Why have the Slideshow?

[Stopshere2]

I love this site and am in here many times a day, and the Wiretap is a great service. But why is it in an annoying slideshow with a Features promo that is so rarely updated that people don't even bother to look at it? We're still getting "Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans" which is an article over 3 weeks old. The Melo story is even older! It makes having to hit pause to read the wiretap an unnecessary irritant.

Why not have just the 1 slide or links column divided into Wiretap and Features (sans pictures)? The Wiretap on the previous version of this board was just fine. Please have a look at this as I feel the current slideshow degrades an otherwise excellent board.

[DelaneyRudd]

OMG, it does say Merry Christmas Raptor fans. Now this is gonna bug me.

[casey]

Really a horrible idea for whoever came up with it. The Wiretap is one of the few good things going here, I mean when you're not posting articles about the Clippers supposedly signing God Shamgod or claiming Rashad McCants led the Timberwolves in scoring last year. I just don't understand why you make it so hard for people to actually read the wiretap. Makes no sense.

[Storm Surge]

agreed, it's stupid that it's a slideshow

[Induveca]

Yeah it needs to go, it's a horrible feature and for some odd reason irritates me horribly. Really bad user experience when my first thought is "pause that **** slideshow", and i rush with my mouse to do it before it changes to the stories.

Also I must say not only are the stories annoying, they are also not very well written which makes the slideshow even worse.

[Winterpeg]

Last night I updated the news section at the top of the forum to turn off the auto start on the slideshow. The slider will no longer automatically change panels and users will have to click the forward or back controls if they want to view the featured articles.

The update has to sync over multiple servers so if you still see the slider start automatically, refreshing your browser will usually load the updated page.

[kyphi]

thanks

[Stopshere2]

Thanks Winterpeg. I'm sure you are now the Unknown Hero to most of the users on this board

[The Explorer]

The slide show hasn't stopped for me. I refreshed it a few times and each time it automatically moves to the next slide after a few seconds.

[Buck You]

I still get the slideshow.

[Winterpeg]

I'll try refreshing the template again to make sure the updated files are live across all the servers.

[The Explorer]

thanks, but the slideshow still continues automatically.

[Buck You]

It stopped for me, thanks.

[TB#1]

dougthonus has this linked on the top of our Bulls page:

Customize RealGMs look and feel with Stylish plugin for firefox - Fixes all the stuff you hate about the new header

[hermes]

still starts automatically for me too(even after the refreshes), but it doesn't really bug me, so i guess i won't worry about it

[Singh is King]

still starts automatically for me too(even after the refreshes), but it doesn't really bug me, so i guess i won't worry about it

+1

[Rooster]

I find it annoying too, especially because I never have time to read the Wiretap headlines before it changes. That said, it's often my articles that are up there, so I can't really complain.

casey and Induveca, care to elaborate on the deficiencies of said articles? (Well, the ones I wrote. I'm not speaking for anyone else.)

[casey]

I was making a criticism of some poor Wiretap headlines, just phrased it wrong. I rarely ever read the articles to be honest.

[casey]

dblpst

[Induveca]

I find it annoying too, especially because I never have time to read the Wiretap headlines before it changes. That said, it's often my articles that are up there, so I can't really complain.

casey and Induveca, care to elaborate on the deficiencies of said articles? (Well, the ones I wrote. I'm not speaking for anyone else.)

Coming from a former Washington Post employee, and as a sports columnist in my youth (ahh to be 20 again, 13 years ago....), it's obvious these articles go through a very rushed, or no editorial process whatsoever.

All of the articles just feel like glorified fans writing them, so they are what they are, nothing more than a very well thought out forum post. That's fine to a point, it's just this board has become so important for a number of NBA fans......the articles simply don't match with the expectations. They are obviously written by volunteers, and it shows. Also whoever was choosing the wiretap stuff in january needs to be axed or relegated to forum mod status. The combo of the poorly written/edited articles with useless wiretap articles "someone doesn't like the summer" literally made me avoid the site for a while subconsciously.

Instead of writing your own articles, I'd suggest syndicating a feed instead if you feel you really must have articles on the site. Branching out into proprietary content needs a 100% backing from the site's owners, including real pay and an editorial process. Do anything half-assed, you get half-assed results. And that isn't an indictment on the skills or knowledge of those writing the articles, it's an indictment on the powers that be at RealGM who are too cheap to hire a real staff. If you can't afford to do something right, don't do it at all.........the lack of quality comes across and eats away at user loyalty.