MGoBlog Content Distribution

Submitted by TomW09 on

So far into the merger of blogs I have been blown away by the amount of quality information that we've received. The write up on the women's soccer opener was awesome and I can't wait to read more of that during the men's soccer and volleyball seasons as well!

I say this 90% in a good way, 10% in a bad way. Usually I love reading all the non-revenue posts, the extra recruiting notes, and whatnot. But there's times, specifically when I'm gone for a day or so, that I get overwhelmed by the amount of information.

I remember at the time of the merger that Brian said that this was going to be a hurdle: how to distribute all the new information. Instead of just emailing Brian about it I figured I'd make a thread and see if anyone else feels the same way or has any ideas to offer.

My idea would be to have three tabs at the top:
Main, Recruiting, Non-Revenue

I think this would separate the three types of posts most seen on MGoBlog nicely. Instead of having a "Football" page, we have a main page. It would mostly consist of football, but we still need a spot for USMNT coverage, Hoops once football is done, and other random posts that may not be related to M sports. The other two tabs are pretty self-explanatory.

Three tabs is few enough that I think most people would click on each to see if there's a new story they haven't read yet, too.

Any other ideas, or am I just whining for no reason?

BlockM

August 24th, 2009 at 9:08 AM ^

While I don't have a huge problem with the way things are now (It doesn't sound like you do either...), it could be nice in the future to separate those things out a bit. Right now the amount of content isn't that overwhelming, so it's easy to get through it all. During the middle of the season though, it could get more difficult to wade through the extra info. Your proposed solution sounds good... not sure how much work it would take to implement.

The King of Belch

August 24th, 2009 at 9:10 AM ^

It's a Michigan blog, so the POD, whatever it covers, should be the first thing you see, IMO.

Edit: I wouldn't mind two tabs, though: A main, and a recruiting tab.

mgovictors23

August 24th, 2009 at 9:12 AM ^

I get what your saying, sometimes their is alot of info to go through especially sometimes when you are not on for a couple of days. I don't really mind though, it's good to read alot of info on Michigan.

Hemlock Philosopher

August 24th, 2009 at 9:13 AM ^

This is a good idea and should be refined. Here are a few random thoughts:

I think Brian's posts should always go in the main tab (it IS his blog, after all). Also, he tends to mix and match topics in his Unverified Voracity posts (hence, they will be hard to categorize). Perhaps contributors in another tab and Diaries/ MGOBoard in another.

OR, Perhaps using the same structure and having a side menu above Diaries for the recruiting and non-revenue Michigan sports.

formerlyanonymous

August 24th, 2009 at 9:16 AM ^

Things are being worked on, but with football season already here, it may be the off season before we can organize everything completely. There will be some tag juggling also.

I've started moving some things to diaries to spread content and hopefully drown out some of the less than desirable ones that show up. Volleyball will have at least one diary this week as they prep for #3 Nebraska this weekend. We had quite a bit to post this Sunday, and like you said, too much content can be overwhelming.

victors2000

August 24th, 2009 at 9:38 AM ^

but it would be nice to expand the Diaries/Posts section of the blog; it's somewhat tedious to click the arrows to see past entries and gives previous entries a sense of outdatedness.

J. Lichty

August 24th, 2009 at 9:59 AM ^

I would not have read the soccer or swimming post if they were not on the front page - there is a reason those are not in the diaries.

What maybe would be a good thing for the longer non revenue posts at least is to put the full content behind a jump so that you dont have to scroll through three pages about women's field hockey to see if there are some posts about football. But that is a minor suggestion.

jamiemac

August 24th, 2009 at 10:02 AM ^

I love the expanded coverage to include more UM sports.

Not a huge fan of the term non-revenue. It's a boring, clinical term, and if there is something this blog aint, it's boring and clinical.

I would say lose the term.

I have some other thoughts, but like FA hinted at its got to be crazy for them to get this all squared away with the football explosion about the begin.

But, I would say, just go out and cover some of these games and go ahead and post. I grew up with sports sections that had a lot of different information. I dont mind a blog with a lot of content. I will always find what I am looking for.

