StephenRKass

November 11th, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^

Don't know what to say. I posted a whole META thread on this topic within the last week. The only one to respond was Seth, who was apologetic. But even Seth doesn't give answers on when things will be fixed, if ever, and how much it costs. I threw in 50 bucks, but nothing, nada, zilch.

The thing I don't get is this. Brandon has been crucified, and rightly so, for being out of touch with the fans. For failing to understand what the fans wanted and needed. For failing to address fans intelligently. For failing to do things without being snarky. It is kind of ironic that here at mgoblog, there now are all kinds of ads and sponsorships to pay the bills (not unlike Brandon)? And there is time spent on the radio and podcasts and HTTV, but the main thing, the blog itself, has been allowed to deteriorate. Oh well, I have to put up with it because it is all there is. And I'm not going to write another meta thread, or send an email, because nothing will change at the blog.

I love the team more than ever, but I'm kind of resigned to the state of the blog. Complaining won't change anything.

Joined: 07/15/2008

MGoPoints: 23006

StephenRKass

November 11th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^

The problem is scalability. When the blog was in its infancy, and the user base was much smaller, it was easier to manage. Having the servers to manage the traffic is apparently tricky. And there are multiple things that used to work but no longer do. Page down features, links, popular and hot buttons, embedding and editing functions. Whether these are a matter of rewriting code, or the readership, or something else, I don't know. And really, I shouldn't complain. After all, I use mgoblog more than any other site. But yes, various things have gotten worse, and not been fixed.

Really, the most frustrating thing is that questions of whether and when and how and for how much are just ignored. When I take my car in, I have several questions. Can it be fixed? What has to be done to fix it, if it can be fixed? How much will it cost to fix it? When will it be fixed? At this point, that's all I really want to know.

Joined: 07/15/2008

MGoPoints: 23006

StephenRKass

November 11th, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^

This actually happened recently. (Your car can't be fixed). Something is wrong internally in the engine of a Kia minivan. My mechanic basically said it wasn't worth repair. So, I shopped around and found a very nice gently used Honda Pilot.

The problem is we can't easily shop around for a new mgoblog. I don't want to go to the News or Freep or Mgoblue or the recruiting sites for my Michigan news. The concept of Mgoblog is great. This is a place for all things Michigan sports, a certain amount of UofM stuff, and other sports stuff in the off season. There is great writing from Brian. I appreciate the contributions from Seth and Ace, and in the past, from Heiko, VanHaaren, Tim Sullivan, et al. I will choose to live with function imperfections rather than give up content. But yeah, I'd love to have the content, and also have improved blog functionality.

EDIT:  Want to be clear, if not clear already. I love the blog, love the content, love what Brian and Seth and Ace and others are doing. I hope functionality can be improved and fixed, but I will live with the blog in its current state.

Joined: 07/15/2008

MGoPoints: 23006

Blau

November 11th, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^

I read through the comments on a front page post where someone complained about site features, search functions, update sidebars, etc... Seth replied that Brian is the only MOD with enough experience with Drupal or the site's system to make the changes.

I'm guessing if Brian is the one to make these updates, we're probably going to wait for a while. Possibly even until the OT non-football season?

Joined: 01/23/2014

MGoPoints: 35231

name redacted

November 11th, 2015 at 12:17 PM ^

Clearly Brian let this blog get soft, and while good coders and moderators were recruited they were never developed to reach their potential... Brian is a good guy, he's just in over his head. I mean he doesn't even wear a headset while blogging..



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MGoPoints: 1461

Moonlight Graham

November 11th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^

Redesigning and rebuilding a blog like this would be pretty straightforward in terms of adding responsive design for a more app-like experience on mobile (without having to install a separate third-party app) and better on-board search (not Google's plug in). However I think the biggest challenge would probably be migrating all the user accounts and maintaining everyone's points. But even that could be figured out.

I wonder if Brian and they guys would be amenable to putting together a small advisory panel of bona fide web development experts who could provide some free advice in the form of a conference call or getting together for a long lunch in Ann Arbor. They could have folks email their credentials and experience and Brian and Seth could select an advisory board of their choosing. I'd be happy to throw my hat in the ring.

Love the blog, love the guys, would love to see the technical underpinnings of all this great content get better, which would as this example demonstrates, improve the content.



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