Today’s brunch is scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage patties, fluffy buttermilk biscuits and fresh orange juice, provided by the lovely staff at the Mosaic Lofts building in downtown Dallas. Oh, and they’re throwing in free chair massages, so get there fast!
Well, Zoners, we’ve survived another break from the show. I get the feeling, however, that there wasn’t much break to this break for Team Colbert, considering they’re going to … somewhere … in the next couple of … somethings. Has anyone else had any more luck with the puzzles since our hints from Peter Gwinn? I’m not having any luck at all. Grr … I want to solve the puzzle just to see what the writers and Stephen have to say to us, but I’m a pop culture and comedy aficionado, not a cryptographer, and this puzzle is really friggin’ hard.
I’ve been in a WordPress state of mind this week. I’ve been asked to speak at WordCamp Dallas in June. I’m not sure what my topic will be, although I think it’s either going to be community building or how to run a successful fan site. The final plans for the conference should be cemented soon, and if you’re in the DFW area, I’d love to see you there!
I’ve also been working on some minor changes to the No Fact Zone site template, although I will definitely be making some more (like bringing back the guest list for the show). I want to make sure that the site stays easy to navigate, but presents a clear picture of what we do and what we have to offer to new people coming to the site. I’d also like to clear some real estate to highlight the hot stories of the week/month, like the Sarah Palin story right now and the Persian Gulf trip, so that people looking for Stephen Colbert news can easily find the latest and greatest stories that we’re reporting here at NFZ.
I’ve switched the way I do ads on the site a bit, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be switching them again. We’ve never run sponsor ads, with the exception of our DrakNet ad. Jen has been so supportive of the site – she recently switched us to this amazing new server with tons of room, blazing fast speed and serious backup support. Considering how I’ve blown the site up once or twice, that’s a very comforting new feature. Something we activated this week is our new No Fact Zone for Kindle offering. If there are any of you who are Kindle addicts, this is a really great way to support the site and have No Fact Zone with you wherever you are! And if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still support the site, by going over to Amazon and saying some nice words in the reviews section. I’m working on cleaning up our Amazon Store, and I’ll make sure to put a pretty ad in our sidebar once that’s done. We are still a not-for-profit site, and I use the money raised from our Amazon affiliate links to do things like contests and for getting a few perks for our Completists who work on this site on a totally volunteer basis.
One other thing that has been requested numerous times is No Fact Zone “Zoner” t-shirts. Does that sound like something some of you might want? If so, I’ve been doing some research into Zazzle, which looks to be a very nifty company that can help us with the creation and distribution of shirts. They seem to have lots of styles and sizes.
So enough business talk, here’s my question for discussion for this week:
Pretend that you are a new Colbert fan and this is your first visit to No Fact Zone. What leaps to your mind as to improvements to be made? What questions are left unanswered when you visit the site?
This is a variation on a question we propose to the regular readers every few months. I got this idea from Darren Rouse and his “31 Days to a Better Blog” series. We have been very visible this week, with two news stories being featured on ColbertNation.com, and we tend to get Social Networking waves (Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc) quite often as well. I’d like to see if we can convert some of these new visitors to regular readers. The more robust our community becomes, the better experience that all readers have when visiting our site.
And remember, you can discuss anything you want in this thread, it’s Open Topic. So if there’s something you’ve been wanting to share with the Zoners, or wanted to ask everyone, feel free to do so. This is a place where the Zoners can get to know each other just a little bit better and build those community bonds.
I’d first like to say that I LOVE the idea of a “Zoner” t-shirt. I would definitely buy one of those.
As for improvements, I really can’t see where anything needs to be changed or added. You guys have a lot of great features here and all the links on the side leave no questions unanswered. I love that you also provide links to affiliate sites and friends of Stephen, rather than only Stephen-related stuff. I think you’ve got a great system going here!
Also, you mentioned being mentioned on social networking sites. I always link to you guys on my LiveJournal if there’s a really important Colbert story featured here. So, I hope that gives you guys more visitors that can be turned into regular readers!
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Well, we will take all the link love we can get. :) Thanks!
