Pro/Con Analysis of Four Hyperlocal Content Management Systems
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MFerrier
Nov 9, 2009, 11:03:01 AM11/9/09
to Journalism That Matters
Hi folks,
Here is the promised pro/con analysis of the four content platforms I
looked at for hyperlocal community news sites – Wordpress,
Neighborlogs, Village Soup and communityQ:
Short Link: http://wp.me/pgDpt-11
I am also still running a poll on what content management systems
others use:
http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2191158/
Previous posts detailed each of the above platforms and what I found
useful in each. Add your feedback in the comments of any of this
series of posts at:
http://michelleferrier.wordpress.com
Thanks so much,
Michelle Ferrier
Women’s Community News Franchise
Here is the promised pro/con analysis of the four content platforms I
looked at for hyperlocal community news sites – Wordpress,
Neighborlogs, Village Soup and communityQ:
Short Link: http://wp.me/pgDpt-11
I am also still running a poll on what content management systems
others use:
http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2191158/
Previous posts detailed each of the above platforms and what I found
useful in each. Add your feedback in the comments of any of this
series of posts at:
http://michelleferrier.wordpress.com
Thanks so much,
Michelle Ferrier
Women’s Community News Franchise
borges
Nov 10, 2009, 8:50:00 AM11/10/09
to Journalism That Matters
I sympathize with your desire to not have a blog look to the site. I
agree the next thing will not be as linear as we now present as the
default view. I have not run across the design that will be the "next
thing" and if I could come up with it, I wouldn't be commenting here
probably but rather be off making it happen. I think the sites that
try to get away from the linear look usually end up getting over busy
with columns and stuff packed in, making it difficult to read and
inefficient to navigate. When you crack this one, please tell us
about it.
I think the multiple platform structure is key to the future, one that
will be built on partnerships that create a greater whole.
Flexibility at the member site level then is key. Some partners might
want to just offer an RSS of their existing site content, others may
not have a site and use this as a principle (so ease of creating this
site will be essential--maybe a blog entry interface, maybe email in
news, or a posterous model of building a site.) Personally I think
having a wiki attached that you own is important because in community
we need to share relatively static information too...a directory is
always needed. Also somehow coordinating a calendar space that can
consolidate community calendars or present them at the individual
organization level is often a very big help. Right now most groups
are gravitating to Google calendars, but there are limits to the use
of this too. Probably a set of site calendars that can sync with
Google calendars people already have, or if they don't have one then
offer it as a feature without Google. Calendars take time to
maintain, so any helps that can speed entry of information would be a
welcome.
So that's my wish list. On your list of features you note one site
has the ability to generate a paper version of the news. I think this
is hanging onto something that doesn't really have much value
anymore. When you publish to the web it isn't just text. How do you
show a video on paper, or create the experience of linking to
background information that drills many levels beyond what is in the
text? Also the news these days is moving so fast that printing and
being relevant is pretty difficult. One person in the other thread
said even our blogs are becoming repositories, rather than
newsstands. Grabbing attention and getting the content onto someone's
browser somewhere is the question.
Being a hub of information people access for their local directory,
calendar, and..oh yeah that article looks interesting, may be the way
it happens. Email alerts to new stories in a daily or weekly digest
form will also continue to be a way to cast out new information.
Tools to broadcast to all the Facebook and Twitter accounts are there,
but it sort of loses the social part of those social platforms--most
likely people will stop being a fan or unfollow as that is automated.
So it is complicated...
Good luck on what sounds like a big project.
Lynn
agree the next thing will not be as linear as we now present as the
default view. I have not run across the design that will be the "next
thing" and if I could come up with it, I wouldn't be commenting here
probably but rather be off making it happen. I think the sites that
try to get away from the linear look usually end up getting over busy
with columns and stuff packed in, making it difficult to read and
inefficient to navigate. When you crack this one, please tell us
about it.
I think the multiple platform structure is key to the future, one that
will be built on partnerships that create a greater whole.
Flexibility at the member site level then is key. Some partners might
want to just offer an RSS of their existing site content, others may
not have a site and use this as a principle (so ease of creating this
site will be essential--maybe a blog entry interface, maybe email in
news, or a posterous model of building a site.) Personally I think
having a wiki attached that you own is important because in community
we need to share relatively static information too...a directory is
always needed. Also somehow coordinating a calendar space that can
consolidate community calendars or present them at the individual
organization level is often a very big help. Right now most groups
are gravitating to Google calendars, but there are limits to the use
of this too. Probably a set of site calendars that can sync with
Google calendars people already have, or if they don't have one then
offer it as a feature without Google. Calendars take time to
maintain, so any helps that can speed entry of information would be a
welcome.
