Open Thread: Changes to RK
By: Lowell
Published On: 4/6/2006 8:12:13 AM
OK, everybody, this is a great experiment for us, but we're really hoping it works out. What we're hoping to accomplish here is to take Raising Kaine to the next level, to a true "community blog" like MyDD and Daily Kos. If this little experiment of ours succeeds, we will have created the only blog of its type in Virginia, and a potentially important step forward for the Virginia blogosphere in general. If our baby Frankenstein fails, then we will go back to our old WordPress blog and start working to upgrade it. However, for now, we are strongly hoping that this blog works out. For no other reason, we have put a lot of time and effort into this, and several members of RK might kill each other if we back out now!:)
Anyway, what I want to know from all of YOU, our loyal readers, is what YOU think of this. Please help us "debug" this site, offer suggestions (e.g., we know some of the images are messed up and are trying to get that fixed ASAP), and even criticism - hopefully, constructive! :) Finally, if you have any questions, please let us know. If you've used Daily Kos or MyDD in the past, you probably won't have any problems here. The main thing is to set up an account, or if you already were a regular commenter on RK previously, hopefully just go through the "forget your password" thread and then see what happens.
Thanks very much for your patience, and please don't laugh too hard if we fall flat on our faces here. Hey, at least we tried something, right? Having said that, our plan is NOT to fall flat on our faces, it is to succeed - and to conintue "Raising Kaine" - for the indefinite future.
Comments
Looks great (Sean Holihan - 4/6/2006 8:54:53 AM)
I love this idea, looks professional.
Good job guys, keep up the good work keeping the rest of us informed.
I'll get used to it (Vivian J. Paige - 4/6/2006 9:06:12 AM)
I liked the old way better but I'm sure I'll get used to this. (Now can anybody tell me how to delete the incorrect user name that I was originally assigned?)
No need (Brian - 4/6/2006 9:13:28 AM)
to delete it. No one will ever know you had two. :)
Blog roll? (Vivian J. Paige - 4/6/2006 1:45:26 PM)
And what do I have to do to get back on the blog roll?
Ut oh.. (Brian - 4/6/2006 1:47:00 PM)
lost in the shuffle. I will fix that asap. :)
Who do I have to sleep with? (Greg Bouchillon - 4/6/2006 4:47:33 PM)
To get on the blog roll?
Thanks! (Vivian J. Paige - 4/6/2006 10:05:18 PM)
(Now can I have my J too? :) )
I like that the comments are now threaded (Loudoun County Dem - 4/6/2006 9:20:38 AM)
It will make replies easier to follow.
Lowell the Lobbyist (Brian - 4/6/2006 9:24:12 AM)
Credit for that goes to Lowell. He was a heckuva a lobbyist for "Threaded" comments instead of the usual "Flat" ones.
Ha, thanks Brian (Lowell - 4/6/2006 9:53:17 AM)
It's interesting how different people prefer different styles on this stuff. Then again, you love Subway and I...well, let's just say we have different tastes in food! :)
Subway ROCKS!! (Brian - 4/6/2006 9:59:03 AM)
Although we are FINALLY getting a McDonalds in Clintwood, so I will probably spend less time at Subway in the future.
I agree (Alicia - 4/6/2006 9:54:03 AM)
The threaded replies make it a lot easier to follow - and it looks fantastic!!
I agree that the site is fanfriggintastic (Josh - 4/6/2006 9:56:48 AM)
I do think that the diaries will get buried on the righthand column.
Recommended diaries, at least, should always be above the fold, above donate, above email signup, above the webb bug, above the rk swag, above blogads, above leftyblogs...
recommended diaries!
do we want to build a community or not?
Josh
Great Job (Corey - 4/6/2006 9:57:46 AM)
I love the look and feel. Ditto on the threaded comments, much easier to read and follow.
testing testing... (Rob - 4/6/2006 9:59:58 AM)
site looks great Lowell!
Fixes for images coming soon (Eric - 4/6/2006 10:13:15 AM)
Hold tight everyone. The references to old images are on the way. I don't have an exact time right now, but it shouldn't be too long. Please use your imagination for the time being :-)
Looks good (KCinDC - 4/6/2006 10:46:12 AM)
I look forward to seeing the community develop.
A minor point: The forgotten-password e-mail contains the text "(Put a link here)". Presumably there's somewhere you can edit that to put the link to Raising Kaine in.
Question (JennyE - 4/6/2006 12:47:50 PM)
How do I change my password from the generated version?
