DPReview user-created article retirement

[WilbaW]

I'm very disappointed that user-created articles are being killed off. It's a very important part of what I do here, and this will force me to set up an external site to retain the content I have created.

DPReview, please reconsider this decision.

If you want user-created articles to stay, add you voice here.

 

[Olga Johnson]

That is indeed disappointing. I find user articles very helpful.

 

[LearningForeverIHope]

Wait a minute! These articles, especially those of Wilba have been an invaluable resource for myself and continue to be so for many, many new users. Really, they are an added value to DPReview and one that cost next to nothing.

What sort of sense does this decision make? Seriously...

JM

 

[Sailor Blue]

Putting it bluntly this is a boneheaded decision by dpreview.

User-created articles are a great source of information. Those of us who have written articles and are active in the forums can easily link to those articles. I only have two user-created articles but I refer to them several times a week in response to forum posts by new members of dpreview.

Instead of retiring the user-created articles dpreview should be asking active members to write more of these articles.

--
Living and loving it in Bangkok, Thailand. Canon 7D - See the gear list for the rest.

 

[Oilman]

The OP went top a tremendous amount of effort for no compensation to provide an FAQ for beginning users of Rebel DSLRs. This FAQ is frequently referenced in the Rebel forum and is a valuable resource. IMO it would make more sense to keep it as a "sticky" post in front of the the forum. If you research site visit numbers on other "hobby websites you will find that this increases traffic. Instead your answer is to put it in a forum as a normal post where it will quickly disappear. This makes no sense from a user or business standpoint.

Clearly, not every article is deserving of this treatment. I understand that the number of articles may be getting so large as to be unwieldy. But there are better solutions than the nuclear option. It would not be that hard to set up a review process to select a few specific articles that are important enough to keep as sticky threads. You could determine the effectiveness of this approach by tracking user interest in the specific sticky posts. Posts that do not maintain certain levels of user traffic would be removed.

Please explain the rationale behind this decision

 

[Alex Notpro]

and I've been on this site regularly for almost 3 years

 

[WilbaW]

and I've been on this site regularly for almost 3 years

It's hidden gem... right there on the main menu with News, Reviews, Cameras, Lenses, Forums, Galleries, Challenges, etc.

 

[nyer82]

I just heard of them now as well. They are amazing. Please dpreview, don't kill them.

 

[Doug J]

I'm very disappointed that user-created articles are being killed off. It's a very important part of what I do here, and this will force me to set up an external site to retain the content I have created.

DPReview, please reconsider this decision.

If you want user-created articles to stay, add you voice here.

These articles add a great dimension to photography, they have a real place on this site and have added a lot to applied photography. Granted, some have less value than others, but it's easy for readers to sort out and identify what they are interested in and pertinent to their photographic pursuits.

I really do not want to these user contributions shifted to the forums, where they'll sink into forum obscurity.

Cheers,
Doug

 

[Klaus dk]

I've had a few subjects under consideration for articles, and I find the decision to remove them illogical.

The article system is an opportunity for those members who strive to help beginners, and it is free content for DPR. One of the rules for getting lots of traffic is "Content is king".

As an alternative, DPR could set up a Wiki which would possibly be an even better way of sharing information between users. Sticky threads could also make sense, but that might cause too much work for the moderators and as they grow, much of the useful information is hidden between less useful posts.

I too would like to hear why DPR has made this decision.

 

[guinness2]

DPReview, please reconsider this decision. Articles are valuable source for learning from the single source. Searching in threads is not such good, including the way how it is implemented here.

WilbaW, persist, your FAQs are perfect.

 

[guinness2]

Perfectly said. Would DPR prefer external links to articles , instead of citations pointing to DPR web ?

Most of web sites are proud of valuable content. Didn't get it.

If the article content quality is the problem, it could be solved in another ways.

Putting it bluntly this is a boneheaded decision by dpreview.

User-created articles are a great source of information. Those of us who have written articles and are active in the forums can easily link to those articles. I only have two user-created articles but I refer to them several times a week in response to forum posts by new members of dpreview.

Instead of retiring the user-created articles dpreview should be asking active members to write more of these articles.

--
Living and loving it in Bangkok, Thailand. Canon 7D - See the gear list for the rest.

 

[NancyP]

Many user-created articles show detailed solutions to specific problems. My favorite is Rustier One's article on making a motorized barn door tracker for astrophotography. There aren't all that many user-created articles - let them have some space, and if necessary, attach a counter to each article. Articles without + votes within a year of post date could be deleted.

 

[jackdan]

I'm very disappointed that user-created articles are being killed off. It's a very important part of what I do here, and this will force me to set up an external site to retain the content I have created.

If it does comes to this, please consider hosting articles by others also. Such a site has much potential and could be an effective replacement for DPR articles. The site could thrive on being fed by links from posts in the DPR forums.

DPReview, please reconsider this decision.

It seems to me that by implementing this decision DPR would be shooting themselves in their feet, because people would be exiting their site to go read the articles or not be coming here in the first place to read the articles.

If you want user-created articles to stay, add you voice here.

Hopefully it is just a ploy by DPR to bring attention to the articles.

