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Re: A new direction for TXP Magazine?
Destry – if #4 are you thinking a quasi archive type of site – the best long form items we’ve collect over time, plus the occasional addition?
- also seems reasonable if #2 doesn’t fly.
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Re: A new direction for TXP Magazine?
maverick wrote #292974:
Destry – if #4 are you thinking a quasi archive type of site – the best long form items we’ve collect over time, plus the occasional addition?
Actually, I hadn’t thought of the curate/archive angle. That’s good.
I was just thinking, based on my experience as editor in a collaborative workflow, where I could have wrote more but it wasn’t really appropriate under the circumstances, that it might work better if the site is recast as a solo responsibility. (Not to be taken as raising my hand, exactly.)
For example, Textpattern enters an agreement with someone (a solo writer/editor) where Textpattern maintains the site code/architecture/design and the editor writes at least one in-depth piece per month (no crucifixion if they’re a little late). Some refactoring might change the mag structure from an “issues” model to a single-article flow, but otherwise a lot is the same, just one writer instead of multi-contributors. That takes a lot of coordination overhead out of it, actually, which is needed.
Articles would still be things like people spotlights, thorough descriptions of new features with demos (e.g., imagine a detailed cover of new custom fields), Txp site profiles (big ticket stuff), etc.
Again, the emphasis here is on depth and quality per article, not speed and volume in article turnaround. Pieces would typically be longer than what works for a blog post (we saw how well that went over already).
And you can see how site profiles could handle “featured sites” content, removing that in the .com site (while still being in a “family” property). That would be a boon because there’s no editor to maintain .com content, which is always outdated.
Content in textpattern.com, with the exception of the blog, would ideally be a stripped-down, focused product site for a CMS. No docs, no FAQs, no gallery, no “our community rocks” puff-uppery, etc. etc. Just a direct focus on the CMS — features and download. Boom! Other stuff from community in blog by category for intended audience interests, news and marketing stuff in the MailChimp list (or whatever tech for that is picked), and high-end pieces in the mag.
But, yeah, I like the idea you bring too, that the mag editor serves a “curator” role too, responsible for finding/fixing/adding other pieces from around the web and re-publishing them in the mag with author permission. Why not? Great idea!
As I hear myself write this out, it still sounds like something already tried and failed, or a lot of expectation on the shoulders of one person. I mean, I know I could deliver something like that, but it’s still a lot of work. The writing is one thing, but there’s the research, contacting people, interviewing, following up with devs, etc — a lot to do before the writing even begins.
Last edited by Destry (2015-07-09 16:16:35)
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