Help Us Build The Next Twins Daily - Let Us Know Your Thoughts

[Brock Beauchamp]

This website is getting a little long in the tooth. The basic design dates back to 2021, when our only site was Twins Daily. Since that redesign, we've added nine (!!!!) sites and crammed in more new features than we can count.

It's time for a ground-up rethink of everything about this website, and we need your help to do it right.

A lot has changed over the past half-decade, especially for independent publishers like us: social media has throttled our reach to near-zero, Google is replacing search results with AI summaries, and economic uncertainties continue to loom over us all.

As a result, we're focusing inward and doubling down on community. We offer more interactivity than ever before; we want to offer the best comments, forums, and user blogs you'll find anywhere. Features like the You're The GM! offseason tool will gain more prominence, and new features are coming that expand upon that idea. At the center of everything we do is you, the user. 

We only know how we use the website; your experience could differ in very important ways. That's why it's important to let us know how you use the site and how we can do things better. We can't improve without input, and yours is vital to the next generation of DiamondCentric sites.

As always, thank you for being such an important part of our community!

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[Bangkok Twins Fan]

Thanks for asking for feedback. But I hope that there are no big changes planned, or challenging hoops to jump through. I'm content with the way things are. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

28 minutes ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Thanks for asking for feedback. But I hope that there are no big changes planned, or challenging hoops to jump through. I'm content with the way things are. 

There will be changes, but only on the tech side. We're toying with the idea of a very different presentation, but we're not going behind a total paywall or anything.

[Patzky]

32 minutes ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Thanks for asking for feedback. But I hope that there are no big changes planned, or challenging hoops to jump through. I'm content with the way things are. 

99.9%. I'll figure out a new template. I won't bother if favored writers and users suddenly become scarce.

[PuckettPond]

Faster breaking news. Better coverage of the minor leagues. Pros & Cons of being a small market team. Could high A Cedar Rapids move to Fargo, ND?

[Tjwalsh65]

43 minutes ago, PuckettPond said:

Faster breaking news. Better coverage of the minor leagues. Pros & Cons of being a small market team. Could high A Cedar Rapids move to Fargo, ND?

Why, I think that put them a long way from the rest of the league.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Thanks Brock. TD is a daily view for me here in North Carolina. It has been a gift to this 73 year Twins/Senators' fan, (I'm 81 . I became a Senators' fan when I was 8 because I had been born in Washington and my grandparents lived there). After my grandparents moved to North Carolina when I was 12,  I used to read my grandfather's Washington Post sports sections, which he would save for me and the "local"  Charlotte Observer (Charlotte was a long time Senator's/Twins minor league affiliate), Baseball Digest and the Sporting News for my Senators/Twins information.  Now I don't feel alone in my support of the Twins. For years and years here in North Carolina, I felt I was the only Senators/Twins fan in North Carolina.  Because of TD, I am now an integral part of a knowledgeable community of Twins fans.  Thank you.

[Jim H]

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

There will be changes, but only on the tech side. We're toying with the idea of a very different presentation, but we're not going behind a total paywall or anything.

If you are planning to make people pay for most content, you will lose people. You already have ads all over this site. That should be enough.

[RpR]

This is how I follow the Twins since newspaper coverage has the value of used toilet paper.

It is interesting, but after following the Twins since they came to Minn. football , even with a team that makes the Twins look like a well run org. has become the new god.

Do not screw this place up.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Jim H said:

If you are planning to make people pay for most content, you will lose people. You already have ads all over this site. That should be enough.

That's... what I just said.

[Mike Sixel]

It's a great site overall. I have a few issues, but I don't expect them to change. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

It's a great site overall. I have a few issues, but I don't expect them to change. 

To be clear, I also dislike X, and have basically excluded it from my workflow unless as a last resort. But we take a light hand as an organization, and I've done all but plead for people to stay off it and not use it. But I'm not a tyrant, and people gonna use what they gonna use.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

To be clear, I also dislike X, and have basically excluded it from my workflow unless as a last resort. But we take a light hand as an organization, and I've done all but plead for people to stay off it and not use it. But I'm not a tyrant, and people gonna use what they gonna use.

I understand. That's one of my two things I don't expect to change, and I promise not to post about it again. But only because you asked nicely😁

[Whammy]

I think sometimes the discussions around the "front page" articles get a little buried. 