Brodie

August 26th, 2009 at 5:11 AM ^

Well, it makes sense. Olympic baseball was always like Olympic soccer in quality, but since it was the only international competition in the sport it's place was secure. With the WBC essentially providing a World Cup (to continue the soccer analogy) there was less of for Olympic baseball. Plus, the number of countries competing were always extremely limited. I think what's happened is best for both sides.

formerlyanonymous

August 26th, 2009 at 8:22 AM ^

Actually, the WBC was created out of the necessity of the Olympics cutting baseball. With the rumors swirling every time the vote came up, it was pretty much a given that baseball would have no international home, which forced the hand of the MLB and IBF to create a home for it.

But yeah, the competition was thin, but it was starting to balance out in some respects. The US was becoming less dominant, Cuba fell quite a bit, and even Japan was losing some games here and there.

All that said, it was still the right decision at the time and best for both sides. It allows more professionals to play (if at least minor leaguers) and fosters a bit more competition.

PaulVB

August 24th, 2009 at 10:10 AM ^

There have been discussions about how to add content without overwhelming people and having quality content slip through the cracks. We're working on it.

StephenRKass

August 24th, 2009 at 10:28 AM ^

Occasionally, Brian incorporates mtl from an MGoBoard poster. This is important to me. I like scanning the diary and forum, but there are too many posts to me to read them all, and I'm sure a good post sometimes vanishes into page 2 or 3 or beyond quickly, where I am unlikely to see it. As we come into the season, I suspect that there will be pages of new posts every day on MGoBoard. If the editors could highlight posts they consider important, or incorporate them into articles, or even have have a article of bullets with links to good posts, that could be nice. Obviously, I'm trusting the editor's judgement on what is a "good post." Essentially the "Tom" tab was an acknowledgement that his posts were good.

jamiemac

August 24th, 2009 at 10:32 AM ^

Since you're just beginning, here is a thought straight from my days of running/editing high school sports sections during my days working for weeklies.

Pick one sport a week to feature with a big write-up, usually timed around a cool or important home event. Supplement that with coverage of the other sports going on that week with bullet point-like updates.

You can take care of all the non-rev, olympic sports in basically two posts a week.

I think there amazing potential to make this a one-stop shop for everything related to Michigan athletics, its just a matter of how far to do you want to go. But, I humbly submit my idea as something to consider while you're getting your feet wet with the other sports and trying to find the right balance of coverage.

bigmac

August 24th, 2009 at 11:09 AM ^

I'd suggest having per-user filters that each user could edit in their profile. Each user could filter stuff in and out by tags, post type (diary, etc), author, recruiting, etc. Then you could put a link somewhere on the page to toggle between your filtered stories and all stories.

esipp

August 24th, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^

I'd really like to see more organization in MGoBoard, specifically to separate OT, football, basketball, hockey, and non-revenue sports. If nothing else, have a space for OT threads since they can be very OT sometimes.

BlueBulls

August 26th, 2009 at 11:27 AM ^

There are a couple ways to look through the board, and the types of posts lend themselves to go proper titles. I don't think changes are as necessary there as they are for diaries.

The best diaries tend to have meta/boring names, but can be filled with great research and information. Conversely, horrible emo/msu/yada yada diaries tend to have titles I click on. Any good diary can be pushed back by a horrible, or even mediocre one. We need a new way to peruse diaries or know which ones are worth reading. Right now the only way is if someone references them on the board or you know the author is good.

I would propose at least making a concerted effort to link to them in main posts. Brian is doing some of that, but I think that if there is more focus on it we would be better served. Especially with FA's official Pan Am sports posts.

BlueBulls

August 26th, 2009 at 11:32 AM ^

I know I just posted, but I didn't want this to be lost in the last idea.

I don't have the slightest idea as to how difficult this would be, but the sidebars and what-not make it difficult to read MGoBlog on a Blackberry.

I have so little idea how this works that I don't even know how to properly ask other than: Make MGoBlog work on my phone!

Is this on the off season list?

CPS

August 26th, 2009 at 11:46 AM ^

There was some discussion on this about a month and a half ago. I don't think much came of it, because there are technical hurdles, but input was sought.

http://mgoblog.com/content/mgomobile-anyone

[Edit: I believe Brian has stated that any MGoMobile version is low on the priority list, but might be an interesting project for a helpful and talented MGoCommenter. Unfortunately, I'm not that talented.]

BlueBulls

August 26th, 2009 at 4:17 PM ^

I find myself going over to Shock's HTML post for help with HTML all the time. It's a pain because it always involves opening a new tab when it's just a small piece of info.

Could we put the main ones (pictures, quote boxes, etc.) in the input format dropdown?