Editorial: Help us develop a better Web experience

We need your help.

After a year of modifying and rearranging our new Web site, we’re deciding to shake things up a bit.

We’re currently conducting our own in-house critiques of our Web site, located at www.thedaonline.com, to better improve the overall site experience.

Here’s where you come in.

We need each and every one of you to help us identify key problems you’ve had when visiting our site.

We also want to know what you think we should be adding in the future. What would keep you coming back to the site more and more?

Our new Web host is a far cry from our old one – a site hosted by West Virginia University that had limited interactive capabilities and functionality.

Our site was once a static mess, only able to update if we had a full edition unless everything added between editions was classified as "breaking news."

In the year, we’ve begun experimenting with content, with little bursts of creativity along the way.

We’ve been overwhelmed by how successful the commenting feature has been. Your discourse has been essential in helping bring attention to campus issues, providing critical feedback to stories.

They have, at other times, not been so pleasant, but that’s par for the course.

We hope you can help us redesign our site and develop a better user experience for all.

Below are a list of criteria we’re specifically looking for.

CONTENT

What content would you like to see us adding in the future? Would you be interested in more podcasts? Slideshow photo galleries? Web videos and more?

INTERACTIVITY

Do you know about the polls we frequently have on our sidebars? What else could we do to have you interact with the stories and events?

Did you participate in the Student Government Association elections Web site and chat room?

COMMENTING

Commenting is anonymous with some pretty interesting names. We don’t currently allow writers and editors to comment on pieces due to issues with authentication. Would you be likely to comment with a login/sign up restriction?

COMMUNITY ELEMENTS

Would you appreciate some user-generated experiences on the Web site? Would you like to share photos from around campus and see user comments from around WVU?

PRINT EDITION

Do you prefer individual PDF pages, as provided on the Web site, or would you rather a more physical paper like the edition of the paper available online?

Submit your feedback to the commenting feature of this article on our Web site or send us an e-mail to DA-Editor@mail.wvu.edu or DAperspectives@mail.wvu.edu.
 

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2 comments

Brooke

Tue Mar 9 2010 11:44

I think that the login/sign up restriction is a good idea. Yes, it might limit the comments, but hopefully only those comments that troll the website and make rude comments. These posts generally refer to other comments and are very derogatory and pointless. Perhaps, the DA can set up an account for members (requiring Full Name and Email address), but when those members post a comment only their first name will show. First names only will limit the Facebook stalking, etc. that is bound to happen if you are required to leave your full name.

Dave

Tue Mar 9 2010 10:49

Commenting: Good to add to the website- gives everyone a voice. However, sometimes, as noted, it gets out of hand. Having people register before commenting is one idea, but that might discourage some from posting (many will simply not go through the process, or prefer to remain anonymous). Enforcing registration has the effect of adding some element of control but also will remove some of the discourse. I would suggest the following: provide a registration option & registered user's posts appear immediately, while anonymous user's post have to be approved first (this could be done by DA Staff or even by some appointed registered users that are not DA affiliated). If a registered user becomes a "problem"- their account can be suspended or their posts subject to approval.

I also do not believe it would be a terrible idea to allow authors/editors to respond to user comments.

Something else that would be nice is the ability to "thread" comments- that is reply directly to a comment and have your comment appear directly blow the comment you are replying to. Makes things flow better and makes the comments more readable.

Random suggestion: An "open-forum" to discuss campus issues that are not related to stories printed in the DA.

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