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Eric -> Updated content channel integration (9/9/2010 4:17:09 PM)
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Updated Content Channel Integration
When I recently launched four new content channels, I was rather struck by the differences with which some channels were turned on by users while others were not noticed as readily. In particular, The Rhone Report received a LOT of signups (way to go Jeb!) relative to the other channels, in part due to the fact that all users see the reviews on each page with an optional link to turn on a free trial. It got me thinking...
CellarTracker/GrapeStories now has 17 channels integrated, and based upon the needs of the publisher the channels act in a variety of ways. Some channels are exclusively reserved for people who are paying subscribers to the corresponding partners. Other channels restrict review text for their own subscribers but allow me to show scores to paying CellarTracker members. Several of the paying channels offer one-time, free trials on CellarTracker. A few channels are free but require as signup, and finally there are several channels that are free and displayed to all. It is a somewhat complicated matrix for me to handle internally, and that requires me to do more coding work than I should really need to when I add new channels.
All of this led me to take a step back and look to simplify my internal implementation while at the same time raising the visibility of all the channels. With that in mind, effective immediately there are some key changes.
- When any user (logged in or otherwise) is on a wine detail page, now ALL reviews are shown. However, critically, if a user is not entitled to see scores and/or review text then that information is blanked out. And this is done in a way that is much easier for me to manage and extend without having to touch the website code. More importantly, there is now MUCH more discoverability on the free trials (the signup links are presented with each review if a user is eligible).
- In the past only the free channels were suppressible. I have now extended that ability to all channels. For paying members who found some of the scores distracting (from channels they did not signup for but which are part of the premium CellarTracker benefits, now they can easily suppress these scores. And obviously if the blanked out reviews on the wine detail pages are annoying then a user can suppress that channel and make those disappear.
- I have folded most of these changes to the GrapeStories interface except for the ability to manage all of the show/hide state on the channels. This can easily be done in the CellarTracker channel management UI for the moment. One bonus in GS is that the tabs on the non-classic wine detail page now show the count of pro reviews (as requested by several users) just as they show for end-user tasting notes. (This fell very nicely out of the new implementation.)
Anyway, enjoy those channels, and I hope to continue to expand the roster. Amazingly there are more than 235,000 professional reviews integrated now in addition to the 1.5 million community tasting notes.
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