So that's my wish list. On your list of features you note one site
has the ability to generate a paper version of the news. I think this
is hanging onto something that doesn't really have much value
anymore. When you publish to the web it isn't just text. How do you
show a video on paper, or create the experience of linking to
background information that drills many levels beyond what is in the
text? Also the news these days is moving so fast that printing and
being relevant is pretty difficult. One person in the other thread
said even our blogs are becoming repositories, rather than
newsstands. Grabbing attention and getting the content onto someone's
browser somewhere is the question.
Being a hub of information people access for their local directory,
calendar, and..oh yeah that article looks interesting, may be the way
it happens. Email alerts to new stories in a daily or weekly digest
form will also continue to be a way to cast out new information.
Tools to broadcast to all the Facebook and Twitter accounts are there,
but it sort of loses the social part of those social platforms--most
likely people will stop being a fan or unfollow as that is automated.
So it is complicated...
Good luck on what sounds like a big project.
Lynn
borges
Nov 10, 2009, 9:08:01 AM11/10/09
to Journalism That Matters
One more thing...I went over to Twitter just now and someone tweeted
this...
Do any of you go to cnn.com anymore? I don't. Used to like 50 times a
day. Like only a year ago.
Build a site, but will they come?
this...
Do any of you go to cnn.com anymore? I don't. Used to like 50 times a
day. Like only a year ago.
Build a site, but will they come?
Tracy Record, WSB Editor
Nov 10, 2009, 10:18:04 AM11/10/09
to Journalism That Matters
Re: design:
FWIW I tend to fall in camp with the implication of something said by someone else here a couple days ago.
While our sites remain important - in no small part because that's where most if not all of our ads live!- the presentation of the individual story page seems to matter more, as more and more people hop directly to stories from search, social media, whatever.
This is why I don't fret TOO much over the fact we're still publishing in the very basic (and since lightly modified) WordPress theme I chose with little thought (because we had no clue where things would go) four years ago ... we do need the ability to display a few more features, and we need room to improve how we present sponsor messages, but otherwise, the continuously increasing readership seems to "get" how the site works and I am not inclined to blow that up just because it's not fancy/cutting-edge/etc. When people clamor for improvements, it's seldom "why don't you add (X) on your home page" or "wow, can you have a flash feature that keeps rotating through stories for me?" - they clamor much more for certain types of functionality within stories or sections, like, "can I have longer to edit my comments?" or even more so for certain categories of content.
TR, happy with WordPress
--- On Tue, 11/10/09, borges <adm...@kicktime.org> wrote:
FWIW I tend to fall in camp with the implication of something said by someone else here a couple days ago.
While our sites remain important - in no small part because that's where most if not all of our ads live!- the presentation of the individual story page seems to matter more, as more and more people hop directly to stories from search, social media, whatever.
This is why I don't fret TOO much over the fact we're still publishing in the very basic (and since lightly modified) WordPress theme I chose with little thought (because we had no clue where things would go) four years ago ... we do need the ability to display a few more features, and we need room to improve how we present sponsor messages, but otherwise, the continuously increasing readership seems to "get" how the site works and I am not inclined to blow that up just because it's not fancy/cutting-edge/etc. When people clamor for improvements, it's seldom "why don't you add (X) on your home page" or "wow, can you have a flash feature that keeps rotating through stories for me?" - they clamor much more for certain types of functionality within stories or sections, like, "can I have longer to edit my comments?" or even more so for certain categories of content.
TR, happy with WordPress
--- On Tue, 11/10/09, borges <adm...@kicktime.org> wrote:
Steve Hanson
Nov 10, 2009, 10:30:45 AM11/10/09
to MFerrier, Journalism That Matters
On 11/09/2009 10:03 AM, MFerrier wrote:
> Hi folks,
> Here is the promised pro/con analysis of the four content platforms I
> looked at for hyperlocal community news sites – Wordpress,
> Neighborlogs, Village Soup and communityQ:
> Short Link: http://wp.me/pgDpt-11
>
At the risk of sounding like someone who has a hammer and thinks
> Hi folks,
> Here is the promised pro/con analysis of the four content platforms I
> looked at for hyperlocal community news sites – Wordpress,
> Neighborlogs, Village Soup and communityQ:
> Short Link: http://wp.me/pgDpt-11
>
everything looks like a nail --
After reading your article, my immediate reaction was -- sounds like
Drupal to me --- There are pretty strong examples of people doing all
the things you mention on the Drupal platform --- it's not just a CMS,
it's a way of life.
