h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I hope it's not too late to ask, but could you make 'The Post' a regular guide page please, and *not* the user page for a researcher. I ask, because it takes vastly more server resources and time to deliver a user page than it does a guide entry. It also means you don't get all the forums etc. on the bottom, which don't really fit with the post. It'll also make it appear much faster to your readers, which I'm sure you want.

If you're happy to make this change, reply to this thread - I will switch the existing page to no longer be a user page and you won't lose any of the forum entries. You can leave a link to the new location on the new user page.

Let me know if this is OK - it won't affect anything to do with the way you edit the page, and the A number of the page will remain the same.

If this is what you want - I will put it to the others - I am sure there will be no problem with it - but having it on a User page does have its advantages - BTW did you visit your page on the POST

I will get back to you on this - and most likely leave it the way it is for this week and arrange a move for next week.
Thanks for popping in
vegimanPR

Out of interest, what advantages do you get from having it on a user page?

And yes, I did see the story about me.

Sorry for taking so long to answer - Fruit & Veg and Xmas - Why do I do it.

The reasons I set up the POST on a User Page:

1) I did not want the POST to move to far away from the h2g2 format - I felt the familiar site of a home page would encourage response and keep it all in one place - Guide Pages could then be used as added entries that Readers could goto if they wish to explore them at a later date as they will not all have links on the POST front page.

2) The Journal entries could be used intially to encourage response and later be used for news flashes.

3) It is quicker for POSTresearchers to update the Front Page than have to go through several links to get to it, although I must admit we could hold the URL on file and go to it that way.

4) The links on the right side of the page that show postings made by POSTresearchers are a bit hotch Potch at the moment but I was to ask our team to only intercourse with forums that would be interesting for readers to follow, otherwise Post forums from their own home pages. Plus a number of the articles are off site and do not have the ability to make postings from there. with a Guide entry only 5 postings show at anyone time - with the User Page, once answered it shows more. (Did that make sense - I think so)

5) Ermm, I like it there, although you are not the only one to bring up this point.

Extracts from other forums:

Posted 1 hour ago by Smiley Ben
Subject: Guide Entry not User Page
This is fantastic - well done!

But could you please make this a guide entry, rather than putting it on your user page - that way we won't have info about the guide entries you've written, or journal space etc.

That is, unless you want those things, and that's deliberate?

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Posted 55 minutes ago by Hypoman
Subject: Guide Entry not User Page
Hey Smiley (I used to have THAT nickname, too, if you can believe it!)!

It is deliberate, and although I didn't make the decision I can see a couple of reasons.

One, itr's easier to see what people have contributed this way, and there's also more spaces for them to do it in. Two, it's MUCH easier to update! The other thing is that keeping the fora operating around an ever-changing article helps to keep them alive. It also means that we don't create a whole lot of 'Guide entries that need to be updated every week, with attendant angst and dependence on the services of people like Mark and Anna. The diary we can just use to talk to each other - sort of like the editorial bulletin board, if you like.

Any of that make sense?

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Posted Just now by vegiman
Subject: Guide Entry not User Page
Hi Smiley Ben - Good of you to drop in.

Your suggestion is noted and Jim Lynn agrees with you - His reasoning is that a User Page takes up more server time and is slower to update.

Hypoman:
I could not have put it better myself.

I Posted the last 5 journal entries at the last minute and was planning to change them every week to become part of the POST where readers could join in.

I will be conveying Jim Lynns message to other POSTresearchers soon.
Thanks for your views
vegimanPR

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Back to you Jim:
If you are still of the opinion that it should be moved then we will do it on our next issue - this way we retain U54963, and advertising on other Researchers pages will not have to be changed.

I hate it on the net, when you click on something, expecting something only to find you have another two or three pages to click on before you find what you want. I did not want this to happen to the POST. As you know I am always tryng to find ways to speed things up.

Once again Thanks
vegiman