Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2011. Its references to Hotmail and Live accounts, email feed subscriptions, and the Facebook Comments plugin with AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail login all reflect that time.
A few points about some changes we’ve made to our blog and the reasons behind them, plus answers to some questions that have reached my inbox.
For email subscribers
Dozens of email subscribers have now told me that they try to open the links in the email we send our articles in, and that they have trouble viewing the videos we send.
Videos: the videos or documentaries we publish in our articles can’t be viewed in the email; in fact, they don’t even reach your inbox. So when we include a video, you need to visit the page to watch it.
Links: I don’t know why clicking one of the links we send by email doesn’t take you straight to the article, although the explanation is probably the security settings of the email service you use. I know there’s no problem with Gmail, and most of you who have had problems have your email on Hotmail and Live.
Solution
Since the links often complement the content, remember that you can go straight to the article or page through our website’s address. You can copy that address into your browser to go directly to the site, see the full content, use the complementary links and leave your comments on the various commenting platforms we have.
Goodbye to the anonymous user
We’ve had to do away with anonymous comments, much to my regret, but because of a few people we’ve received some complaints that, in the long run, could be very harmful to the site. It’s easy to post a derogatory comment as an anonymous user against companies, businesses and people. A week ago I received a notice from a company kindly asking me to delete a comment about it, since it apparently came from someone in a lawsuit with them and was therefore deliberately defamatory.
Under the new internet laws, I am directly responsible for the comments I allow on the blog, and since I don’t like censoring people’s opinions, whatever they are, this way we avoid problems in the future.
Changes to the feed
Subscribers will probably notice that for a while you’ll receive the article title with a paragraph or two of content by email, and you’ll need to visit the website to read the full article. This is a temporary measure for various reasons, and I hope it won’t cause you much trouble.
Facebook Comments installed
We’ve installed the Facebook comments platform to make it easier for people to comment without having to sign up, and to make contacts and interact with others. With this platform you can comment with your Facebook, AOL, Yahoo or Hotmail account without any problem.
You can post a general comment or reply to a specific user, and there’s a “subscribe” tab that lets you follow the conversation and later comments from other users on that particular article. When you’re no longer interested in following the conversation, you can “unsubscribe”.
Results of our poll
We ran a poll on which topics you’d like us to cover more often. The result was what I expected: a tie between articles for entrepreneurs and articles on investing and following the stock market. So on that front, nothing changes.
Slow replies to messages
I’m truly grateful to the people who follow us and take an interest in our website, and that interest shows in the number of messages and comments we have to answer, to the point that sometimes it’s impossible for me to reply to everyone, although I always try to answer (even if late). I’m not exaggerating when I say that some mornings I open my email and find up to 35 messages, other days 20, 18 and so on, and one day I had as many as 57. As you’ll understand, however hard I try, I can’t keep up, though again, I’m truly grateful.
Last and least, I’ve received some proposals about the future of our website, one of which included changing the blog’s template and format to make it look more professional. While I admit our format is simple, at least it’s easy to navigate, so we’re leaving it as it is; some of the topics we cover are complicated enough already.
Thank you again for your interest, your comments, your messages and your visits to our website. We’ll try to keep going the same way, always open to your suggestions.
Warmest regards, and I hope these small changes don’t cause you any trouble but, quite the opposite, that you enjoy them.
