Dear Readers,
Many of you are signed up for our email updates. They’re nothing fancy. They’re free, of course. There are no images or charts or other stuff. They look bland and generic. In fact, disturbingly, they look just like those from the blog of the Bank of England, for example. Now I’m thinking about improving the system. And there are two fundamental ways I can go.
The way it works now: The moment we post a new article, the system automatically sends out an email to our subscribers with headline, subtitle, and link. You click on the link, and it takes you straight to the article.
But there are a couple of issues or potential issues:
The system sends out an update every time we post an article, and we cannot control that. Right now, we post between 1 and 3 articles spread over the day, whenever they’re ready. So you get between 1 and 3 updates a day in your inbox. But there may come a time when we want to post 4, 5, or 6 articles a day. Or even more.
Question 1: At what point does it become a hassle for you to deal with these updates in your inbox? What are “too many updates per day?”
Question 2: Would you prefer one email a day with all articles of the last 24 hours linked in it? The trade-off is that you’d get these updates between 1 and 24 hours after they’re posted. For example, the email could go out early in the morning with all of yesterday’s articles.
The reason I’m asking: I’m thinking about switching to a different email update system. These emails would look more like WOLF STREET. They wouldn’t look anything like the stuff from the Bank of England. And I could stick in an advertising banner (which I cannot do now) to earn some beer money or promote my books or whatever :-]
So how do you feel about getting updates immediately when articles are posted, versus waiting for the daily email. Please let me know in the comment section below.
Even if you’re not a subscriber but have some ideas about how you prefer to receive email updates, please let me know in the comment section below.
You can sign up for our email updates anytime using the sign-up box in the right sidebar (under the big ad). If you’re on a mobile device, you might not see the right sidebar. So you can go to the sign-up box at the bottom of the front page.
Or you can sign up right here:
Just enter a functional email. Anonymous email is OK. No name required. And click the black button. There is a simple confirmation process – you’ll get an email asking you to confirm. And that’s it.
Thank you in advance for your feedback below about Question 1 and/or Question 2 and/or anything else concerning email updates!
Wolf
Enjoy reading WOLF STREET and want to support it? You can donate. I appreciate it immensely. Click on the beer and iced-tea mug to find out how:
Would you like to be notified via email when WOLF STREET publishes a new article? Sign up here.
1 per day, please.
The articles themselves is why I keep reading–different perspective from the mainstream and a fairly easy read. I prefer individual emails, since I’ll read some immediately and save others for later. I don’t mind seeing ad banners as long as they don’t block what I’m reading.
Hi Wolf!
I think it’s great that you ask your readers, and commenters how they like stuff here.
When I post a comment it asks if I wanna be notified of follow-up comments. I click it, and it asks me to set up an account on wordpress. I decline, and never get a notice. It’s ok.
I don’t subscribe to your site, but I visit it once in the early morning, and then again in the evening. I gave up reading stuff on maketwatch, and bloomberg for your site. I still look at their headlines, but they have become more annoying over the years. Bloomberg was best back when it was orange & black, and mw when it was cbs-marketwatch.
At the risk of turning a Cadillac into a Pimp-Mobile adding all kinds of un necessary stuff, I find that there are times when I don’t really have a worthwhile comment to add, and would like to just say “I agree” with someone elses comment. So while I hate to say it, Maybe add a “like it” or “Agree with it” and “Don’t Agree” at the bottom of other’s comment box….? Anyone else think it’s a good idea.
Like it was expressed above in many ways, “Content is King” and I believe WolfStreet.com Is King!
And for the quality-and length of each post, I sure hope you’re out of the “Beer Money” making, and at least getting into the “Fine Wine Money” !
I see the share buttons up at the top, but do you send out your posts on g+, FB, TWTR, and the like? If so I have not run across them…. Possible good way to expand your reach….. I think I found this site from a link on MW ~ Maybe a year ago ??? Or a comment on a story there….. Or it was a link on google finance, I use that also…..
At any rate, Keep up the good work, it’s very much appreciated !
Have a Great Day !
.
Thanks for the kind words!!!
I’m not on Facebook but I’m on Twitter @wolfofwolfst and I do tweet our articles.
PS
I’m pretty sure I found this site, and the first story was the jet-fighter that ate the pentagon ! so that was May of 2015. So wherever that was picked up…. Might have even been a twitter post.
Later.
I read WS every day without the email notifications, so just do whatever makes you the most money. I use Outlook and can just set a rule to redirect your emails into a separate folder if they start to get bothersome.
One thing, is there any way you can ADD an option where I just receive REPLIES to MY COMMENTS, rather than all postings? When I click the “Notify me of follow-up comments” I get all postings from that point on, whether they relate to my comment or not.
Definitely KEEP the option to get ALL comments.
Possibly add an option to GET ALL COMMENTS WITHOUT POSTING A REPLY to help us when we don’t have anything specific to add to the discussion, but want to continue following the thread. This would help to get the embedded REPLIES that show up in the middle of the comments in addition to the NEWEST comments at the bottom.
BTW, I am confused about the “Newer Comments” link. How does it work? Could it be used to re-order the comments by date/time regardless of whether they were posted as a general reply to the article or a specific reply to another person’s comment?
And I second the request for an EDIT option. Would it be easier for you if it was done with an email link?
My interest is relatively narrow: Personal strategy for dealing with the situations you describe, but what you describe is deep, not readily available elsewhere and quite valuable for me as I tweak my strategy.
So, to pervert Marshall McLuhan: The message is independent of the medium – I will visit your website each day and don’t need email prods.
Re your mention of an ad with the emails: I don’t pay any attention to ads – they are just an annoyance so I use an ad blocker.
