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from the prevention-goes-a-long-way dept.
So, every once in awhile, if things have been quiet, I like to pop a post seeing what the general feelings of the community are towards the site, seeing what we could do better, etc. I think its been a few months since the last time I posted in Meta, so I think this is a good time to get a pulse on the community, and provide a venue to get any feedback (good or bad).
On the staff side, I know things have been relatively quiet over the summer due to most of us being busy with life and such, which is why we haven't made a major site upgrade since the original rehash upgrade at the end of May. For myself, I've been working at a new job, and dealing with a fair bit of non-Soylent related things to the point that I really only have the time or energy to post, and occasional check in, and I'd like to thank the rest of the staff, and mrcoolbp in particular for holding down the fort for me.
Anyway, in contrast to my usual posts, I'm going to cut this off here, and will be looking forward to your comments below.
73 from NCommander
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday November 17 2015, @05:33PM
I submitted a piece to the editors as an addendum to the wiki on "how to submit a story." I haven't actually checked to see if it went through or if it was included, but here's what I do. For me the cost-benefit ratio is fine, but YMMV:
1. Check the story feed on http://logs.sylnt.us/%23rss-bot [sylnt.us]
2. Click the headlines you think would be interesting to the community to open multiple tabs in your browser.
3. Quickly skim the article to make sure it passes the sniff test, if so, copy & paste the headline into Soylent's "Submit your scoop" form.
4. Copy & paste 3-4 paragraphs from the article that convey the gist of the story (tip: articles from dailies make this easier, monthlies make it harder) into Soylent's form, enclose them in blockquote tags.
5. Copy & paste the link to the full article somewhere in the blockquote clause on Soylent's form.
6. Include your own conversation starter or quip, or don't. Submit. Done.
I find I can often submit a story in about 2-3 minutes. Not too much time. Easily done while having your morning coffee or evening apperitif.
It's not like doing a book report, which I think most Soylentils think it would be. But even if one were so inclined initially, I would recommend not approaching it that way because you'd wind up spending a lot of time on the submission, only to very likely be let down and/or insulted when nobody comments on the submission (should it be even accepted). So my advice is, don't spend too much time on it, don't invest too much of yourself in it, don't care too much when it's rejected.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Informative) by martyb on Wednesday November 18 2015, @02:53AM
All your steps / suggestions are much appreciated! Quite simply, how much does your submission resemble other stories that you see posted to the site? The more it looks like something that appears on the main page, the less we have to do to the submission so that is looks like it should appear on the main page!
One suggestion, if I may, on the copy-pasting of paragraphs from the original story: PLEASE include relevant imbedded links!
One can note where the links are in the copied text and update the submission accordingly. Alternatively, after selecting the text, do a right-click and then "View selection source". Barring that, just a note to the editors in the submission stating, say, "3 links were not brought over from the source" would be a big help.
Is that necessary? No, not really. Does it give a boost to the likelihood your story will be selected for the site? I certainly look favorably on the links being included.
NOTE: I am speaking only for myself as an editor on the site, but from what I have seen, I'm not the only one who holds those views.
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday November 18 2015, @11:41AM
OK, duly noted.
Washington DC delenda est.