http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/complaints.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/complaints.html Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:25:58 -0500 Post your events You can search for, post, and save events of interest on your personal Yahoo calendar page. All you have to do is register, which is very easy to do, and you'll be all set. ]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/post_your_events.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/post_your_events.html Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:49:12 -0500 Bloggers wanted We are looking for some new bloggers for our site and thought we'd ask for your help. Here are some of the topics we'd like to start blogs on: Commuters, Local Night Life, and a blog on College Life. If you think you have what it takes to become one of newest bloggers, send me an email with your ideas and maybe we'll be reading your thoughts soon!]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/bloggers_wanted.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/bloggers_wanted.html Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:29:28 -0500 Offerman slideshow Did you see the Offerman slideshow that we published on our site this week? This became an extremely popular item as many web sites posted a link to the slideshow on their sites. We were receiving so much traffic to the site at one point that our servers were being overwhelmed and we had to limit access to the photos for a while.

Access is back now so if you haven't been able to see the show yet, you can now check it out. ]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/offerman_slideshow.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/08/offerman_slideshow.html Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:18:08 -0500 News, early and often I attended a meeting Friday with the person who is leading the way in our move to the net.

He told us that we need to get 3 news updates online by 9am, 3 more by noon, and 3 more by 3pm everyday, to quench the publics appetite for news updates early and often.

To accomplish this we will need to make some staffing changes, but soon, you will start to see many more updates throughout the day.

He also told us that we need to produce at least one slideshow a day. This will also require us to make changes to the way we do things, but change is coming here too.

He told us we were ahead of many other papers in other areas, like multimedia packages, specialty pages like the politics page, new page we are working on, featuring information on the area's beaches, and the way we cover high school football.

Bottom line? While much has been improved, we still have a way to go as we improve the way we deliver the news, everyday.]]> http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/06/news_early_and_often.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/06/news_early_and_often.html Sat, 30 Jun 2007 13:58:42 -0500 Blowing up the newsroom Our newspaper, like many other newspapers is undergoing changes like never before. We have been told by the owners of the company, that we must "Blow up the newsroom" and start over again, if we are to compete in this new era. We have begun to make those changes. One editor was quoted as saying,"I don't know what to do, but I am ready to do it." Is it enough to put today's newspaper online and call it our web site? No. The editors at the top of new organizations are finally realizing that there has been a fundamental shift with the way people get their information. They are finally listening. They tell us we will have databases full of information, lots of multimedia, more community contributions, rich calendar listings, frequent updates with news happening during the day... It's easy to tell us what we should be doing, the challenge is actually making it happen. I hear we should be doing this, or why aren't we doing that? Why can't I post my story online right away? Why should it have to wait for someone on the online staff to post it? Do you know html? Do you know which database to assign the story to? Do we really want letters to the editor showing up in the news section? Do we want a story on the Bridgeport zoning board meeting to end up in the high school sports section? Do you know which special characters you can use and which ones you can't? Do you know how to get the correct photo to be assigned to the correct story? Do you know how to format a table so that the data is presented in a readable format online? The challenges are many, the answers elusive, so far. We have begun the process of providing more of our staff with the answers the questions above, which will allow us to start providing some of the features mentioned a little earlier. Traditional newspaper readership is shrinking every year, online readership growing. How do we put more of our resources into the web site while at the same time keeping our core product, the paper, at the level that we demand. If we are to succeed, we must find the answer to this question. http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/06/blowing_up_the_newsroom.html http://forum.connpost.com/webologist/2007/06/blowing_up_the_newsroom.html Fri, 08 Jun 2007 20:34:02 -0500