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We want to hear what you think of the new Widgetbox Blog Network!
We'd love to hear your feedback on the new Widgetbox Blog Network. Please tell us what you think and give us your new feature ideas here. We want to make sure we are adding features you want! Any and all suggestions welcome.
I’m excited
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Inappropriate?It would be nice to have some concrete information and statistics about how often and when our blogs are featured in the widget and in the top 10 rankings.
There was an "official" reply indicating that it is a proprietary algorithm. It isn't like it needs to be protected like Google's Page Rank algorithm(s), it isn't too likely to be "gamed" by bloggers. Just provide the general parameters involved in being chosen for display so we know it isn't just a random selection. Bloggers that post frequently *and* have users choose their blog entries from the widget should be weighted higher than inactive or "uninteresting" blogs.
To put it bluntly, unless a blog is displayed frequently in the widget they really won't see any increased traffic from the network. So knowing more about what it takes to be displayed frequently allows conscientious members of the network to get the benefits of the network.
Conversely, should inactive blogs be purged from the network?
Network members give up valuable page space for the (very large) network widget and in order for it to be beneficial it really needs to provide more readers than the tiny RSS icon... So statistics that can be viewed (ala Google Analytics) as to the efficacy of the network would help members determine if they are really getting a benefit from being on the network.
Thanks!
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Hey agility,
More features coming soon to address some things in your above comment, but in the meantime, you can now tell how much trffic you're getting from the widget by looking at your analytics for referrals from widgetserver.com -
Dave,
Thanks for the update. I saw that announcement, it is very helpful. Unfortunately, in the past month I've received only 6 page requests from widgetnetwork and none from widgetserver. My blog serves a small niche market (I serve 500 to 1000 non-robot/non RSS pages a day). It looks like widgetnetwork isn't a good fit for my blog at this time, so I'll be removing the widget.
Thanks for listening to my new feature requests.
Best Regards,
Steve -
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Inappropriate?It would be great if you could separate the household and garden network into two networks. It's weird to have blogs about real estate sales and home repair products on my gardening blog. Although gardening may help home sales, home sales don't pertain as directly to those interested in gardening tips. Thanks!1 Comment Add a comment
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Thanks for the feedback Wendi. We're looking to break out some new Channels soon that should help move some of this stuff out, specifically real estate.
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Inappropriate?I joined the women's network when it first started, but somehow my blog continually has been removed, and even though the widget has been present on my blog from the beginning, I continue to have a problem with it showing as being there on your system. Due to this fact, I will discontinue being a part of this network, and I am removing the widget.
I’m frustrated with this system
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Generally, this is due to a configuration error on the blog or feed. We can resolve these if you request support...
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Inappropriate?It works just fine for me. Do sympathise a bit with agilitynerd's comments about blog quality - some are rarely updated, and not exactly much to do with travel blogging, to put it politely. Take Wal Travel, for example - it's just a commercial site. Just because it uses blog software doesn't make it a blog. I reckon that kind of thing devalues Widgetbox because people looking for a travel blog find something completely different. In the end you could lose traffic because of it.
Do understand though that you have to prioritise those 'blogs' that send you the most traffic.
One other thing - on the travel network front page - given the length of the left-hand column, why not stretch the right-hand top ten travel blogs list to a top fifteen? There would be room to do so, and at least it would keep five more people (preferably real travel bloggers) happy!
Pete - FrogBlogging from Thailand
http://frogblog-thaidings.blogspot.com/1 Comment Add a comment
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Hey Frog,
Thanks for the good comments. We'll certainly look at things like expanding the member list, but our UE team is also trying to be sensitive to information overload on some of these pages.
As for the 'questionable content' blogs, as I think of them, I'm hoping to add some features here in the future that will help to get these blogs out of our way. The algorithm improvements are a step in the right direction, but hopefully we'll have a better way in the future for you (the network members) to decide what content has the highest value and the verse. This should help to allow the better content up in the list, without leaving it to some sort of Widgetbox dictatorship kicking blogs out of the network.
Thanks again! -
Inappropriate?I love the idea, but there's not really a channel that covers writers. There's an enormous online culture among writers (freelancers, fiction writers, etc.), so it seems logical to add a channel for Writers or Writing.
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Inappropriate?Thanks Dave. It's a great system especially if it really can be trained to give some credit to quality! (And also importantly, blogs that are regularly updated). There are so many directories etc around full of junk.
Pete - FrogBlogging from Thailand -
Inappropriate?I like the idea of the networks. I have widgets in Humor and GLBT.
I did have one in politics but removed it as I noticed (and it still is) there is one widget that never moves out of the #1 position (same with humor) and to be honest I can't believe they are getting the hits to keep them in that postion all the time.
My widget in politics was constantly buried but in humor and GLBT it floats in the Top 20.
Frankly the #1 in politics isn't that good and the #1 in humor is a foreign blog. Me thinks me smells a RAT !!!
Could you folks start a network for COMMENTARY (or editorials) as I'm starting a new commentary/op-ed blog on politics, news, the Media and life in general. I put the blog up today (12/16/08) and made a widget but have not put the widget into a network yet.
The blog will begin in earnest in January 2009.
Lyndon Evans
Publisher
"Just Shoot Me Now" and "My Two Cents"
I’m content
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Inappropriate?Hey Lyndon,
Thanks for the feedback. We're still trying to figure out the best balance of adding channels and not having so many channels that they each have 1-2 bloggers in them. In the meantime, I've seen some op/ed folks over in Musings.
I can't guarantee that you'll be ranked in the top 10, as the ranking is more about traffic to your blog than the quality of the content. Now it'd be great if quality and traffic were linked, but traffic is objective and quality is subjective, so here we are.
Stay tuned for updates!
Dave
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Inappropriate?I love the network. Would definitely like to see a category specific to books, authors, and publishing. My blog feels lost over in the Art section, but I have no clue where else to hang it. :D
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This reply was removed on 02/23/09.
see the change log -
This reply was removed on 02/23/09.
see the change log -
This reply was removed on 02/23/09.
see the change log -
Inappropriate?I am a collector of Coca-Cola memorabillia, and I blog about my collection. I couldn't find any channel that my blog would fit into, currently I'm putting it in Home & Garden.
There are many collector blogs out there, you should consider making a channel specific for collectors.2 Comments Add a comment
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Personally, I don't think that the number of posts like forex online should have much effect upon rank at all - after all, I've seen some who are the "Top Member"s in their respective channels simply because of the sheer number of their posts; irrespective of quality or popularity. Someone who posts garbage that no one wants to read 8 times a day shouldn't rank higher than someone who posts once-a-week and is genuinely popular.
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Thanks for the feedback. Fortunately, posts contributes very little to rank. Traffic to your site is number 1. Posts just helps by fractional amounts. Regardless, we're always looking to improve out algorithms based on current members.
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Inappropriate?Fabulous tool. But you need a real estate channel. Let me know when you have added it, and I'm in!
I’m filled with anticipation
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Inappropriate?You need a writing channel. It doesn't neatly fit under any of the channels available.
