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Wishes for a RantRave spring – Will there be changes?

Posted 16 months ago|34 comments|505 views
Writing for the people
Written by
RantRave is a wonderful platform for debating and publishing articles on a wide range of topics. Although it is no longer a provider for Google News and Ad Sense revenue share is now only 50%, RantRave remains the only revenue sharing, article publishing site that allows op-ed type of articles.

I hope that the freedom of expression will remain one of the guiding lights for this site. However, some changes would really help the site rankings in search engines and help authors with promotion of their work here.

So… Here is my wish list of changes I would like to see implemented on RantRave:

1. RSS Feed and RSS feed subscription
RSS feed is de-facto standard for all sites similar to RantRave. RSS readers are everywhere and there are hundreds of feed directories that can bring both back-links and traffic.
FeedBurner offers really easy form that can be integrated on site so people can subscribe to updates. People might actually be interested to read further writings on this site but if they see no easy way to subscribe, we lose them.

2. RSS Feeds for individual authors
Same reasons as above, only it would be great to offer people option to follow a single author. Of course, it would make it easier for individual authors to promote their own feeds in their blogs or feed directories. If sites like Wizzley can offer individual feeds I don't see why RantRave couldn't do the same.

3. Allowing anonymous comments with moderation
A lot of people might want to comment on our articles but do not want to go through the hassle of registering on RR to be able to post comments. Allowing anonymous comments would be great. The only difference should be that registered author's comments are immediately visible on site, while anonymous comments should wait for author's approval. This would effectively stop spam and it would help with the discussions and popularity.

4. Adding comment form to "flag this post"
Just flagging the article without being able to explain the reason for flagging does not help. Many posts infringe on copyright or are just a straight copy/paste from other sites. This lowers the ranking of entire site and Ad Sense could even suspend accounts for that. If I could say that I am flagging the post because it is copy/paste from www.similartorantrave.com then the admins will know what the exact reason for the red flag is.

5. Updating the home page links at least once a month
Most of the TOP articles and TOP authors listed on the home page are based on old statistics, and in some cases, extremely old statistics. Updating those links at least once a month based on the last 30 days of activity would help with the freshness and authority of the site. It would also be an incentive for authors to remain active and post new articles and comments all the time.

Just changing the Daily Rant and the Daily Rave from time to time simply does not cut it.


Well… That's it. Implementing these five suggestions would make me happy. What do you think?
UPDATE - 16 months ago
If possible, fixing the author's ranking would also be great.

I'm getting a little tired of looking at my Overall rank of 5,203 out of 5,008 authors
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COMMENTS
16 months ago: DRD...Check your mailbox in 15 minutes...
16 months ago: Stand by... It might take a few more minutes than 15 as the aspx code is different and I'll need to crack it and write the conversion codes. I'll let you know when your personal RSS feed is ready for pickup...

Express check out is the counter to the RIGHT....
16 months ago: Oh my... You really like playing Santa Claus.
Well... Since you are already granting wishes, I'll have to try and be a better boy this year! :-)

Thank you for all this. You are really doing more than anybody else for this site...
16 months ago: Check your mailbox...
16 months ago: Start with that...If you need the graphics, let me know. I'll have to do it later.
16 months ago: Graphics is not necessary for personal promotion. I mostly use Feeds for getting easy backlinks.
16 months ago: Don't abuse it by over use. It is edit protected and I hold the key.

Enjoy.
16 months ago: As far as I understood feed43 policy, free feeds are updated every 6 hours (and this is the polling minimum for free feeds), but there is no limit to the number of subscribers or users of that feed.

From their FAQ:
- Can I share my feeds with others?

- Of course you can. Just send them a link to your feed, or even place this link on your web site.

So... I guess that I am free to place "Follow my future posts by subscribing to my RSS feed [link]" at the end of all of my rants. Or did I miss something?
16 months ago: No you didn't miss a single work that was written to the "OWNER" of the feed by Feed43. Just to make it clear. I own the feed and grant you use that complies with Feed43 and RantRave guidelines.

I grant you use of the feed to use as long as it is not abusive to feeding servers and tagged as a spam RSS.

Fair enough.
16 months ago: More than fair. Thank you!
16 months ago: As far as the rankings... I suggested that stuff long ago... I'm not sure how the site is using its serverside protocols... But the PHP, SQL and ASPX are not all working together. It might be as simple as getting more money flowing so the extra serverside protocols can be paid for.... They are not cheap.
16 months ago: NOW, FOR MY SUGGESTION ! YES, I AM SHOUTING !

Force writers to upload a freaking picture for their articles.

I really hate those generic "Rant/Rave" pics.

If the authors really cared about their impression that would be automatic.

However, it seems we have some really lazy folks that think this site is a instant messaging arena.

HEY FOLKS. IF YOU CAN'T FIND A SIMPLE PICTURE OR DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THE FREAKING RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE AS FEATURE. YOU PROBABLY WON'T LIKE MY FUTURE COMMENTS ON YOUR ARTICLES.

There I go shouting again......
16 months ago: I agree with this shout.

On Wikimedia commons you can find a number of public domain images for almost any topic.

A simple search and "save as" can mostly be accomplished in about 2-3 minutes.
16 months ago: I'm still awaiting the RantRave folks to contact me after they take "ownership" of the Twitter Account that is linked above as FOLLOW ON TWITTER. It seems that linked page has not had a single update or post for almost a year.

RantRave... Grab your huevoes and TELL Twitter you own that account and force them to reset it so you have access.

It won't be hard to claim as it is clearly a RantRave account no matter what email address set it up.

