Meta: Changes with mgoblog as we head into season?

Submitted by StephenRKass on

At first, I was going to put this in the OT thread, but my interest is meta, not ot. I have two questions:

  1. What changes are coming to the board with the beginning of the season?
  2. What changes would you like to see come to the board going forward?

I'm wondering if there will be any server tweaks to accomodate increased traffic. Is there any redesign of the banner and the board layout planned? Will speed increase? Will the feature to page down the mgoboard finally come back? (I know there are ways around this, but it still doesn't work right.) What should we expect from Brian, Seth, Ace, and others in terms of content? I like some of what Seth writes (about understanding formations, etc.), and would love to hear more from coaching types about what is going on (Magnus, Space Coyote, Steve Sharik come to mind. It is possible that Sten Carlson and Brown Bear might know something about football?)

Those questions have to do with what plans Brian et al are ready to put in place. Of less importance but still interesting would be to know how much traffic the board gets, how the business plan is working, etc.

Mgoblog continues to be my favorite blog, period. I don't post or comment as often as I used to, and am glad to see younger and newer members (I'm thinking of you, WD) post often.

As for changes going forward, well, I'm actually pretty happy. Adding in the ability to upvote and downvote was a plus, simply to allow the commentariat the ability to help in moderating posts that are out of line. I suppose I would like an Android App for my Samsung, but that's about it. It is hard work to maintain a website like this, and I think that Brian and crew are doing a great job with it.

MGoBoard
mogblog

ken725

August 19th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^

I helped mod most games last year and it is hard to approve every comment.

If we approved every comment:

1) lots of negative things would be approved

2) the same thing said over and over in similar ways would be posted.

 

Joined: 10/26/2008

MGoPoints: 32866

NCMtnBlue

August 19th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^

I think it would be nice for the tag line to be changed more frequently.  It would be fun if the moderators could pick one of the best quotes each week from random posts on the blog.  Heck, it could even be voted on by the mods, or the mgocommunity (like the best weekly GIFs during the season).  The poster of the winning quote could be rightfully, or shamefully recognized.

Joined: 05/12/2011

MGoPoints: 10410

Texagander

August 19th, 2014 at 11:56 AM ^

The new third party app runs much smoother than the main one. Not sure of its gestation, but it is a welcomed addition.

Wondering if we could get some more Mathlete content. I'd love to know the combined experience and talent on OL of past B1G winners.

Basically anything that focuses on football and not attire and marketing (I understand those things are important and related, just ready for more discussions on our DEs decleating QBs, instead of which cleats they are wearing).

Joined: 03/30/2014

MGoPoints: 3733

bronxblue

August 19th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^

I know this is more a Drupal/back-end issue, but it would be great if new users weren't allowed to post for a day or two.  Not so much because I like to silence new users, but to cut down on the burner accounts that show up when user A is banned and immediately creates a new account.  This probably isn't viable right now, but it may cut down on the goober trolls who think they are being "silenced by the masses" for ignoring the fact that "Player X is a horrible person" or "FIRE EVERYONE!" and anyone who disagrees with him/her should try to fornicate with themselves only after said poster fornicates with various members of the respondent's family.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 172099

reshp1

August 19th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^

I'd love to see more sorting options other than chronological. A reddit like system where new comments show up at the top initially but need upvotes to stay there or they fall (the algorithm is written such that sorting is by time and upvotes essentially move posts forwards in time.) Long threads are easier to read this way and quality posts don't get buried just because they're late to the party. I'd also like to see posts below a threshold get collapsed automatically. It'd cut down on the effect of trolls and people inevitably responding to them.

Joined: 10/31/2011

MGoPoints: 34170

MGoViso

August 22nd, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^

Sort options might be fun (like Reddit's top from the last [time period]). But if we are optionless, I would prefer the 4chan system - upvotes have no impact on thread placement (well, there are no upvotes there, but here they would only impact users), but comments bump the thread, so ongoing or refreshed conversations stay near the top.

