TTAC has finally hit the big time: we now have a listing on Wikipedia. Right now it's pretty basic. But we trust the worldwide web will nurture our entry and develop it into a listing that befits our no-holds-barred brand. We'll also update the user stats as our reader base grows. Let us know what you think; if there's anything else we should cover in our wikidness. And while you're sharing on meta issues, what's your take on TTAC listing everything on the front page in chronological order– instead of placing the reviews front and center? There would be direct links to items on the right like we have now. But as new content is posted, it would appear at the top of the column on page one. The upside: you'll see everything when you connect to the site. The downside: items will scroll off the page much faster than they do now. And while we're gearing-up for photo galleries, we're worried about the effect on page views. But never mind US. It's all about YOU. Which format would you prefer: the way we are now, or the way it was in our now defunct "classic" view?
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please make it easier to see all comments. It used to automatically show all comments beneath a review or editorial, now you have to click once on the front page, wait for the page to load, then click ‘show all comments’ and wait for the page to reload. I don’t see any reason why all the comments shouldn’t show up immediately, but at the very least it would be simple enough to show only the first few comments when you click on the “name of review continued” link on the front page (as it does now) but to show all comments automatically when you click on the “xx comments” link instead.
thetopdog :
Uh, we do that to inflate (is that the right word?) our page views. It could be worse: some sites make you page through comments 10 or 15 at a time. Rat bastards.
Congrats.
I use the RSS feed so almost never hit the main page.
Robert:
I had no idea that was the purpose. I guess it makes sense, although I think it would still be nice to at least have the option of seeing all the comments right from the front page. Maybe just for those who have logged in already? Having to click so many times just makes having a back and forth conversation a real pain, not to mention the fact that when you want to reply to another person’s comment, you often can’t even see that comment since it’s buried on another page
how about using cookies to remember what comments-viewing mode someone used last time they were at the site and do that?
But never mind US. It’s all about YOU. Which format would you prefer:
Cool… a “New Dawn” at TTAC :-)
I just wish you had some sort of feedback mechanism on the site for questions like this, and more importantly, article suggestions.
For example, the BBC article this weekend where a guy fought a speeding ticket for 10 years, and finally won.
I hate to say this, but based on my lengthy experience as a former Wiki contributor, in all likelihood TTAC’s wikipedia entry will probably be submitted by some anal member of Wikipedia’s byzantine internal bureaucracy for speedy deletion, and mostly likely will be, probably after a short and drumhead review process.
It has already been determined within the wikipedia power structure that web sites are not “noteworthy” enough to be included on the basis of their existance alone. Be forewarned.
As a side note, editing pages on Wikipedia is generally an utter waste of time, unless you already have nothing but time on your hands – and that is still debatable.
Wikipedia editors typically consider themselves experts in everything, and will fight you tooth and nail. It has happened to plenty of authors, journalists, and researchers, and will continue to happen as long as the site exists.
I like the current page, one a busy day I may miss a few articles but normally the news fees is just the rigth speed, I wouldnt want new to scroll by any faster.
there’s some pretty bad stuff written about you guys on wiki right now… someone from this camp should probably go fix it.
modified the ‘bad stuff’ to be more in-line with a wiki entry. Not perfect, but hey.
edit – I see that Frank removed it entirely. Just watch the article, as people with a ‘strong opinion’ tend to re-add their comments repeatedly. Sometimes modifying their comments instead, elicits a lesser reaction, but we’ll see.
I just edited out the “bad stuff”.
As far as getting deleted because it’s about a web site, they’ll need to delete Jalopnik’s, Autoblog’s, Edmunds’, Cars.com’s and a bunch of other listings for web sites if they take ours down.
I finally got used to the new format and you guys are going to change it again. I guess I will just have to deal with it. I don’t think you should have it all on the front page because on big news days the better editorials, reviews, Brock Yates stuff will end up pushed back. I wish I didn’t have to alwasy click ‘show all’ in the comments like the way it use to be but if your after page hits I get it. Can you fix the first page when you click on a persons comment in the bottom right to bring you right to that comment instead of having to click 2 or 3 times to get to it, that’s really a pain especially on a low bandwidth day.
I strongly second this:
please make it easier to see all comments. It used to automatically show all comments beneath a review or editorial, now you have to click once on the front page, wait for the page to load, then click ’show all comments’ and wait for the page to reload.
Also, it would be nice to have comments numbered, as on the NYT blogs, so it would be easy to find them again.
please make it easier to see all comments. It used to automatically show all comments beneath a review or editorial, now you have to click once on the front page, wait for the page to load, then click ’show all comments’ and wait for the page to reload. I don’t see any reason why all the comments shouldn’t show up immediately
What he said. This is the one thing I really miss from the “Classic” format. Like Kurt B I scan the RSS feed for stuff I’m interested in, then link to the good stuff. The good stuff on the good stuff is the commentary. But as it gets harder and harder to read all the commentary I get more and more frustrated. Page view are nowhere near as important as reader satisfaction.
–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
Don’t change a thing. Especially Mr. Farago’s very sharp wit and vast wisdom. And thanks for latching on to Mr. Yates. Why not go after Mr. Bedard, too, and just see what happens? (I’m a former C/D subscriber)
Oh, and I happen to think the Grand Prix is quite the handsome car. It just looks G-Mmmy. Seems we should expect that. Still, I mean look at some of the Rivieras that were produced. Except for the Boat-tails (’71 thru ’73? Anyone?), they were homely. The Grand Prixs of any year blew ’em away!
I agree that seeing all comments at once was preferable. I think putting all reviews and editorials on the front page would be a good plan. Your editorials are an important draw to this site and you need to have them on your front page. If you put the news blog items on the front page the main articles would disappear too quickly.
I think putting all reviews and editorials on the front page would be a good plan. If you put the news blog items on the front page the main articles would disappear too quickly.
Agreed!