You need someone with the huevoes to confront Twitter and make it happen?

I suggest.... DrD... and 72 hours....
16 months ago: I guess that a nice mail from admin@rantrave.com or some similar rantrave.com e-mail address would do.

Like you said, it is obvious who owns that account. The logo and a website address clearly point to RR.
16 months ago: You would think. When RantRave regains ownership of their Twitter account. I will set the feeds up to load. Once that is done I will send them the info to reset passwords so I no longer have access to Twitter/TwitterFeed/RSS. From that point on all articles will be posted to twitter every 30 minutes on a 6 hour updated RSS feed schedule.
16 months ago: Well... It looks that Twitter does not allow password reset or taking over the account unless you have access to the original e-mail address used to set up the account in the first place.
https://support.twitter.com/groups/32-so...

If some strange and now defunct e-mail was used to create the original Twitter account, the only solution is to create a new one and change the link at the home page to point to this new account.
16 months ago: So...Your saying that the hard **** Cypress Gang is the only solution?

I bet you I could get access to the account within 5 working days after RantRave gave me authority to contact Twitter with a RantRave email address.

Otherwise, RantRave needs to consider finding a good internet attorney that will file suits against Chris Durr and Twitter for defacing the site and claim lost monies for all past, present and future lost revenues by their failure to correct the issue.

Yep. I bet 72 hours....
16 months ago: What if RantRave does not have any e-mail addresses?

Still, I think that more would be accomplished if they simply changed the link on the site from http://twitter.com/realrantrave to http://twitter.com/thecypressgang

After all, you are active both here and on Twitter.
16 months ago: Dude. The site can't even update the recent posts section...You think a site programming change is really the answer? Besides. Why must RantRave take on that cost and responsibility? Twitter needs to reset the sites account so the "OWNER" of the site has access to the account....

Or, Delete it.

Something tells me that @chrisdurr does not have enough money to pay for the millions of lost dollars he has caused the site. Twitter will rely on their user clause and point to @chrisdurr as the liable party.

Either way....RantRave will regain its control of the RantRave trademarked, registered and copyrighted rights.

They can't claim if they don't complain.
16 months ago: What's definitely needed is an option to edit rants and raves after they are submitted. I hate noticing so obvious and dumb typo like the one in http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/They-may-be... and not being able to do anything about it.
16 months ago: FB is accepting the feeds again. Let's see how long it lasts. I had to jump through flaming hoops.
16 months ago: The Top Rants and Raves never seem to change and do you really want one of the first posts to be about porn or about RantRave writers that no longer post here?

Clearly they need to be changed manually as the automatic changes if any don't seem to be working.

I've been on here a year and have yet to see one dime from AdSense. I stopped checking my account after the Super Bowl hack and we lost Google News. It's been almost a year, why are we not back on Google News?
16 months ago: Cully,

The other side of that is do you want post that have generated only a couple hundred views to be the "top rants/raves" ...that doesn't inspire confidence in new writers. Those posted now, received their view counts after being dropped by Google News, and are still being hit strong... obviously they are attracting interest (if not just controversially so).

As to how much you made on AdSense, I too have not received a dime... but that is by choice, maybe you can find out if their is a glitch in the system.
16 months ago: ...a glitch?... or something (someone) redirecting the account info?
16 months ago: Does it inspire new people to write that the first thing they see is a post about writers that are no longer here? If I come back to a site and the top posts on it never changes it would give the impression that it is a dead site.

Other Forums I go to the threads go up and down the list based on activity and posts, why not sort them by the top posts sorted by subject?
16 months ago: It would appear that I don't have one anymore. I tried loging in and could not find anything. I tried to get help from Google, but no humans are at work only the FAQ page and a series of questions they ask you hoping it works.

I reset the password and nothing. I can get into Google+ and GMail but I don't seem to have an AdSense account anymore and I wish they could tell me why.
16 months ago: Been hi-jacked eh?????

Try setting up a new account and changing it on your rr stuff....

I wounder who has been getting your little dimes here and there...

You know that multiple dimes add up to dollars and multiple dollars add up to ....

Online Theft....
16 months ago: The newest post on Top Rants is 5 months old. The site needs to have some freshness and that's why I suggested that Top Rants and Raves get selected out of the last 30 days of activity. Moderators should have enough posts in 30 days to select what they think is the best.

As for the site not going back to Google News... I think that it will never go back. Google hates spamming and I still see quite a few copy/pasted posts from personal blogs and other sites. That is a big no-no if you want to have some Google love...
16 months ago: Chris Durr
Content Creation Wizard

http://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdurr

"Moderator / Content Writer
RantRave.com
March 2009 – April 2010 (1 year 2 months)
I helped police the trolls and goons at RantRave.com, an open blogging and debate site. The site's custom content management tools allowed me to push information straight to Google News -- it's a powerful system. By identifying trending topics and selecting well-written user submissions, we were able to create a vibrant, vocal community of readers.

RantRave uses external metrics to track site traffic. My content increased the site's page views, uniques, and ad clicks tenfold. I also promoted RantRave through social media, including Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter."
16 months ago: Makes you wonder what else Mr. Durr had (or still has) access to "push"?

Cully, The feeds to Twitter and (now) FB are automated. No pushing or selecting favorites.

Get to writing...
16 months ago: Cypress my man.

I'll be with you again before tooooo long.
16 months ago: If he is no longer part of RantRave he should not have access to anything. E-Mail address and passwords should have been changed.
16 months ago: Yeah, I agree Cully, if someone is not current with RR they shouldn't be featured even though someone can still access there posts...

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