Though I think that's similar to the RCMB system, so maybe I should step back...

Joined: 09/27/2009

MGoPoints: 1689

Salinger

August 19th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^

I'm not sure how much this is already considered, but I'm wondering how much thought has been/is given to the time of content being added to the front page. Obviously some things just go up when they happen (i.e. a new player commits) but I know that my prime MgoBlog time is usually during lunch time and I'm always hoping/praying there will be some fresh content dropped right around that time.

 

As I speak, I see the Speight board post from Ace, so obviously we get a pretty good continual flow of new/fresh content from the board's powers-that-be. Just my two cents though.

 

Joined: 01/11/2011

MGoPoints: 5409

mgobaran

August 19th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^

Outside of breaking news stuff, and post game reactions, I believe they have a 10:00am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm breakdown, where Seth/BiSB throw up stuff at the 10:00 slot. 12:00 is for Brian. And Ace (recruiting round-up) is at 2:00. 

It's just hard to see that in the offseason, when news is slow, and even harder during the season when news is just flooding the front page. Add in pressers and Diary bumps, I think the format just gets lost in there. But if you look hard enough, you just might find it.

Joined: 09/12/2012

MGoPoints: 22824

Wolverine Devotee

August 19th, 2014 at 12:23 PM ^

I really wish WTKA could bring back the afternoon show and have it be the MGoBlog radio hour (or two).

Have Brian and Ace on and take calls and discuss Michigan Football. I love the MGoPodcasts and the MGoBlog segments on WTKA. Can't get enough. 

We could call in and use our usernames! 

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 31528

Darker Blue

August 19th, 2014 at 12:20 PM ^

  1. Strippers
  2. Beer
  3. Chicken Wings
  4. The best U of M content on the web
  5. Moar banhammer 
  6. Polar bears
  7. the rapture 
  8. tacos
  9. beer
  10. spel chek 
  11. lists
  12. a rush cover band with Brian playing Neil Peart
  13. oh and bring Heiko back. 

Joined: 10/30/2011

MGoPoints: 80492

ChelseaRick

August 19th, 2014 at 12:32 PM ^

There are a ton of acronyms used on this site.  I'd like to see an mgourbandictionary to look them up and follow along better.  Maybe there is such a thing and I just don't know how to navigate the site. 

Joined: 02/28/2012

MGoPoints: 277

UMgradMSUdad

August 19th, 2014 at 11:19 PM ^

There is this:

http://mgoblog.com/content/mgofaq

It's "FAQ," found on the pull down menu for "About" under the Mgoblog banner (There is other useful information under those tabs as well).  It could probably stand some updating though.  Many of the acronyms posters use, though, are in widespread usage on the internet or in social media and either urban dictionary or just about anyone younger than 25 can provide definitions (I regularly use one or the other of these sources when I'm befuddled, which seems to occur more frequently the older I get).

Joined: 07/02/2011

MGoPoints: 13184

Caesar

August 19th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^

1. Have links show up more clearly on posts. It's sometimes hard for me to distinguish them from regular text. 

2. Enable OS spellcheckers to do that misspelt word underline thing. I'm not sure why it doesn't work within these text boxes. asdfasdfasdf

3. To build off the the OP, I'd like to see these techical articles consolidated and organized in a separate part of the site, like the recruiting board area. It would kind of be like a primer for all the folks who know very little about schematic football, and I think it would really improve the quality of Michigan fandom on the boards--more meaningful discussions, more rigorous analysis, &c.  It could also be handy for the writers, who could just reference that part of the board, while letting loose on more in-depth analysis.

4. I'd also appreciate an option to note marital status, gender, and sexual preference for each user.

That's all I got!

Joined: 03/25/2009

MGoPoints: 7726

West German Judge

August 19th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^

I would love it if Brian/MGoBlog used some of his clout to reach out to former players or other alumni of the football program/athletic department for interviews.  

