The rich get richer
I'm kind of ticked off about a big problem I noticed. The main page in every contest has a big panel for the most viewed instructables posted in the contest. The problem with this is that because a lot of people only click on the instructables they see right in front of them. So all the other instructables no matter how good they are , if they don't have many views , get buried under the most viewed ibles and don't get any views. So the people who don't even need any more views get them piled on and the people with hardly any stay that way. Somebody please do something about this!
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I'd like to see a 'cant see rating until you've rated it' setup for contest entries, as well as a randomized listing as the default view.
try submitting them to digg / reddit / make etc. to get them more exposure. If it's good, this will massively help your page views and push you to the front page.
You're probably right. Maybe the first view should be randomised?
- I would like randomizing if it were a sort option.
- Do away with the 5 newly posted row.
- Do not show ANY thumbnails.
- Instead have buttons: (Newest) (Oldest) (Page Views) (Rating) (Votes) (Random) (K'Nex) (Altoids) (Fire) (Catapults) (Duct Tape) (Grenades) (Mentos) (TicTacs)
That would be great! If only I worked for instructables...
Hey, at least you are on the right continent, and a more employable age.
Jul 7, 2009. 5:27 PMMatt21497
says:
What they should do is this. They have a day that all the instructables must be posted by. Then there would be a set date for the instructables to start racking up views, and votes. Also the instructable can be viewed before the set date(s) acure but these views and faves don't count in the contest. This would work like a month to enter. And week to rack up votes and views.
I disagree. My "How To Plant A Tree" Instructable had been in the works for months, and thus I only needed to take pictures. It was the 8th Instructable submitted. It barely has a thousand views :(.
Jul 3, 2009. 10:15 AMBartboy
says:
That isn't an issue. They were ready first, they deserve an advantage.
Jul 3, 2009. 12:37 PMBartboy
says:
Then it's unfair. If you enter your instructable earlier, you had less time to work on it. You did it faster, so you deserve an advantage. Anyway, you can't change that.....
Jul 4, 2009. 5:04 AMmman1506
says:
the instuctables that ccome first can suck vbut just because they did\ it faster suldn't make a advantage over a very good one that came late
Jul 4, 2009. 5:10 PMmman1506
says:
untrue it only has to be slightly better than the suckier one's
I still don't think that faster entries deserve an advantage. I don't think there's anything inherently special about being first that merits reward.
Someone may spend a lot of time working on and documenting a project may not get it done until closer to the deadline, and won't get as many views (even if it is featured, popular and in the newsletter) as one that was released early and not even featured. I think for contest voting, the main page should be randomized or perhaps ranked by rating.
It is kind of a problem - I noticed that during the epilog contest that the most-viewed group that was shown on the main page didn't change an awful lot after the first week, and once the contest had closed and the voting was open, the final 5 entrants got featured on the contest page as the most recent entries too. It does seem to be of benefit to get your Ible in very early (to get most views overall) or very very late (so you are potentially in the last 5).
Featuring the final 5 (most recent) so prominently during the crucial voting round does seem particularly arbitrary. I mean, I know they aren't literally featured, but they are permanently fixed as the first 5 to be shown on the contest page.
Saying that though, it isn't all about the votes - I was lucky enough to be amongst the winners in the Epilog contest, and more than one person has commented that they hadn't even noticed my Instructable during voting. I was ranked like, 60th or something by votes, but was picked by a judge to go through to the last round, so can confirm that it isn't all about having an eye catching first icon and getting the popular vote.
However: For tactical publishers, I'd say the best time to submit would be when there is still one newsletter to go, then hope you stand out enough to get featured during the voting phase. I say this because I was fortunate enough to get featured in the newsletter the week before voting was open, and I reckon I collected 10,000 page views just from that alone. If voting had been open during that time, each one of those people who clicked through, would only have to click once more to vote, and then, once they looked at the list of the other 550, might have been disheartened and headed off elsewhere.
I think the Instructables team have a really tough job trying to balance the wishes of the casual readers (page views = traffic = money) who want to see only the cool flashy things first and might get bored after viewing two or three (never mind 576), and the publishers who have something to gain and want to be exposed fairly and democratically.
Featuring the final 5 (most recent) so prominently during the crucial voting round does seem particularly arbitrary. I mean, I know they aren't literally featured, but they are permanently fixed as the first 5 to be shown on the contest page.
Saying that though, it isn't all about the votes - I was lucky enough to be amongst the winners in the Epilog contest, and more than one person has commented that they hadn't even noticed my Instructable during voting. I was ranked like, 60th or something by votes, but was picked by a judge to go through to the last round, so can confirm that it isn't all about having an eye catching first icon and getting the popular vote.
However: For tactical publishers, I'd say the best time to submit would be when there is still one newsletter to go, then hope you stand out enough to get featured during the voting phase. I say this because I was fortunate enough to get featured in the newsletter the week before voting was open, and I reckon I collected 10,000 page views just from that alone. If voting had been open during that time, each one of those people who clicked through, would only have to click once more to vote, and then, once they looked at the list of the other 550, might have been disheartened and headed off elsewhere.
I think the Instructables team have a really tough job trying to balance the wishes of the casual readers (page views = traffic = money) who want to see only the cool flashy things first and might get bored after viewing two or three (never mind 576), and the publishers who have something to gain and want to be exposed fairly and democratically.
I just realized, your I'ble probably got caught in the filters 'crossbow' most likely the keyword. That often means that by the time they get through, they are missed by most the regulars.
Actually I've noticed that unless there's a huge number of 'ibles waiting in the filters it won't knock you down the list much because it goes from the filters to the top of the recent list...
Though a random view would be more interesting it just seems like a bit of self pity to me... Take the music contest I posted playing the spoon questionably, something I found hilarious and fun, however it probably won't get a vote, sometimes doing stuff for the sake of it is good enough. Besides that little crossbow looks like fun, we've been weird weaponry lately, but much, much bigger...
yeah that kind of sucks. I could however, give you a hint on how to increase your pageviews. If you tried your best, it kind of sucks when it doesnt really get a reward.
It was worse in the April fools contest. The only way to vote for an Instructable was to find it in the contest page by going through pages of instructables ordered by views. There was no vote button actually in the Instrucable.
Well, its more a case of those who put the hardwork in, get more out. Your I'ble is very good. But there are still much more 'Epic' entries. The more someone puts into an I'ble, and the more thought out there idea, the more likely they will get views, or featured. Your on the right steps, you have some excellent pictures, but a bit more explanation, and something a bit different, can go a long way.
Jun 27, 2009. 6:36 AMdragonwarrior3000
says:
i agree with gmjhowe, hardwork should be rewarded. if you put a lot of time and effort into something, you should be rewarded. if you want your project to be viewed, make something that people want to look at and want to try. then you'll be on the leader board.
What about people who see a contest and spend a while making an "epic" project, only to have it buried under the sea of entries from within a few hours of the contest opening so starts off on the back foot?
Quite often, the project then gets picked out by the feature team. Which is a great advantage to such a team, the varying people will all pick out different things that they like, or that relate to them.
Exactly, I agree that there should be some quality control, but everyone should at least be given the same oppurtunity for people to see there instructable and comment on it.
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