Constant Content Gets an Update

[jrichards]

Over the next few days we're going to be rolling out some changes that we've been working on for the site!! Exicting times!

So, we're saying good bye to the red theme that has brought us this far and moving to a blue theme, softer corners. To start things off you can see the new logo for the site above!

There aren't going to be a lot of changes to the function of the site, so by and large you're going to be able to do all the same things submitting articles, checking sales and checking your balance. (and a couple new ones). Hopefully it won't feel like you're learning the Constant-Content system all over again.

So hold on to your virtual hats as we roll out the changes over the next few days.
jrichards

[vjlenin]

bye bye dark read. I liked it a lot though. Blue is welcome, especially deep blue, which is my favorite color. But the way you modified the forum, really wasn't acceptable to me. Please don't give the main site such a makeover.

[jrichards]

Hehe, Thanks for the feedback vjlenin. To true the forum isn't going to get much love in this update I'm afraid. One thing at a time! :-)

[audrabianca]

Well done, CC.

[HayleyWriter]

I like the blue. I find it is clear and easy to read with these formats. You have done well.
The site looks professional, and is easy to use. I submitted my first article with the new submission page and it was fine. I think it will take a few times to get used to the new look and the new features, but I think this is a terrific improvement.

I am not sure about the author expertise groups - but that may be under development. Is that something an author will be able to put themselves in, or is it going to be automatically generated. Can an author be in more than one expertise group? I assume that when this feature is fully operational, it will be easier for the customer to find authors who may be interested in writing in certain topics. Can you please explain how this feature should work, and how authors will be placed into the various expertise groups?

Hayley

[Celeste Stewart]

It's beautiful, Jeff. I like the expertise groups too as it gives each author a chance to shine and be recognized in their given category. Looking forward to exploring the site in greater depth tomorrow! Good job guys!

[Celeste Stewart]

Audra, I think that each number represents sold content for the category rather than available content. For example, if you look at the Private Request category, you'll see that there's a big number next to my name. Those are all past sales, not articles available in that category. Might be cool to have a sold/available designation but I don't know. I do like the look overall and can't wait for some free time tomorrow to poke around a bit more.

[Celeste Stewart]

Couldn't help myself and had to explore more despite the kids needing help with homework and bedtime.

Noticing that "licenses for your content" is gone which is fine as it was fairly redundant compared to "my recently sold." However, it would be nice to still have access to the order # and the customer's user name - perhaps via a "more details" link. I know that I refer to the order # occasionally when customers have trouble processing payments or when there's a problem with the order. It's nice to be able to contact support with a "Problem with order #XXXX" inquiry.

It's also extremely helpful to be able to determine who's buying your articles, even if we don't know their official names. Is Customer X is buying a bunch of my articles or is it a bunch of random customers? If Customer X requests an article but Customer Y buys it, then I know that Customer X may still need his order fulfilled. It's helpful to know who is buying your articles so that when that same customer requests content you know your history with him. If Customer X bought a bunch of articles from me in the past and makes a public or private request, then I know what he likes and that he is serious. If I don't know Customer X from Customer A and I get a private request, I might be caught off guard whereas if I knew that Customer X has purchased articles from me before, I'll be better able to help him. LIkewise, if I see a public request from Customer X and know that he's bought a bunch of my articles in the past, I'll be more attentive to that. Otherwise, I might not respond if I have other gigs going on. Not necessarily a bad thing as far as other writers are concerned but from a relationship-building perspective, it would is nice to be able to recognize who's who and who's buying our stuff.

[HayleyWriter]

I agree with Celeste. It is extremely helpful to know the customer "name" and to be able to tell if you have return customers. Please can we have some of that information returned?

Expertise groups:

This is a good way to showcase current authors, especially those who write on particular topics. It is also nice to give some authors recognition, even if they haven't written enough articles to make the Freelancer's Hall of Fame. I love the concept.

I am, however, concerned that I am not showing up as an expert in the Marriage and Dating expertise group. I count 20 of my articles that fall within marriage and dating category - now showing under the Relationship category, but I still think these articles should count towards this group! I often write in this category, and if this is where customers are going to go for private requests on these topics, I want to be sure I get a look in.

I also note that all the private requests on computer articles did not count on the list, only those that were originally put under computers. Otherwise, my number of computer articles would be closer 75.