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No problem! :D
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I think it’s perfect! :)))
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Sarah Palin recently said that she’s going to Iraq to tape a segment for the colbert report. I guess she ruined it for the rest of us
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Yep, we blogged about it a couple of days ago – http://www.nofactzone.net/?p=13974. Welcome to the site!
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This is my favorite site on the so called series of tubes. I love how easy it is to navigate, and how frequent updates are made. Would absolutely buy a shirt.
As for community bonding, my name is Meredith and I’m pretty new here. Hi. :)
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Welcome, meridith. It’s great that you enjoy the site as we do. Hope to see you around!
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Welcome!! I love to see new Zoners!
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Welcome Meredith! You’ll find this to be one of the friendliest communities you can find online!
I don’t know the story behind your screenname, but it’s funny:)
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Welcome, Meredith! Please make your self comfortable and stay awhile. : )
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Welcome to the site, hope you’ll come back for more! :)
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I don’t know if I’m creative enough to come up with anything to improve the site. It has definitely improved very steadily ever since I first started reading here. Everything is much easier to find and understand and I think the friendly environment really shows through. Can’t complain about anything, really. It’s fabulous.
I would absolutely buy a “Zoner” shirt and wear it proudly.
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T-shirts would be cool! It would be easier to see other zoners too:)
I have been working on the puzzle some more, and wondered if the numbers may have anything to do with an episode number. Also, I wondered in the letters in the sudoku puzzle that Stephen clued us top in his twitter post:
http://www.comedycentral.com/images/shows/colbert_report/extras/sodoku.pdf
had to be unscrambled. THis puzzle is frustrating me. Does anyone have any fresh ideas. I am usually good at this type of thing, but I desperatly need help.
Stephen has me stumped!
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Oh yay! Looks like Stephen will be featured in the L.A. Times soon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKOHi9As0M
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Thanks for that link! Exciting! I hope they have it up online.
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he looks so nice on the cover! that arch-ed eyebrow. thanks for the link.
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Yeah, I was told about that article a few days back – there’s supposed to be a feature about the Colbert Nation. Thanks for the vid, I never would have found that!
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this site has changed so much over the years…i like that it has stayed simple and easy to navigate. i was wondering about the white “backdrop” (this shows my level of website design expertise.) i noticed the kanye website DB highlighted as a nice fansite had like an ivory tone to it. it was kind of easy on the eyes and modern. really, i love NFZ to death, and i wouldn’t change anything about it, but that’s all i can think of if i never visited here before. i always issue the disclaimer that i think about the stupidest, most unimportant details sometimes too.
i think the t-shirts would be fun. it would be great to wear it to a taping.
additionally, i would like to say that i really love commenting and participating with you all of you. unfortunately, there are no faces to attach with the user names, but the people here are intelligent, polite, and enjoyable to chat with.
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I love you and your big generous heart for putting up the brilliant “full access videos” and if the “TCR Episodes Guide”in the Nav`bar linked directly to them,i would love you even more:D
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They will very soon – I’m still working on some site cleanup. :)
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You are soooooooooo fabulous.Just hope you know how much they are appreciated from an Englisher
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one idea I have is to make the FAQ page a little more friendly, at least at the beginning. I always look to an explanatory page when I start with a new blog. I have become a regular reader of two (non-fandom) blogs in the past few weeks, so this experience is fresh in my mind.
right now the FAQ kind of assumes that I (new visitor) am here with an agenda. I am sure there are many of that type who stop by, which is why those questions are still important, but perhaps starting out that page with a greeting and short explanation of what NFZ is would make it seem more welcoming. good things to include might be that there are episode threads each night the show is on, that there is all the latest Colbert news, and what other kind of special posts we have (apopcalypses, fangirl suit reports, etc.) that way someone who wanders in and is deciding whether they want to come again will have a quick idea of what they could expect. that is the information I would want from an FAQ, whether or not questions prompting that information are actually frequently asked.
the FAQ as it stands would make me think this was a blog with lots of problem readers whom I’d have to deal with. I know that isn’t the case. (they might be out there, but I do not have to deal with them!)
all above criticisms only made out of earnest interest in improving the site! really really don’t want to sound cranky. :)
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I think those are great ideas for the FAQ, to make it a bit more of an introductory “who we are” kind of thing. I could imagine someone following a link from TCR/CC, clicking on the FAQ, and saying “Ooh, neat, they have weekly posts about wardrobe, or pop culture, or news, that sounds fun.” And then they come back again to see what’s new.