Perhaps they could help preview upcoming opponents, reminisce about past successes/lament about past failures, give insight/color commentary about the coaching staff or current players, have "where are they now?" revelations, the possibilities are endless.

I've been thinking this for a while.  Maybe the podcast would be a better place for this.  Maybe the way to implement this would be to build relationships with outgoing seniors and then maintain contact with them.  A Josh Bartelstein type could have been a great resource, for instance.

Joined: 11/14/2012

MGoPoints: 99

M-Dog

August 19th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^

When I click the >> /"next page" on the Board, it shows me the Diary listings instead.  Happens on Chrome or Explorer and on various different computers.  (The "Recent" tab on the Board does work properly though for some reason.)

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257573

DCAlum

August 19th, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^

But if we're listing things that I'd like to change, maybe it's not having to open a new tab every time I want to see an older board post?

 

I also feel like the site search kind of sucks. That might be a google issue rather than an mgoblog one, but it would be nice to be able to narrow options/sort more easily.

Joined: 01/30/2012

MGoPoints: 3428

jblaze

August 19th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^

have a single thread every day during the season dedicated to firing Funk and keep that thread on a separate server. That will keep the rest of the site running smoothly.

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 19411

pearlw

August 19th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^

It would be nice to be able to separate the OT posts into a separate location so the serious topics stay on the front screen longer. When I say OT, I would include in that the pointless posbang and drinking threads that clog up the msg board and add nothing.

Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 01/09/2011

MGoPoints: 4656

m1jjb00

August 19th, 2014 at 12:55 PM ^

One thing that might be helpful, is some sort of place to go that lists viable tags for those who create content.  Might also make things easier to find as well.

Just an idea.

By far the best thing ever would be to create a way to reward people for things that they start to type but choose not to post.  The technology is probably a ways away, however.

Joined: 11/21/2009

MGoPoints: 8065

xxxxNateDaGreat

August 19th, 2014 at 8:47 PM ^

This probably won't be possible with this new comment system, but I really liked the old self moderation and greying out trolling/flamebait comments. I may be wrong but it seemed to help in minimizing trolls by labeling their comments as trolling/flamebait and then hiding the comment until a mod could review and delete it, denying the troll the one thing he/she seeks: attention.

Also, (and I know this is a mobile app thing and to whoever controls that) it would also probably go a long way in helping against trolls if the mobile apps were closer to the site, and by that, I mean that I see quite a few people here still responding to troll accounts because the apps don't remove their comments (or in some cases, entire troll threads *cough* Peppers ACL *cough*) when the mods do. There are times when I scroll through the app and still see threads and comments that were deleted several hours ago, and I have no doubt that that is how certain trolls like "1927" aka "1928" can keep getting their rocks off.

Joined: 11/28/2011

MGoPoints: 2314

LSAClassOf2000

August 19th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^

I realize there might not be a lot of interest overall, but "The State Of Our Open Threads" is something I plan to bring back as a Sunday morning feature during the season. I am debating whether to go with keeping it a thread or making it a diary, but I am planning to add some more things to track and trying to expand the analysis on some other things. Working from last year's base template, much of this is now more or less automatic mostly, to the point where the biggest bear is getting things into Photobucket out of Excel. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130816

Prince Lover

August 19th, 2014 at 1:23 PM ^

I would like to have Brian change his using incognito user names and just post on his own. I'm guessing Lord Grantham. Has anyone ever seen them post in the same thread? Hmmmmm?

Joined: 07/01/2013

MGoPoints: 13070

Spunky

August 19th, 2014 at 1:42 PM ^

For example, Seth's write-up on Esther McCleery was an interesting look back. And I like when Brian adds Wolverine Historian's old game footage to posts. Rivals like to tease that "no one looks back more than Michigan," but I don't see the problem with that at all. Recent and current players are still adored, and their big plays will never be forgotten, either.   

Joined: 09/12/2012

MGoPoints: 2392