I am still wondering how these are being populated. I would have thought that author Rain would show up on the gardening one for instance, I know she has written a lot of gardening articles.

I am hoping you will also be showing expertise groups for other topics, like business.

It is a great concept and I personally think this will be a tremendous improvement for all authors, once it is fully populated.

Hayley

[Celeste Stewart]

Hayley, I think it's "sold" content showing for each expertise area rather than available content from what I can tell. Not sure if sub-categories fall under the main category or not. Also, you can click on text box and view other categories such as business or finance or whatever (rather than those top three that are showing right now). Think I saw you under the business expertise section just now :).

Looks like private content is its own separate category. Private requests have never been categorized so it makes sense that they wouldn't really show elsewhere. For example, when I submit a private request, I always choose "private request" as the category and leave it at that. There's no reason to put "computers" or "food and drink" as a subcategory because the article was never intended for the general catalog. I imagine these lists are populated based on category submitted which makes sense that "private request" then becomes its own category. I've written dozens of women's health/lifestyle articles for private requests but I doubt you'll see my name in categories of that nature because I don't generally write those for the general CC database.

It's fun to check out the changes (especially from the vanity perspective - don't we all love seeing our names and those of our buddies in those lists?) and it will be fun to see how it all gets tweaked based on our input. I love that the switch didn't take days of down time like the last time the site went through a major overhaul. I logged in, saw the "undergoing upgrade" page and then BOOM! Here it is - fully functional and pretty as can be! Yay!

[jrichards]

Wow, I was supposed to have time to write up a forum post explaining all the changes to the site before you were able to check them out!

Thanks for all your input. I really appreciate you're taking the time and making the effort to check things out and provide some great feedback.

Regarding the customer name, I'll put that back into the system as I consolidated the pages obviously that got lost in the shuffle. But I'll put that back! We do have proper customer profile pages on our to do list. So, hopefully in the future, you'll be able to build stronger relationships with customers.

Regarding the expertise groups, one thing to keep in mind is that the categories have had a fairly significant re-organization. Previously everything was classed by it's writing style "Articles, Blog Entries, etc." and then by its topic. This lead to having multiple topics about "Dating" under the different writing styles, which was harder for the customers to navigate since, there was effectively two places for people to look for content about dating. Long story short, articles have shifted categories. I will get back to you on the counting technique that makes the expertise groups. I like the idea of having a designation for available and sold. More to come on the expertise groups....

[Celeste Stewart]

Well you know us, we're all online all the time - and addicted to the CC site. There's no way you can stay ahead of us :) G'night all!

[audrabianca]

One note, whether it was number of sold blog entries or number available, my number would be high for both. But I understand with the shifting of the categories that perhaps not many titles were left as just Blog Entries.

[HayleyWriter]

I was just about to write the same thing as audrabianca. Whether it is articles available or articles sold (and does that count the usage licences?) I should still be showing on the marriage and dating expertise list. It is one of the areas I consistently write articles on, and either way, I have sold and have more than 5 or 8 articles available on this topic. I think it is just that the articles are showing up under the category of relationships, and so are not being counted in the most relevant topic.

I also have a couple of my articles that have appeared in weird, unrelated topics. Example: I have written an article for business on marketing and sales via a telephone, about the script to use when marketing via the telephone. It belongs in business marketing, which is where I originally placed it. Now it is appearing in Technology> mobile phones, which is completely misleading to what the article is about.

I also looked at the search and once again, I have to note that the default lists the articles that were submitted to CC first. This means that if a customer wants articles about the coming summer, and types in "Summer" to the search function, the first pages show articles with titles like "Summer Fashion for 2006". There is no longer a function to select how the searched articles are displayed, so the customer has to scroll through pages of articles to get to the latest articles. While the old system defaulted the same way, there was at least an option to select date descendant order to display the searched articles in. I still think it is fairer to show the latest articles first, (showcasing authors who are currently writing for the site rather than those who have not made submissions for years) and get the customer to scroll through to the older articles, rather than have to scroll for ages to find the latest and current articles available. Can you please look at this?

Hayley

[Suzyarie24]

Just a very little aside, I logged onto my profile page this morning and lo and behold, not my picture but a picture of a young man wearing a backpack! When I click on 'change picture' it was still showing my original picture that I uploaded. The problem was quick to fix, I just uploaded a new image, but thought you should know just in case this happens to anyone else.

Otherwise I really like the overall look of the new site - much more modern and clean.