In a similar vein, I think the About – Meet the Completists could use some updating. Partly because it doesn’t really match up with the current regular contributors, but also because I think the entries are too time-bound. For instance, bios saying where you work, or your specific age, or that you’ve been watching the show for about 6 months.
Those are out of date fast (and the 6 months thing in particular sort of implies inexperience where you would rather project authoritativeness).
I think it might be an improvement to have shorter, more concise bios for regular contributors, which can also highlight the variety and scope of regular posts on the site.
Also, the Episode Guides tab just peters out with the old style guides. You should have them link to the new Guides as well, because right now it looks as if they’ve just stopped, which gives the appearance that the site advertises features that aren’t kept up.
Nitpicky points, maybe. But I have to say, when I go to a new site, I look at that stuff, and if it comes across as dusty or out of date, I notice.
Content wise, I think it’s all so fabulous. It’s just brushing up around the edges and making things shiny :) Oh, and I think the new Top Stories & Colbert Shoppe look great!
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Both of these projects (cleanup of FAQ, cleanup of Completists page) are both on my agenda, as well as adding the Guides to the Episode Guide page, and linking as much of the Full guides as possible to the existing guides.
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what about the magazine layout:
http://themeplayground.com/2007/observations/the-best-wordpress-magazine-themes-available/
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I love the idea of a Zoner shirt. I’d also love a map to track the Zoners both in and out of the US. Just to see how many of us are out there. :)
I do think that the white background can be too stark (or maybe that’s just me) that sometimes some of the links in a blog post aren’t very visible.
But let me say that this is one of the friendliest fansites I’ve ever visited, and I’d like to thank DB and co. for this wonderful site and for being very welcoming to the new readers. :) More power!
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I think I heard of the map idea once before. This would be fabulous!
I also would buy a Zoner t-shirt! I like the idea of wearing the shirt to a taping as suggested by wildlymissingthemark.
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I think that was also me, hahaha. On the post about the non-US members of the Colbert Nation not being able to view online episodes.
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Ah, ok! I knew someone had mentioned it before, but I was too lazy to figure out who:)
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Ooo I love the changes already. The Colbert Shoppe section is way cool, with all the rotation goin on. I love the top stories list and the simple sbscription area at the top. Very nice changes, DB!
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Not much to add cause the site already rocks. Merchandising is a great idea, mugs, tees, etc. I love the new “top stories” feature but miss the funny revolving opener quotes from TCR. Updating current links to the episode guides would be helpful in writing the CU quiz. Youtube has an “insight” feature that provides info on view count by country, demographic and discovery linkage. Something similar might be fun for NFZ.
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I discovered, about 1 o’clock this morning, that the quotes widget is incompatible with WordPress 2.7. In other words, I can add what’s there, but I can’t add any more quotes. I can see if I can find a new quotes widget, but then I’ll have to enter 500+ quotes, which could take a while. Ugh.
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Rats – I always got a laugh out of the opener quotes. Well, if you can’t get it to work, & want to enter them manually, just divvy up the task – 50-100 quotes per person would go a lot faster. I’d be happy to help out.
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As would I.
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I’m definitley up for some NFZ merch (a coffee mug too maybe?)! As wildlymissingthemark mentioned, I think it’d be great to wear in line while waiting for a TCR taping, that way Zoners can find each other in line and geek out while we wait to be let in. LOL!
And I like wrens suggestions about the Episode Guide, etc. updates. Other than that, I love it!
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Congratulations on addressing WordCamp, DB! I think both of those possible topics (community building or how to run a fansite) are subjects you are mighty well qualified and expert in. Other fansites have a lot to learn from this one. You have built such a wonderful site and community here, and you never seem to stop thinking about improving it even though it is already so stellar. Brava!
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