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

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

i did ron - and its a work in progress - my how easy it is for you to criticize. why don't you come down and give us a hand?

you're a real snot sometimes ron.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Under "Contact Us" I see "There are no articles in this section."

Ditto under "Advertise."

That really just kinda says it all, I guess.

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

You found the previous site "useful"?

[firepail.livejournal.com]

When a website that is often visited changes format, many people want to try out all the new features/buttons right away. If they don't work it is discouraging and annoying. If the site is a work in progress, you may want to have a disclaimer somewhere saying so to avoid getting frustrated user comments like Ron's.

Also, no matter what you say about phone numbers remaining private, most people will either not comment, or will not use a real number. It's silly to require it for commenting.

[jamesnorton.livejournal.com]

so what's it going to be ron? you coming down to help out? instead of going on this site and being a nerdy little nitpicker - why not give a buzz or send an email with your observations? 1. there are plenty of articles in their sections older than 4 days 2. the dead links arent there on the side anymore (temporarily) 3. the company that is hosting the site is working on the advertise, classified ads and legal ads section as i type this 4. could care less about recent comments - that was nice under typepad, not so much important today like we did when we shot out of the box with the original typepad site, it was trial and error. nobody is perfect. you don't have to be proactive in bashing us though ron - that's just crappy of you - and foolish. any other observations? any other comments?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you're really involved with the paper, you're doing an A+ awesome job.

Of convincing me to never pick it up.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

Are you really with Somerville News and does the paper know its employees are such assholes to their customers?

[ron_newman]

As a matter of fact, I did stop into your office around lunchtime and politely point out the links that did not work (after trying and failing to figure out how to submit a calendar entry).

I would have preferred to send e-mail or use the contact form, but as noted above, the contact form wasn't there, and the page no longer displays an e-mail address.

[ron_newman]

The previous site had its problems, but yes, many of the straight news articles have been 'useful'. The biased opinion columns, less so.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

It is foolish of you to try to take Ron in his own dojo.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

or, you know, not have that site live until it actually works.

[ifotismeni]

BAD IDEA.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

This!

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

As the kids say these days:

PWN3D!!

[firepail.livejournal.com]

well of course.

I guess the assumption was that no one reads it, so therefore no one would notice that the links are dead.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

An assumption that is getting safer all the time.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

WE KNOW WHO IS KING HERE!

[firepail.livejournal.com]

I would say "hail to the king, baby", but Bruce Campbell isn't in town for another couple of weeks.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Wait, Bruce Campbell is going to be in town?

[kpht.livejournal.com]

the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaambulance: it's on its way. don't panic.

[wandelrust.livejournal.com]

At the Kendall Theatre, November 7.
http://www.bruce-campbell.com/pilot.asp?pg=mnib

[firepail.livejournal.com]

YEP! November 7th, Kendall Theater to introduce My Name is Bruce, Q&A after the film.

BYOB

[Bring Your Own Boomstick]

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

I have no polite response for you, and so I deleted my previous comment.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

I hope this person is just impersonating someone that works at the paper. I can't believe someone would be as unprofessional to call someone names because they rightfully point out the problems with the web site. They should be thanking Ron, not bashing him.

[visage.livejournal.com]

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

Sorry, being willing to fix someone's problems is not a prerequisite for pointing out that they exist.