 

[Raja MM]

I'm very disappointed that user-created articles are being killed off. It's a very important part of what I do here, and this will force me to set up an external site to retain the content I have created.

DPReview, please reconsider this decision.

If you want user-created articles to stay, add you voice here.

This is surprising and disappointing. I've gained a great deal of valuable information from the user created articles and have recommended them to others as well. It would be a shame to lose this.

 

[Steve-P]

The OP went top a tremendous amount of effort for no compensation to provide an FAQ for beginning users of Rebel DSLRs. This FAQ is frequently referenced in the Rebel forum and is a valuable resource. IMO it would make more sense to keep it as a "sticky" post in front of the the forum. If you research site visit numbers on other "hobby websites you will find that this increases traffic. Instead your answer is to put it in a forum as a normal post where it will quickly disappear. This makes no sense from a user or business standpoint.

Clearly, not every article is deserving of this treatment. I understand that the number of articles may be getting so large as to be unwieldy. But there are better solutions than the nuclear option. It would not be that hard to set up a review process to select a few specific articles that are important enough to keep as sticky threads. You could determine the effectiveness of this approach by tracking user interest in the specific sticky posts. Posts that do not maintain certain levels of user traffic would be removed.

Please explain the rationale behind this decision

 

[Simon Joinson]

The OP went top a tremendous amount of effort for no compensation to provide an FAQ for beginning users of Rebel DSLRs. This FAQ is frequently referenced in the Rebel forum and is a valuable resource. IMO it would make more sense to keep it as a "sticky" post in front of the the forum.

It will be turned into an official DPR article and will get better visibility, as well as still being featured in the forums.

If you research site visit numbers on other "hobby websites you will find that this increases traffic. Instead your answer is to put it in a forum as a normal post where it will quickly disappear. This makes no sense from a user or business standpoint.

Which is why we're going through and reviewing them all.

Clearly, not every article is deserving of this treatment. I understand that the number of articles may be getting so large as to be unwieldy. But there are better solutions than the nuclear option. It would not be that hard to set up a review process to select a few specific articles that are important enough to keep as sticky threads.

Which is why we're going through and reviewing them all. Those articles that are not spam, nonsense, 2 lines long or obviously intended as a forum post (there's a lot of articles that simply ask a question and have had zero views) will be promoted to sit alongside DPR content in our new articles section.

You could determine the effectiveness of this approach by tracking user interest in the specific sticky posts. Posts that do not maintain certain levels of user traffic would be removed.

Please explain the rationale behind this decision

 

[dick52717]

and I've been on this site regularly for almost 3 years

 

[Steve-P]

I am extremely disappointed in the path this site appears to be taking after being taken over from Phil.

Of course this totally ignores the fact that the user articles system was introduced by me, well after Phil had left. Out of interest what other examples of the disappointing path we've taken since Phil left can you share? And when did the rot set in? I ask because I took over running the editorial side in 2004 and Phil sold the site in 2007, so it might have been on the wrong path longer than it was on the right path.

Simon

--

Simon Joinson, Editor-in-chief
dpreview.com
connect.dpreview.com

Now I must apologize.

My comments were an overreaction to hearing the original news and I'm glad to now read that Wilba's article and others will be kept. Thank you for that.

As to direction I can't actually put my finger on it but things do appear to have changed and I'm not sure why I feel that way, I just do. One thing I have noticed is the traffic appears to have dropped off considerably. I started out here in about 2003 in the Olympus Compact Talk forum then moved over to the Rebel Talk forum when I got my original Digital Rebel. It seems posts came thick and fast in those days. Now the forum can be quiet for much longer periods. It's not unusual to see the top post on the forum sit for an hour or longer and obviously third and fourth posts etc much longer than that. I can only surmise that we are losing members. It's disappointing to see and I wonder why?

Best regards.

Steve

 

[Simon Joinson]

I started out here in about 2003 in the Olympus Compact Talk forum then moved over to the Rebel Talk forum when I got my original Digital Rebel. It seems posts came thick and fast in those days. Now the forum can be quiet for much longer periods. It's not unusual to see the top post on the forum sit for an hour or longer and obviously third and fourth posts etc much longer than that. I can only surmise that we are losing members. It's disappointing to see and I wonder why?

To an extent this is simply a reflection of the changes in the market (2005 -2008 was the peak) - this year, like last year, camera sales are falling precipitously (-40% this year), and since the arrival of the smartphone camera there's a lot fewer newbies researching their first camera. Also there's a lot less innovation in the market, so less to talk about. Oh, and a little site called Facebook opened up to the public in 2006, and I understand it's pretty popular for networking and photo sharing these days.

The truth is that the number of posters / posts / threads peaked in 2005-6. But it's not all bad - the forums have been growing for the last couple of years (for the first time since 2006) and are at about 70% of that 2006 peak (posters/posts/threads). And of course commenting is growing rapidly (replacing much of the news forum discussion). And things change: the most popular forum today (MicroFourThirds) wasn't even created until 2008.

We are always looking for ways to keep our users happy and engaged, and to bring in new users, and this is why you see changes in the site that may not make sense without the fuller picture.