But I value what you present and am willing to donate something for it – same as I do for Wikipedia and a few other sites. A good many of the participants here have acknowledged your value.
How many will donate?
“But I value what you present and am willing to donate something for it.” ===> WOW!!!! Awesome!!!
For anyone interested in donating to WS: go to the “How to Donate?” tab in the navigation bar.
Or you can just go there directly:
http://wolfstreet.com/how-to-donate-to-wolf-street/
I vote for once a day, with a list of topics. The blog whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com has a subscription option, that sends out a weekly list, for those who don’t wish a daily update.
Like how it works now. Thank you for this kind of information.
I really enjoy your daily postings and perfectly happy the way it currently is set up. If there were a version that generates any income for the great work you do I would prefer such a modus operandi…
pf, Basle, Switzerland
I prefer one day at a time. Too much clutter in my in-box already. I enjoy your postings quite a bit. Jack
perfect as is
Keep it going, it’s great!!
Beer!
As soon as you post
Thanks for the considerate foresight. I would personally prefer option #2. Keep up the good work Mr Richter!
Hi Wolf,
I would love daily updates from Wolf Street, so I will sign up.
HERE’S THE GLITCH : I signed up with a great alternative site a coupla years ago. It started off slow, but soon I was getting 5 and 6 and occasionally more updates in a day.
EMAILS ARE IMPORTANT TO ME but rarely time-sensitive. So I don’t check my email each day. So imagine my “delight” when I would check email inbox by the end of the week, and find 15 or 20 or even more updates FROM JUST ONE OF THE SITES I SUBSCRIBE TO.
It was way too much — again, keeping in mind — that Wolf Street would not be the only site from which I receive updates. Imagine then — if I have ten favorite sites giving me FIVE DAILY UPDATES each — what an impenetrable mess my inbox would become.
Oh yeah, and foldering the emails upon receiving them just ensures this outcome : “Outta sight, outta mind” .
Just my two cents : One email daily is sufficient.
SnowieGeorgie
Hi Wolf
My post was there — I made it around 09:30 or so this morning
I did see it there and now it is gone.
Have I run afoul of some policy that I do not know about ?
It’s still there. There are now so many comments that the comments page is full, and your comment got pushed to the second page. So go to the very bottom of the comments section and click on “Newer Comments.” That’ll open up the second comments page, which is where both of your comments are.
I don’t subscribe to any email updates as I hate em. I do read your stuff every day, in the morning over coffee. I use a news aggregater (igHome) and have an RSS feed for your site.
So put me in the “yuck” column for email updates.
Grumpy
Agree with those suggesting you do what’s best for you. Beer is expensive around here!
1) 5 max per day, unless option below exists
2) Would like the option to configure whether emails come as sent or are consolidated at one, user-chosen time per day.
what ever is easier for you
For me is ok to get just one update every 24 hours. And if you get some money to get a “cerveza….salud!!!
Twice a day is OK by me-or once a day if the notifications are getting slim…
Sometimes, I get so backed up with my inbox, that I don’t get to these messages for a few days. For example: I just read this post NOW for the first time. So I’m comfortable receiving a single digest-type e-mail each day with a link to all the articles from the previous 24 hours. It will reduce the quantity of e-mails in my inbox, which I don’t mind a bit. But I prefer to reach a win-win situation with you, the content provider. If the new system will allow you to earn something extra to live on, and the cost to me is the same, then I’m all for it.
a summary email with multiple articles with links and maybe a small paragraph blurb
take a look at Oil Price Daily News Update; they have a nice format
I’m very happy with your existing system, as my access to email is sporadic – sometimes I’m in my workshop or in the lands – and then get to read your latest (many thanks!) when I take a tea break.
However, if there’s an opportunity for beer money, go for it.
E-mail notifications, go with:
1) as articles are posted
2) ads in emails
I love the no bullshit reporting
THANKS everyone for the great and thoughtful comments, suggestions, and votes. This is really helpful for me in sorting through the issues concerning the setup of our future email updates.
Your simple article emailing and commenting program is working fine for me, but I’m an old “green screen” text user. The more elaborate a program becomes, the longer it takes to load, and the more bugs it will have. Also too many [off topic] ads will lead to increased use of ad blocker software.
One suggestion is to include a way to up/down rate both the article and comments. A Likert scale rather that just a simple up/down is suggested to allow better feedback. If you want to get fancy you could include this as a drop-down menu, and generate user evaluation profiles/bar charts. Depending on the number of trolls subscribed, you many need to include a way to prevent repeat evaluations being submitted from the same user/IO address.
One possible scale:
(X) I do not understand what the writer was trying to say.
(Q) Overall the writer is ambiguous — argues yes and no at the same time.
(A) Overall I totally disagree and the writer doesn’t know what they are talking about [needs cites].
(B) Overall I disagree, but the writer raises some interesting points.
(C) Overall I disagree more than I agree with the writer, but it was close.
(D) Overall I agree and disagree in about equal parts about the points raised.
(E) Overall I agree slightly more than I disagree, but it was close.
(F) Overall I agree, but the writer raises some points/statements I question.
(G) Overall I totally agree and the writer make a cogent argument on all points.
Here is a snippet – feel free to use . Open attached HTML file in your browser for demo. I tested using Firefox, Google, and Edge.
FWIW: returns alpha values rather than numeric values because this is preference or ranking data and this eliminates the tendency to calculate an “average” value which only applies to continuous or interval data. Results should be presented as count or percentage of preference possibly by bar chart.
{your server wont allow me to post snippet, so removed}
Thanks. You can email me the snippet. For email address, go to “Contact us” tab.
I prefer one email a day and you getting a little beer $
OK with one per day.