I tend to spend most of my time in the "Minnesota Twins talk" forums. That's generally where the most discussion takes place, but it's obviously not exclusively there. It's just habit to go to the "Main" forum. When I wander over to the other forums often I'm greeted with a topic I wish I would have known about.

I'd love a tweak so that "HOT" topics in the other forums get temporarily shown in the "Main" forum. And then back to my first thought about front page articles getting lost, same idea... I'd love it if on the first day an article is published it was shown a bit more prominently in all forums. Or at least have all new articles, regardless of topic, shown in the main forum.

[shortround81]

33 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

That's... what I just said.

From Brock:
[...] but we're not going behind a total paywall or anything.

Yeah . . .

That's what Jim was trying to point out. Making people pay for most content is, more than likely, going to be a turn off. It might be my North Dakota higher education kicking in but saying "not a total paywall" would mean there could be a significant part that will have to be paid for

My whole point of this is: Don't ask for feedback and then make people seem obtuse when they give you feedback

[USAFChief]

Keep the user interaction forefront, whatever else you do.

Difficult, I'm sure, but cut down the daily SPAM from a couple writers. Perhaps expand your writer base. Also difficult  I'm sure.

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

48 minutes ago, Whammy said:

I'd love a tweak so that "HOT" topics in the other forums get temporarily shown in the "Main" forum. And then back to my first thought about front page articles getting lost, same idea... I'd love it if on the first day an article is published it was shown a bit more prominently in all forums. Or at least have all new articles, regardless of topic, shown in the main forum.

Holy **** this is a great idea. I don't know how feasible it is, but it's going into the notes for sure.

One of the things we're considering is a totally different style of front page that is effectively a twitter-style feed. This idea kinda slots into that concept, though there are a ton of details to work out.

[C-Gangster]

When will we see these changes come into effect?

[Brock Beauchamp]

16 minutes ago, C-Gangster said:

When will we see these changes come into effect?

Some time over the winter during the lockout.

[Connor Gould]

I really like the website's UI, obviously some changes may happen and that's cool and normal, but I hope it doesn't stray too far.

[TheLeviathan]

20 minutes ago, Connor Gould said:

I really like the website's UI, obviously some changes may happen and that's cool and normal, but I hope it doesn't stray too far.

I agree with this.  I used to frequent The Ringer and when they switched up their UI to the monstrosity it is now I never went back.  I like this vibe.

Also, have we considered a limit on the number of people named Cody writing articles?  

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, TheLeviathan said:

I agree with this.  I used to frequent The Ringer and when they switched up their UI to the monstrosity it is now I never went back.  I like this vibe.

Also, have we considered a limit on the number of people named Cody writing articles?  

No

[Vanimal46]

The site is easy to navigate on both PC and mobile. I like that the forums are allowed to breathe a little bit, and there's of course tons of new articles every day. No complaints here... 

[TheLeviathan]

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

No

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

This is the framework we use if you want a very basic idea of what the forums will look like. We modify quite a bit, but these are the bones underneath.

https://invisioncommunity.com/forums/

[Mike Sixel]

How about AI posts? Can we ban those?

[Dave Borton]

Ads are overwhelming. I counted 5 at one time on my screen. 5! Frankly, that is overkill and they tend to drive me away.

[Cris E]

Quote

I'd love a tweak so that "HOT" topics in the other forums get temporarily shown in the "Main" forum. And then back to my first thought about front page articles getting lost, same idea... I'd love it if on the first day an article is published it was shown a bit more prominently in all forums. Or at least have all new articles, regardless of topic, shown in the main forum.

Yeah, finding things in a dozen little forum silos is too hard.  The right hand column on the old Baseball Primer was threads last updated.  On another site I frequent it's at the bottom of a short initial page so it can be found with a quick scroll or page. Anything added or commented on, top ten or twenty. 

Also, I'd like to see more than my last 30 acts, meaning I don't care what I liked but I would like to see more of my posting history.  

[Linus]

I generally like the site. My only technical complaint is that when scrolling the ads throw you to a different part of the page which is annoying. To really improve the site would require better writing. Less hyperbole and click bait articles and more in depth articles. I would rather have fewer more in depth articles than higher quantity of surface level writing. 

[Rigby]

Vodka Dave as a guest columnist?🙃