Two weeks of the new Talk Sox, thoughts?

[Brock Beauchamp]

I like to check in every so often and get the community’s thoughts on things.

We’re two weeks in and we’re about 75% of functionality. Due to the unusual time we launched, things like prospect lists and other features will roll out over the next couple of months.

So what are your thoughts? What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong?

I’m still on the lookout for a consistent videographer so if you have interest or know someone who does, PM me.

Almost all the front page writers so far are very inexperienced but I’m super-impressed with this group. You Sox fans are a passionate, smart bunch of people. We’ve had WAY MORE people signing up to write than any site we’ve launched before now and the content has been impressively good.

With that said, in the coming weeks we’re bringing in more experienced writers including someone to handle most of the front page management so I’m freed up to work more on outreach.

Please, let me know your thoughts, good and bad. 

[moonslav59]

I'm loving it. The articles are great. It seems like they fuel more discussion and seem unbiased and factual.

The only thing I dislike, and it's no big deal, is it seems harder to find the most recent posts  than the last format, especially when the game thread is in full use. I have to find the game thread category, click on it, then click on the game, then the latest post. I'm not sure this is something that needs to be fixed. It's a minor inconvenience for me.

I'd like to say, kudos to you and your writers for taking this on. Great job!

[Bellhorn04]

It's great.  The place has been re-energized.  

[Maxbialystock]

The game threads are a lot shorter, which may not be a bad thing.  

I resent those "outside" opinions, which is probably a good thing.  

If moonslav and bellhorn04 give you a thumbs up, you can take that to the bank.  

[harmony]

3 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

The game threads are a lot shorter, which may not be a bad thing.  

I resent those "outside" opinions, which is probably a good thing.  

If moonslav and bellhorn04 give you a thumbs up, you can take that to the bank.  

This "outside" opinion is that the new format has lifted a decent website to a higher level. Fans of all teams would be fortunate to have a site that follows the Twins Daily model.

[Brock Beauchamp]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm loving it. The articles are great. It seems like they fuel more discussion and seem unbiased and factual.

The only thing I dislike, and it's no big deal, is it seems harder to find the most recent posts  than the last format, especially when the game thread is in full use. I have to find the game thread category, click on it, then click on the game, then the latest post. I'm not sure this is something that needs to be fixed. It's a minor inconvenience for me.

I'd like to say, kudos to you and your writers for taking this on. Great job!

On the other sites, we carry the latest game thread in the team (Red Sox) forum. The next morning, I move it to the game thread forum and create a new thread in the team (Red Sox) forum.

Is this something we want to do here as well? I like having the game thread in the most populous forum because it gets the most eyeballs, then moving it to another forum for later reference.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I always applaud promoting new talent that can provide a spark to the team!

There will still be posters who lament the Brock Beauchamp upgrade so late in the season -- and starting his clock of control too soon...

... but emojis emote forever, and this place will be great if the Sox win it all and everyone gets free furniture.

[Jasonbay44]

I’m a fan. The articles are well written, the same good group of guys we already had is still here with some new faces and the site looks great. Good work, Brock. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Thanks for all the positive comments! I truly appreciate it. There's always anxiety around a project of this kind. I take community very seriously and I'm always low-key terrified that I'm going to mess up and ruin a two-decade old community.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Thanks for all the positive comments! I truly appreciate it. There's always anxiety around a project of this kind. I take community very seriously and I'm always low-key terrified that I'm going to mess up and ruin a two-decade old community.

You are doing a great job. Relax.

Although Sox fans can be brutal, we generally aren't towards people not in charge of the Sox.

[mvp 78]

There is an issue where the refreshing of certain ads has taken my cursor out of a reply I’m trying to make. Aside from that, no complaints. 

[mvp 78]

Not trying to be grumpy. I’ve just been yelled at by my kids all weekend.

The new site has been a massive upgrade!

[Brock Beauchamp]

15 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

There is an issue where the refreshing of certain ads has taken my cursor out of a reply I’m trying to make. Aside from that, no complaints. 

This is a new development, it's been happening to me as well. Only started in the past week or so, I need to reach out to the ad provider and see if they can do something about it.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

I think everything is great although the new game thread thing is a bit confusing. Will probably just take some getting used to like any changes.

[Maxbialystock]

On 9/15/2024 at 10:08 AM, harmony said:

This "outside" opinion is that the new format has lifted a decent website to a higher level. Fans of all teams would be fortunate to have a site that follows the Twins Daily model.

You have a problem with reading comprehension.  

[harmony]

6 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

You have a problem with reading comprehension.  

This outside opinion was simply trying to pay Brock Beauchamp a compliment.🙄

[Brock Beauchamp]

22 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

I think everything is great although the new game thread thing is a bit confusing. Will probably just take some getting used to like any changes.

We'll work on this for next season. At this point, I just figured it's best to let things ride for two weeks and implement something more consistent from OD onward in 2025.

After doing this for a couple of decades, I've discovered that if you want to change something, the best way to do it is the start of a new season.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

2 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

We'll work on this for next season. At this point, I just figured it's best to let things ride for two weeks and implement something more consistent from OD onward in 2025.

After doing this for a couple of decades, I've discovered that if you want to change something, the best way to do it is the start of a new season.

I think you've done a great job.

Some things just take getting used to.

[Bellhorn04]

On 9/16/2024 at 10:45 AM, Brock Beauchamp said:

This is a new development, it's been happening to me as well. Only started in the past week or so, I need to reach out to the ad provider and see if they can do something about it.

I've been having a lot of issues with this myself.  I think we all know and accept why the ads are here, but at the moment they really seem to be disrupting the ability to post normally. 

[illinoisredsox]

Only comment I have is I can’t seem to access the delete post function.  Someone said it should come up from the 3 dots but it doesn’t for me.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

21 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I've been having a lot of issues with this myself.  I think we all know and accept why the ads are here, but at the moment they really seem to be disrupting the ability to post normally. 

See, and now it has stopped for me. Sigh. I will try to keep an eye out, there is likely *one* ad triggering this, that's usually the case.

[Bellhorn04]

34 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

See, and now it has stopped for me. Sigh. I will try to keep an eye out, there is likely *one* ad triggering this, that's usually the case.

It's no big deal.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It's no big deal.

Ads are a really frustrating thing for everybody involved. What you see, I probably don't... which is fine 99% of the time.

But in that 1%, a developer coded either an incompetent or malicious ad that screws up the website. And our ad provider TRIES to catch those before they reach users but it's a big ask to expect 100% accuracy. So then it becomes a game of chasing down a single ad that I'm probably not seeing that is causing an issue the user can't wholly explain.

It's super-annoying and perhaps my least favorite part of this entire job.

[Flapjack]

I used to post here a few years back and still pop in now and then (and I have to say how gratifying it is to see a lot of the old gang still here)...so imagine my surprise when I opened the site the other day to see the overhaul it's gotten. It'll take me some time to get the hang of things, but major kudos to all involved!

[Brock Beauchamp]

45 minutes ago, Flapjack said:

I used to post here a few years back and still pop in now and then (and I have to say how gratifying it is to see a lot of the old gang still here)...so imagine my surprise when I opened the site the other day to see the overhaul it's gotten. It'll take me some time to get the hang of things, but major kudos to all involved!

Thanks! Would you like help retrieving your old account? Just shoot me a PM and we can do that.