"Slow News Days & Not So Slow News Days" Topic

Just wanted to write a few words about the Hobby News system on TMP works, to clear up some confusion out there.

The goal is to publish hobby news in a way that satisfies both the need to be prompt, as well as the need to let each story have its moment in the sun. We also recognize that some stories are more significant than others, which is why we rank them into three sections on the homepage.

We normally publish stories about every 3 hours during the business day. This allows each story to have three hours 'on top' in its section on the homepage. (Note that how many stories you see on YOUR TMP homepage depends on your member settings.)

When we publish those three stories, we also try to add one story for each of the news sections (i.e., high, middle and low priorities). The reason for keeping it balanced is that if we don't do it that way, then you would see lots of high priority stories all at once (crowding each other out), or lots of low priority stories all at once (which looks odd).

Our advertisers submit stories in different ways. Some send in one story at a time. Others send in a dozen stories at a time, and we "spread them out." Stories can also be scheduled to run at a specific day and time. Many companies ask us to run their stories within a particular time range (i.e., not at night!). Some like to have their story on the weekends rather than weekdays.

Sometimes, we have what we call "slow news days" when few stories are submitted. That's when we catch up on any backlog we might have, or run stories we might not otherwise get to (some companies send us more than we can publish!).

At the beginning of the week, things were slow. We had as few as six stories in the online queue.

Right now, it's the opposite. Suddenly, we have more than 30 stories in the queue! Now, if we rushed to publish them all at once, they'd crowd each other off the homepage and you'd miss most of them. So, instead, we will work through the backlog, trying to put highest priority stories through first (i.e., time sensitive ones, such as "sale ending" or "last chance to pre-order").

And wouldn't you know it, a busy news day hits just when staff is away! Editor Dianna is off to her annual family reunion, this time at the beach – she sent me a picture, they have a family chart painted on the side of a building, showing all branches of the family, with pictures! And Editor Ellah is recovering from a dental procedure, so is working lighter hours. (Editor Gwen does not work with Hobby News.)

When I started TMP all those years ago, nobody dreamed that this little hobby had enough news to publish on a daily basis. LOL

By headline I thinked that this is some trolling topic.

So on weekends Hobby News don't work at all? Bad thing.

How about authority and ownership of pictures, advertisers upload to Hobby News? I noticed, that on Hobby News pictures don't have original addresses anymore.

So on weekends Hobby News don't work at all? Bad thing.

Hobby News usually runs on Saturdays, if I have time. Editor Ellah also works Saturdays. If I have even more time, some stories are prescheduled for Sundays. Editor Dianna works on Sundays, but that is to prepare stories for the week to come.

How about authority and ownership of pictures, advertisers upload to Hobby News? I noticed, that on Hobby News pictures don't have original addresses anymore.

Linking to the original pictures is impractical. It would put a heavy bandwidth load on the original source. It would make TMP liable if the source changed the picture (in some cases, if something happens to control of the original source, original pictures have been replaced with porn or graphical medical pictures!).

You can't complain about lot of works. :-)
You taked this censorship by yourself freely and without being forced.
We lose full working days in conversation with other users, playing by your rules, and we even don't know, are we allowed to tell to our conversation partners about what happen in Hobby News section, are there news to investigate.

So when it is as it is "right now" and you have a back log of 30 stories with staff off work -- the paying advertiser could post and at least get some news out to the people by posting on the forums ???
Then when the add finally comes up--all good and well
Problem solved for all
Everyone wins

Pressure off you and your staff
Advertiser feels satisfied that information is shared with
consumer
Members receive news

Russ Dunaway

Thanks, Russ, for your opinion, but as I said elsewhere, I'd like to keep Hobby News off the main forum for multiple reasons:

* if some people can post Hobby News, then other people will think they can post Hobby News, and it causes more headache for our staff to moderate
* it is nicer to have Hobby News in its own section, keeping the main forum for discussing painting and playing games
* most Hobby News is not so time sensitive that a small delay is a problem
* if a Hobby News story really needs to be out at a certain time, it can be scheduled and submitted in advance
* many concerns are better handled with a short-duration, high-multiple banner ad

Can those of us who are not advertisers talk about cool products or projects we've seen? For example could I post something like, "Hey, did you see that Games Workship has picked up the new Precious Moments Vietnam War line and has announced at (link)? Check out those cool pictures! I'm picking up the core set for sure."

Or-

"Did you see the new ‘Duck Soup Miniatures Hitler Pie Fight Kickstarter? They look totally fowl."

Or is that sort of thing verboten now? (I've spent a lot of money over the years after seeing posts like this- only for legitimate product.)

TGerritsen, you've raised a good question there.

In the past I've posted on the forums here to drum up support for a Kickstarter project I'm interested in, to get it over the line. Presumably that is now not allowed unless the Kickstarter has also paid for advertising?

It's going to make that particular board very quiet, I suspect.

And the lack of general chat about ‘new stuff' on the message boards (I've always found that to be invaluable, and one of my main reasons for visiting) will dry up, won't it? I tend to go straight to the message boards that interest me and Hobby News disappears after a few days, so there won't be that repository of threads on the relevant boards to easily refer back to.

Or is that sort of thing verboten now?

Please don't give away 'free advertising', it's not fair to those who pay, and it's not fair to those who work here.

That's a tough sell, to be very honest. I come here to talk about miniatures games. If I can't do that, then what is the value to me. This is a forum, not a club. My membership is up for renewal, and I've been here through the thick and thin of all the various toxic battles over issues both major and trivial and always supported the site. However if I can't even link to something I think is cool, or worse, learn about and then talk about them here, then there's not much left here for someone like me.

I have to say that this gives VERY significant pause.

Thinking further I have to ask if your intent is to be member funded and thus catering to the member desires and needs or advertising funded and catering to the advertiser desires and needs. Right now you are trying to do both but failing to make either really very happy. There isn't a wrong direction, but I feel like you've tried to walk the narrow path between both and had been successful, but now that path is ending. At the fork in the road you now have to pick one or the other and cater the site to that group's desires and needs.

If you choose member, I'd be up for that and pay my membership happily. If you choose advertiser, I'd be ok with that, but then they should pay the bills entirely.

Well like most of the media … if there is no news … just make something up, e.g. make a mountain out or a mole hill, etc.

Everybody is doing it !