But as I said the other day -- if you want to do all these things, don't
imagine it's an out-of-the-box experience. Please think seriously about
the Open Source solutions - there's no substitute for complete control.
Barry Parr
Nov 10, 2009, 11:16:34 AM11/10/09
to Journalism That Matters
I also want to say a few words in support of reverse chronological ("just another blog") format. It's:
bp
--
Barry Parr
http://coastsider.com
http://mediasavvy.com
http://twitter.com/barryparr
650.523.4929
-----------------------------------------
* Simple
* Immediately understood by readers
* Supported by many excellent (and a zillion lousy) themes
* Easy for visitors to find what was posted since they last visited
You can always highlight featured stories in the navigation bar without breaking the fabulous stream of news that the blog format creates.
There are sound reasons for going with something less chronological, and I'd like to see more experimentation in formats. But it's a pretty robust format.
bp
--
Barry Parr
http://coastsider.com
http://mediasavvy.com
http://twitter.com/barryparr
650.523.4929
-----------------------------------------
Charlotte-Anne Lucas
Nov 10, 2009, 10:44:22 AM11/10/09
to borges, Journalism That Matters
It's been a few years now since we first started noticing that half or more of news site visitors come from search engines such as Google or Yahoo. That's when we started thinking of Google/Yahoo as our home page and doing exactly what Tracy suggested just now - focusing a *lot* of attention on the inside page displays to try and keep people on the site and engaged.
I agree with Tracy on another point - and that's improved functionality for the basics. I went to the mat for a really good calendar with a good (read: easy, simple, intuitive) UI because I think many people in the community would come back often if they could easily do something like publish or find events!
C-A
I agree with Tracy on another point - and that's improved functionality for the basics. I went to the mat for a really good calendar with a good (read: easy, simple, intuitive) UI because I think many people in the community would come back often if they could easily do something like publish or find events!
C-A
MFerrier
Nov 11, 2009, 11:43:36 AM11/11/09
to Journalism That Matters
Charlotte-Anne,
You're absolutely right. On my mytopiacafe.com site (now defunct), I
called the calendar function the "gateway drug" on the site. Community
groups, neighbors, everyone got that when they could publicize THEIR
events themselves...AND that others could find them when and where
they needed them, they were onto something special.
So most of our generated content started with the calendar...then
people migrated from there to creating content in other areas. But the
calendar functions add the stickiness that keeps people coming back.
Thanks for sharing,
Michelle
On Nov 10, 10:44 am, Charlotte-Anne Lucas
You're absolutely right. On my mytopiacafe.com site (now defunct), I
called the calendar function the "gateway drug" on the site. Community
groups, neighbors, everyone got that when they could publicize THEIR
events themselves...AND that others could find them when and where
they needed them, they were onto something special.
So most of our generated content started with the calendar...then
people migrated from there to creating content in other areas. But the
calendar functions add the stickiness that keeps people coming back.
Thanks for sharing,
Michelle
On Nov 10, 10:44 am, Charlotte-Anne Lucas
jonathan lawson
Nov 11, 2009, 12:43:33 PM11/11/09
to Journalism That Matters
An important aspect of deciding among platforms is how well
they can perform in Google (and other) search ranking, including the
Google News index. The internal workings of Google's PageRank system are
secret, but it's clear that some platforms make it easier for search
engines to find and index internal pages.
While it's true that many folks are primarily reading news through RSS feeds and aggregators, as Tracy pointed out those tools need to lead somewhere. Sites that think of each article page as an entry point to their site can use that opportunity to promote their own vision of what "news" is to their intended community - how one story relates to others, why readers might want to invest in becoming part of that outlet's online community, and why they should bookmark that site.
Jonathan
While it's true that many folks are primarily reading news through RSS feeds and aggregators, as Tracy pointed out those tools need to lead somewhere. Sites that think of each article page as an entry point to their site can use that opportunity to promote their own vision of what "news" is to their intended community - how one story relates to others, why readers might want to invest in becoming part of that outlet's online community, and why they should bookmark that site.
Jonathan
On Nov 10, 10:44 am, Charlotte-Anne Lucas
<charlotteanne.lu...@gmail.com> wrote:
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