How can we improve Articles and Reviews sections?

[Sharky]

We're about to start work on updating both these sections of the site; and would welcome any ideas or feedback from members about how we can improve them.

So if you can think of anything you'd like us to consider then please share your thoughts on this thread. For example, we could have a system in place to let members submit articles for publishing (after being reviewed by our editor).

We're aware there are several outstanding bugs and issues, particularly with the reviews section, and these will of course all be fixed.

These updates are scheduled to go live end of September/beginning of October.

 

[Charlton]

We're about to start work on updating both these sections of the site; and would welcome any ideas or feedback from members about how we can improve them.

So if you can think of anything you'd like us to consider then please share your thoughts on this thread. For example, we could have a system in place to let members submit articles for publishing (after being reviewed by our editor).

We're aware there are several outstanding bugs and issues, particularly with the reviews section, and these will of course all be fixed.

These updates are scheduled to go live end of September/beginning of October.

I have always felt that articles are too short to be of much use. If you are lucky there may be one or two phrases/ideas that can generate further discussion, but most articles I have read barely touch the surface let alone consider the finer points and complexities of the subject under discussion.

I am often attracted by the titles but feel disastified with the way the subject is tackled

Charlton

 

[Sharky]

Thanks for the feedback Charlton. As you're probably aware we're currently hiring a new Content Editor who'll be responsible for raising the bar of the published articles. What we'd really like to get feedback on now is the functionality of these sections. For example, currently the reviews are completely separate from the forums. One idea would be to have a thread for each product and post a notification on that thread every-time a new review is made, perhaps with the full or shortened version of the review, so that members can easily follow new reviews, and perhaps comment in the thread on the reviews themselves.

 

[TheBramble]

Sharky, the majority of articles have never been that well authored, edited or reviewed. One possibility for this is that they are rarely (no idea of the stats) from existing members although there have been notable exceptions, and for many, it seems to be a red flag to a bull – an ‘outsider’ delivering to us all from on high. (Bit like Joe Ross)

The thing is, it’s rarely much good, pretty general and largely superficial and largely aimed at tyro traders. There’s a general feeling it would seem, that there is primarily a commercial angle, as if the only real purpose of the article to get their name or company on the t2w map.

I think what would be a lot more useful than random articles is for your content editor to set about setting up a proper cross-referenced knowledge base. What we have at the moment is not really close to what I’m thinking of.

One of the irritations for newbies (and consequently longer term members) is the same questions been asked again and again. Over 600,000 posts – where does anyone start? Where there has been consensus in the past on a definitive post or set of posts relating to any specific area of trading, these could be edited into a useful article, even if multi-sourced, and cross-referenced so that anyone looking for instance for “optimum stop size calculation based on lunar cycles and ATRs using GANN square of nine and wind direction over the last 3.5 hours” could easily search for it.

A big job and a lot more effort than the current articles facility, but I suspect many would welcome the opportunity to contribute not only in the provision of material, but also in the trawling for the ‘good old stuff’ (and everyone who’s been here a while has their own collection of bit & pieces that have made a difference to them personally) and in the editing process in support of your content editor. I’m thinking of something like a Wikipedia (Wales is only just getting the idea about review and edit bless him) for t2w - something a little more gutsy than investopedia.

 

[Rhody Trader]

Having once upon a time been the Content Editor here, let me speak to the point on it all being "outsider" stuff. That is largely true and I'll certainly admit that exposure to the T2W community was a motivator used quite frequently - though it was always done in such a manner as to not be too overt about it. I did inquire with a number of members about contributing, but the response rate was poor. No one wanted to do it. I suspect it will continue to be a hard sell.

I do agree that better cataloging of the content would be a massive benefit.

Paul and I have talked at different points about a "Best of T2W" type of guide. I'm personally working on an FAQ project incorporating multiple contributor answers to the questions we all see over and over again. For the time being it's just my own thing, but Paul and I have discussed making it a T2W focused project. If that were to happen perhaps it could also bring in some of the "Best of" stuff as well.

 

[timsk]

Hi Paul,
As you're aware, I've outlined a few ideas re. the 'Articles' section on your 'We're Hiring . . .' thread. What strikes me about the suggestions made on that thread and this one is that most of them are not only good, they also complement one another. There doesn't appear to be much conflict of opinion about how the section could be improved - which is great. I would just add that whilst I like this idea of Tony's, the scale of the task is quite daunting, unless the content editor has an army of assistants to help him/her! ". . . for your content editor to set about setting up a proper cross-referenced knowledge base. What we have at the moment is not really close to what I’m thinking of. . . I’m thinking of something like a Wikipedia (Wales is only just getting the idea about review and edit bless him) for t2w - something a little more gutsy than investopedia."

Re, the 'Reviews' section, here are a few observations . . .
At the moment, the review section has a prominent position on the home page. I think this should be removed as I suspect that few members use it. When one logs on, I think that most people (regular, active members that is) go straight to the forums via the 'view posts' or 'view threads' links. Relatively few people log on and see that there's a new review (of ODL Markets, or whatever) and decide to read it. The link in the red bar at the foot of the page needs moving to the one at the top of the page as, I suspect, few people realise it's there. They tend only to scroll down to the foot when they're actively searching for something. Additionally, maybe a link to the appropriate review could be added under the forum heading. E.g, 'Platforms' > 'Brokerages' > 'Review Brokers'. Or, 'Platforms' > 'Spread Betting' > 'Review Spread Betting Firms', etc. By the same token, anytime a member starts a new thread about a subject that has a review, ideally there would be a link to the review direct from the thread. I've no idea how practical this is or if it could be automated? If not, it's extra work for somebody which may not be welcome!

As you know, the 'order by' filter isn't working and needs fixing. However, I think the categories by which the subjects are be sorted ought, ideally, to be tailored to the topic being filtered - especially the books section. At the very least, there ought to be a 'most popular' or 'getting started' filter so that newbies are quickly directed to books like John's. (That another pint you owe me John :cheesy As things stand currently, the list is much too long and needs to be sorted into manageable bite sized chunks.
Tim.

 

[zambuck]

For FAQ's....A small Googleque desktop drop down window .....Drop down will hopefullt lead to a article/reply etc....

 

[Sharky]

Some really useful feedback so far, thanks guys... if anyone has anything else to add, we want to hear it!

 

[leovirgo]

Hi Paul,

It's good to have a link to forum from the article. Automatic publishing of comment in the space below the article and within the forum thread is working.

However, it doesn't appear to update properly on the forum index page. Please see attachment.

I have made a comment on Paramouncy Principle article and it's not showing the correct thread title. And, page numbers of the articles are not showing the right ones either.

regards
Leovirgo

 

[Sharky]

I just checked this myself, and you're absolutely right, the auto-posting of comments as posts on the commentary thread doesn't update the latest post info - so new comments don't show up in new posts, and the thread doesn't appear in the list of threads any more recent than when it was created.

We'll make sure this is fixed when we relaunch the articles section in the next month or two.