What did we learn from the Summer Survey?

The Summer Survey is now closed. After reviewing the results, here’s what we’ve learned, and what we’re going to do about it.

The Good News:

• You’re interested enough to take the survey, even when the “one time only” popup malfunctioned and wouldn’t go away. (Sorry!)
• You like the types of content we provide, and the balance of content provided.
• You like the categories we’ve set up, and find it easy to seek out stories of interest.

Things we aren’t providing that you want:

You want more interaction. A discussion forum would be nice.

• Discussion forum? OK. We’ve done that before. We took it down as it was underused. We also don’t have the time right now to maintain and promote a forum. So, here’s the deal: If you want a discussion forum, and are willing to help moderate it, send a message via the Contact Form. We need two moderators, minimum. We’ll set it up (Simple Machines Forum software, very easy to use), you’ll get to run it with occasional assistance from Mike. Who’d like to volunteer?

More polls, more questions in the stories to spur discussion.

One respondent would like to see a weekly profile of a humanist or other secular cause or individual, maybe with an opportunity to get involved.

• Sounds like a good idea! (Who would like to write that column?)

You want to be more involved:

Some of you want to write as columnists or reporters.

Some would like to have a blog of your own that’s part of this site.

Some have your own existing blog, that you’d like us to import.

• We can do all these things! We have the technology! Shoot us a note via the Contact Form and we will get you set up. If you want to write FOR the site (instead of blogging or importing a blog), be sure to read
  the Call to Authors page and related pages.

Things you don’t like:

Many find the front page too complicated, busy, or cluttered.

One respondent pointed out that there’s not much point going to the front page, because it seems to change so rarely.

We realized that these issues, and the solution for them, go hand-in-hand.

We average 5-6 original stories per day at present, and have 3 weekly columns. The articles are spread between ten display categories, of which only a couple categories are virtually guaranteed to have new stories daily. Some categories may go 2-3 days, or even longer, before a new story comes up. While there’s new content each day, it’s not always easy to find via the front page! So why go there?

Our solution, which we will be putting into action in the next few days, is to simplify what’s displayed on the front page. Here’s the plan:

• We will keep nearly all existing category groups, so you can still use the navigation tabs to zero in on a specific content area.
• We will revise how stories are displayed to group “news” within either one or two display spaces, and “secular voices/views” within one display space. “Comics” may well deserve their own space.
• More decluttering: We will eliminate the “In Brief” category. Each of those stories will retain “In Brief” in their titles, but will be included with the relevant content category instead. This will help de-clutter the front page, make it easier to find new items, and also place the “In Brief” stories alongside feature stories when you look for articles in a particular content category.
• Still more decluttering: We will eliminate “Secular Press Releases” as an independent display category. Press releases will go with news stories, and be distributed among the content categories as appropriate. You will still be able to find all Secular Press Releases using the navigation tabs.
• And even more decluttering: While half of you really value the outside news links on the front page, many don’t use them, or find them “cluttery”. We’re going to work on a middle ground, to keep them on the front page but more appropriately displayed.

Very few of you thought the site was too slow. We think it could be faster. We’ve just started using a content delivery network to speed things up a bit — newer images are served remotely, allowing them to load faster for you — and are working on additional incremental improvements.

What do you think about our plans? Are we responding to what you’ve said? Are we missing something?

Related articles:

1. Take Our Summer Survey!
2. Our Summer Survey closing Tuesday, August 3
3. Reader Survey Results!
4. Make the case for secular services to your MP this summer
5. Please take our reader survey!

Mike Daniels is co-editor of Secular News Daily.

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