Sidebar! Sidebar!

July 30, 2015 10:12 AM

I have noticed the most excellent regular updates to the front page sidebar (and bestof subsite) and just wanted to say GREAT JOB! Those posts really help me better enjoy all the cool stuff on MeFi that I might otherwise be missing. Thank you so much for keeping that thing full of fun new tidbits to read. It's like the best of the best of the web!
posted by jillithd to MetaFilter-Related at 10:12 AM (24 comments total)

Thanks! This is almost entirely taz rocking the more-active sidebar. We had gotten into a pattern of waiting for really really exceptional comments to post to the sidebar, but now are trying to move toward posting fun and interesting threads. This was prompted by a couple of recent MetaTalk discussions - one about reviving those kind of outreach-y things we do, and the other one about people sharing their niche interests. Yay for more fun weird stuff! I'm glad it's working for you.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:16 AM on July 30, 2015 [8 favorites]

Oh yes - the sidebar has been fantastic lately!
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:28 AM on July 30, 2015

SINCE it's being updated more frequently, I wonder if the blurb at the top should change? It currently says "This sideblog keeps track of site news and noteworthy posts" which seems like it was more accurate for the old sidebar.
posted by kate blank at 10:29 AM on July 30, 2015

I have also noticed the recent sidebar goodness. Then I read that post about things people do wrong and got all weirdly het up about detergent (it's just different here!) and had to take a few hours off from the internet. Which is not a bad thing, it was a lovely evening yesterday and I read a good book. So yay for the sidebar all round.
posted by shelleycat at 10:29 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's really interesting to see what gets side-barred, and more than once it's directed my attention to something I've missed (and have had great fun reading). There's just so much going on the front page and other areas of Mefi that you cannot possibly read it all, so yeah - big thumbs up for this positive change. I check it daily now.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:34 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

reviving those kind of outreach-y things we do

Loving it, thanks so much.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 11:08 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've noticed it too and am now giving a virtual high-five to taz. And it looks like the perfect kind of stuff to put on a Twitter/RSS/Tumblr or whatever the kids are socialing these days.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:20 PM on July 30, 2015

Agreed! Awesomesauce!
posted by anya32 at 12:41 PM on July 30, 2015

Thanks Taz. I'm on the site a lot, and it's always amazing to me what great things I somehow manage to miss.
posted by zachlipton at 1:55 PM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Now we just need a little bit more sass in @metafilter to make it clear that it isn't written by a particularly discerning bot…
posted by Going To Maine at 2:06 PM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thanks taz! I've also been visiting Best Of a lot recently since I've noticed it being updated much more regularly.

Going To Maine @Mefite_ (Flagged as Fantastic) is my favourite way to get Twitter updates on threads I might have missed.
posted by billiebee at 2:27 PM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

But have you noticed the side-blurb on the Best Of page? (The sidebar of the sidebar?)

MetaFilter started as a community weblog in 1999, later added question and answers, then music by members, jobs, projects by members, a podcast, and finally an area dedicated to meetups.

"FINALLY an area dedicated to meetups"?!? No mention of the awesome FanFare? Everything is NOT QUITE up to date here...
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:54 PM on July 30, 2015

Concurred. No doubt attributed to the excellent FFP's of late.
posted by clavdivs at 3:04 PM on July 30, 2015

Just to make these awesome FPP's and such shine even brighter, and to highlight all the work that goes into moderating MeFi toward being "best of the web" in and of itself, here's the Mefi Deleted Posts aggregator.
posted by not_on_display at 4:11 PM on July 30, 2015

It's like the best of the best of the web!

*starts a Tumblr to repost only the best sidebar entries, calls it bestofthebestofthebestoftheweb.tumblr.com*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:28 PM on July 30, 2015

And it looks like the perfect kind of stuff to put on a Twitter/RSS/Tumblr or whatever the kids are socialing these days.

We have all of this! You can like at Facebook, follow at Twitter, or follow at Tumblr. And there are little RSS symbols everywhere around here. Click those for feeds.
posted by pb (staff) at 5:56 PM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

I was too new to start this Meta, but am so glad jillithd did, because I share all the good thoughts and accolades! YAY!
posted by Jesse the K at 10:21 AM on July 31, 2015

I've been loving the more active sidebar! It's pointed things out that I've missed, which is ridiculous because I basically live on Metafilter. So hooray!! Thanks for all the extra effort!
posted by missmary6 at 4:47 PM on July 31, 2015

HEY HEY HEY! The latest item on Best of MetaFilter is all about Fan Fare yet the description blurb on the page still omits it!!! Does nobody care? Am I alone here? (yes, I know I am)
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:05 PM on August 1, 2015

Does nobody care?

It's a "cortex needs to talk to mathowie/pb" thing. I think people care, they just don't care a lot. Deferred maintenance is part of MeFi's charm!
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 4:08 PM on August 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yeah, reblurbing the FanFare dressing is one of a lot of things on the to-do list. Also, we have this whole contact form thing that works marginally better than shouting into the darkness if you ever want to actually be sure a set of mod eyeballs falls on something in a prompt fashion.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:20 PM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: reblurbing the FanFare dressing
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:09 PM on August 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thanks, taz -- noticed and appreciated!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:03 PM on August 2, 2015

MetaFilter: marginally better than shouting into the darkness
posted by Going To Maine at 6:29 PM on August 2, 2015 [2 favorites]