Got to your page (Josh - 4/6/2006 1:07:47 PM)
There should be a link on the left margin for "JennyE's Page"
There you'll see any diaries you've written, and there will be a bunch of links along the top of the main page you see (not the header).
Click on "Profile"
Click on "Email/Password"
you should be able to see it from there.
Thanks (JennyE - 4/6/2006 1:40:43 PM)
RSS Feeds (Greg Bouchillon - 4/6/2006 1:21:37 PM)
Wordpress gives us the ability to have RSS feeds for post comments (basically so I can just refresh the feed to see that JC has once again asked for a Boo-ya. I wonder if there is a soapblox addon for such a thing?
right now, SoapBlox (soapblox - 4/6/2006 1:23:50 PM)
only has an RSS feed for the posts themselves.
We try to respond to the wants/desires of our clients, so if there is continual rumbling for RSS for comments, they just might appear.
We're clients now? (Greg Bouchillon - 4/6/2006 1:36:06 PM)
Excellent, does that include happy ending?
ha (soapblox - 4/6/2006 1:36:57 PM)
and a reach around...
http://www.raisingkaine.com/rss/rss2.xml (Josh - 4/6/2006 1:24:24 PM)
I think.... (Brian - 4/6/2006 1:48:42 PM)
He is looking for post specific feeds, but yes, that is the new main feed! Everyone will need to update their feed reader program/client.
Congratulations! (Maura in VA - 4/6/2006 7:31:38 PM)
This is an amazing development. Congratulations!
Suggestions (thegools - 4/6/2006 9:54:43 PM)
I understand the desire and need to expand from a Tim Kaine based site. I commend you and cheer you and would like to give a few ideas.
1) It seemed to me that some of the comments that were put on the blog just before the transition were lost.
2) The black letters on a white background are harder on the eyes than what you had before. Please take us back to the old colors
3) I can't figure out a way to change my password to something I actually remember. Can you make it possbile to change passwords.
4) With the need to register before making comments, I wonder if you will get reduced commentary from people and effectively censor many anonymous postings. It seems to me that some of the anonymous posting added flavor even if there were occationally annoying ones.
Colors (thegools - 4/6/2006 10:03:11 PM)
OK so I figured out the password change. Not obvious, but it worked.
The colors though were so much easier on the eyes before.
I always like the pictures that you add to posts. That is a nice touch that some people don't add at other sites.
Thanks, I'll check into the colors... (Lowell - 4/6/2006 10:46:59 PM)
what would you prefer?
Colors (thegools - 4/6/2006 11:36:06 PM)
What were they before? Blue grey? Whatever you had before worked well and it would help keep the appearance contiguous with the original format and be easier on the eyes.
Threaded posts (thegools - 4/6/2006 10:10:53 PM)
I should also say I find the threaded posts not as easy to follow. Also each post seems a lot more busy and jumbled than before, making it a little harder to follow.
I have long liked the Raising Kaine (old) format of listing comments rather than the Daily Kos system. It gets really silly when the paragraphs are squished into narrow columns after a few people have responded. It is just not natural to read text that way. Most text we read in life is placed on the page like you had it on the old page set up.
I know I am pointing out lots of stuff.. Its particularly easy since I do nothing for the site. Take all of it as you please....ignore it if you must.
I love your site for the service it provides and have no doubt that as you tweet it, it will only get better.
Personally, I like threaded comments... (Lowell - 4/6/2006 10:48:19 PM)
but everyone's different. Obviously, Daily Kos must be doing something right since it gets 600,000 visits per day. I guess there are pros and cons to everything. Except maybe love? Hmmmm... :)
600,000???? (Greg Bouchillon - 4/7/2006 12:49:26 PM)
He gets that many freakin hits a day? For real?
Link to Lefty blogs (thegools - 4/6/2006 10:18:33 PM)
I just went to lefty blogs and hit the link to Raising Kaines articleon Judy Feder raising cash. It linked me back to the main page here. When I did a search for Feder on RK I had no hits.?????
I feel pretty dumb, but what the heck . . . (Julie Crum - 4/7/2006 10:13:33 AM)
I really like this blog, and I'm sure I'll get used to the format, but there are a couple of things that have me stumped. I'm sure they're simple, and what I wonder is this: Is there any kind of "How the blog works" page? I can ask my kids when they're around but it would be nice to figure things out myself, especially once trial and error has run out of steam.
Thanks!
Great idea! (Lowell - 4/7/2006 11:14:41 AM)
I'll try to write something up along these lines. In the meantime, please see the
SoapBlox "getting started" page. It's very helpful, I think...
Thanks.
Lowell