Should we further divide our categories?

[Rolow]

Confession: I was not aware of the Latest Songs site.  That is a much better solution to what I imagined to be an issue.
It also shows that what i saw as an increase in postings was an illusion, I must be checking in at busy times.

Till now, the Latest Songs player has included songs posted in the past 3 days. It's hard to determine the ideal number of days to include since activity on the site varies quite a bit over time. At the moment, activity's a bit low so there are currently only 5 songs in the Latest Songs player. If I increase the number of days, it will be better for now, but what about when the site's really busy? I'm afraid some people might feel overwhelmed if they see 60 or more songs in the player, so they might not listen at all. But if they see only 5 songs, they might think they've got enough time to listen to them and comment.

I'll change it to 7 days for now and we'll see how it goes. If, after a few months, people still think it should be longer, I'll try changing it to 10. On the other hand, if people find 7 days too long, I'll try dropping it back to 5.


Update: I've made the change to 7 days, so there are now 19 songs showing instead of 5. We'll have to wait and see what it will be like when the site is busier.

As usual, our friend 64 is on top of the situation.  Many thanks to him and all the other administrators as well.

[64Guitars]

Confession: I was not aware of the Latest Songs site.  That is a much better solution to what I imagined to be an issue.

I'd encourage everyone to check out the buttons in the top two rows of every page. They can be really helpful in discovering things to listen to and comment on.



First Row:

• Latest Songs - All the songs posted in the past 7 days, ordered by post time. Note: When I say 7 days, I don't mean calendar days. It's actually based on the number of seconds in 7 * 24 hours (7 * 24 * 60 * 60 = 604,800 seconds). So the list changes throughout the day. A song that was posted in the morning 7 days ago won't be there in the afternoon because more than 604,800 seconds have passed since the song was posted.
• On This Day - Songs that were posted on today's date but exactly 1 year ago, 2 years ago, 3 years ago, etc. It's a great way to check out songs you might have missed when they were first posted by listening to them on the anniversary of the day they were posted.
• Member Jukeboxes - By default, this jukebox shows a Random Dozen songs out of all of the songs that have been posted. At the right of the jukebox is a list of member names. Clicking a member name will load the jukebox with all of that member's songs. At the top of the member list is "Random". Clicking on that wil load the jukebox with another dozen randomly-selected songs.
• Overlooked Gems - Songs which have had few, if any, comments (less than 3 replies). Sometimes, some great songs get overlooked. This can happen, for example, when the site's busy and songs get pushed way down the page by all the new posts. So please give the Overlooked Gems jukebox a listen now and then and comment on the songs you like. Once they get 3 or more replies, they'll automatically come off the Overlooked Gems jukebox. There are currently 401 songs in the Overlooked Gems jukebox. It would be nice if we could give those songs some attention and reduce the size of the list to under 200 songs. I don't know if that will ever happen but if we all do our part, it just might. I think it's especially important to listen to the songs at the top of the list because they are the most recently-posted. If they stay in the list too long, the song posters might think people don't like their songs and get discouraged. That would be a shame.
• Covers fest - A quick link to the jukebox for the current covers fest.
• Originals fest - A quick link to the jukebox for the current originals fest.

Second row:

• Suffering Machines - A great concept album that was created by some of our members in 2010/2011. If you're not familiar with it, do yourself a favour and have a listen. And don't forget to comment on the songs you like.
• Songcrafters on the Radio - Occasionally, one of our members gets one of their songs played on a local radio station. When that happens, we try to capture the radio broadcast and include it in this jukebox. Check it out.
• Samplers - Every year, each member has a chance to select one song that they posted in the previous year which they're most proud of and we include it in the Sampler jukebox for that year. A great way to find some of the best that Songcrafters has to offer.
• The last three METs - Normally, our members collaborate over the internet and don't actually meet in person. But when a few members do get together in person, we call this a "MET" (because members who had never met before have now met). When this happens and 6 or more songs are recorded and posted from the get-together, we create a jukebox for the MET. Have a listen and comment on what you like.

[TPB]

Liked the breakdown on all the buttons Thanks Much appreciated
Tim