Somerville News web site becomes nearly useless

[ron_newman]

The Somerville News has made a big deal about converting from Typepad to their own custom website, but .... geez:

- There is no obvious way to find articles older than four days ago
- There is no indication of which articles have recent comments
- Clicking on "Contact Us" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Write Letter to Editor" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Submit Calendar Item" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Advertise" results in "There are currently no articles in the section"
- Clicking on "Legal Ads" results in "No Display Ads Found"
- If you submit a comment, they now require your e-mail address and phone number

I gotta wonder who approved this change, and why.

Comments

[unferth.livejournal.com]

The is an especially amusing suggestion given that the poster allegedly works for a newspaper.

"Cross Street fire leaves 9 homeless (http://www.thesomervillenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=25&TM=62550.25); jamesnorton to come down to help out."

[ron_newman]

But Mr. Norton still saw it, because LJ automatically e-mailed it to him.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

Looks like the Somerville News might be needing volunteers to QA the new site, but it is an odd way (and odd time) to ask for such help.

[spatch]

Who needs paid help when you can just insult the first guy who comes along telling you what needs to be fixed, and demand he "come down to help" fix it?

This is the winningest thread davis_square has seen in ages.

GRE analogies

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

Somerville Newspaper butthurt is to davis_square what misshapen pizza is to b0st0n.

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

Short fuse + severe frustration = irrational and stupid attack against Ron. Sorry Ron.

[warlord-mit.livejournal.com]

so what's it going to be ron? you coming down to help out?

Hey, I'll come down to help, if you're willing to pay my consulting rates. For this kind of emergency my rate is $400/hr. When would you like me to start? Of course I'll need a deposit up front and a signed contract.

Ron, I suggest you offer the same ;)

[ron_newman]

Apology accepted.

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

certainly no need call me Mr. Norton today Ron. LOL - sorry about that, again.

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

thank you. see, rational heads do prevail sometimes. i am right now changing a bunch of stuff over there - that i have access to. check it out when you can. Thanks. JN

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

that's exactly what i was thinking.

[ron_newman]

I just sent you a message via the "Contact Us" feedback form linked from the right-hand column. (The "Contact Us" link on the top of the page is still broken.) But I have no idea if you actually got the message. The form doesn't ask the sender to identify him/herself in any way, which may impede your ability to respond to such comments.

If you're soliciting comments. . .

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

Hopefully, you'll take this as a constructive comment. Enabling RSS would dramatically improve the situation. I used to read your Typepad site via Google Reader. It doesn't look like that's possible with the new site. Frankly, if it's not, I can tell you my readership will go way down. I do hope you'll consider it soon.

Also, the phone number for commenting is a bit over the top. No one is going to give you a real number. If the New York Times doesn't need my phone number to post my comment, neither does the Somerville News.

Re: If you're soliciting comments. . .

[ron_newman]

And I agree with Shana -- why does the News want a phone number from commenters? I can't think of any other news site with such a requirement. If you want to prevent forgeries (a big problem at the old site), perhaps you should implement a registration system.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

it's a little late for apologizing for the rest of us, although ron may be gracious enough to accept it. you still come off as a gigantic tool.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Ron's comments seem to be reasonable. This is a launched, live site from the perspective of anyone who loads the page and hasn't read your disclaimer that it's a work in progress.

Re: If you're soliciting comments. . .

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

yes i am soliciting all commentary at this point.

yes i agree the rss thing says its enabled on my screen, but it doesnt seem that way on the public side

the phone number thing is stupid - i have multiple emails into the designers

thank you - very good points

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Wait, WHAT? so, are we all convering there like the bunch of fan-boys/girls/richips that we are? (I'm not actually sure that richips is a fan, but felt I should give zir the option... and "fan-richips" is much better than "fan-being")

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

i understand the consulting fee thing, trust me - i get touchy and that probably fueled my fire earlier with ron because we are a small place and i am trying to do a bunch of the back side of the new site myself, so i can tweak here and there - and i have been held up on a few issues that came to a head about ten seconds before i read ron's comment, which sent me over the edge.

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

yes thanks - the top links are not working, i have no idea why - and i want to injure someone at the hosting company as a result, because the second shift cant answer my damned questions. i am changing things on a minute by minute basis, so i saw your comment about the identify commenter thing and enabled that - thanks

j

[arrowintwolakes.livejournal.com]

Yes, it has been a while since we got a real good snark fest going. What happened to the good old days?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Whee I've got tickets!

[marylu.livejournal.com]

I do miss being able to see which articles had recent comments.

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

Great icon, Norton. Clearly, the prescription for the new website is more cowbell.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

Hell yes we are!