DPReview user-created article retirement

[WilbaW]

DPR are killing off user-created articles. That's very disappointing for me, not just because it affects me personally, but also for the loss of a valuable community asset.

If you would like DPR to reconsider, please let them know via private feedback (there's a link on the feedback page), or a thread I created in the Feedback Forum. Thanks.

 

[Olga Johnson]

How did you find out? Did they say why?

 

[WilbaW]

Got an e-mail:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You are receiving this message because you have at some point created an article on DPReview. As part of a larger project to upgrade our community tools the user-created article system is being retired, and any user articles that have been created will moved to the forums (as forum threads).

If you have draft articles or want to make any final changes to published articles you will need to do the following:

- Back up or publish any article drafts. These articles will not be moved to forums and will no longer be accessible.

- If you don't want your article to be moved to forums, please unpublish the article (note this will result in the article being deleted)

- If you want to make any changes to the article before it is moved to the forums please do so now.

The move date is currently scheduled for Monday, June 23 2014. Selected articles will be kept intact and placed with official DPReview content. If your article is selected, we will send a separate message indicating this.

If you have any question, please send us a private feedback via our feedback form at http://www.dpreview.com/feedback.

Thank you!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That's all I know.

 

[Digirame]

Do you know why Dpreview is removing the user created articles? What articles have you written that you would consider a valuable community asset? Is Dpreview doing this because there's too many articles or for some other reason? What alternatives would you suggest?

I support you because I think you do a great job supporting us with your knowledge and help on this forum and also just out of friendship. I just don't understand enough about it. Perhaps you could help us understand this better. I'm sorry to hear about this...about what Dpreview is doing to your article or articles.

 

[WilbaW]

Do you know why Dpreview is removing the user created articles?

All I know is what they said in the e-mail I quoted in my reply to Olga.

What articles have you written that you would consider a valuable community asset?

The FAQ is the main one, but I have three others, two of which are very important to me. I'll will have to find a home for them offsite.

Is Dpreview doing this because there's too many articles or for some other reason?

No reason given so far.

What alternatives would you suggest?

Before the Articles feature was introduced I was thinking about setting up a blog on WordPress, so I'll probably do something like that.

I support you because I think you do a great job supporting us with your knowledge and help on this forum and also just out of friendship.

Thanks. I love knowledge and wisdom.

I just don't understand enough about it. Perhaps you could help us understand this better. I'm sorry to hear about this...about what Dpreview is doing to your article or articles.

Let's see if they respond with some answers.

 

[Oilman]

I would urge you to have a back-up plan. The Rebel FAQ is excellent and it would be a shame to lose access to it. This is essentially a beginner forum and the Rebel FAQ answers many of the questions that are commonly asked here again and again. I suggest that you follow through on your idea to set up a blog with the FAQ on it. Then put the link in your signature here as you already have.

Server storage is dirt cheap. This move makes no sense from a business standpoint. Anything in a forum is lost after a few weeks

 

[WilbaW]

Thanks. It just doesn't make sense to me to take away something like that from community like this.

 

[nyer82]

I did not even know about user-created articles until now. They are pretty amazing though now that I've actually read a couple.

I'm sad they will get rid of them. What's the purpose of this? Will they be saved somewhere else? I really don't want to lose them.

 

[imqqmi]

DPR are killing off user-created articles. That's very disappointing for me, not just because it affects me personally, but also for the loss of a valuable community asset.

If you would like DPR to reconsider, please let them know via private feedback (there's a link on the feedback page), or a thread I created in the Feedback Forum. Thanks.

 

[WilbaW]

Thanks for the offer of some space. I'll probably go for something simple like a blog site, e.g. WordPress.

 

[Olga Johnson]

...that Wilba's article will still remain on DPR. Here is what Simon had to say about Wilba's Rebel FAQ:

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www.dpreview.com

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

 

[WilbaW]

DPR have let me know that my articles will be "preserved in the DPReview Articles system" (the system the staff use), and Simon Joinson has said, "The authors will be able to have them updated whenever they want". He also said "we will replace them with something more suitable" as part of a bigger project to revise the backend system, so user-created articles should return in some form at a later time.

Thanks everyone for your support through this worrying time.

 

[nyer82]

Hooray! Unfortunately, I didn't even know about these user articles until they were threatened with removal. I love them though.