Brett_Tabke - 4:40 am on Jun 5, 2001 (gmt 0)

Thank you for the interesting comments. The new homepage is a balancing act between usability, size, and function. Let me make the case and share some of the reasoning behind the highlighted post.

When I ask people why they lurk or don't participate more, the most often repeated feedback is that WebmasterWorld is so active they miss the important posts. So, in style, that is what the new homepage is there to accomplish - getting people involved and helping them to find the current quality content.

I know some of the regulars may not appreciate that goal since they read everything posted. For the casual reader, new user, or news hungry reader, it can save them time in finding the better posts they want to read. We have had some very high quality posts over the last 30-45days - many, are top newsletter or publication quality. With 30'ish forums, even some of our regulars missed the good ones from time-to-time.

For a new user, the highlighted post of the day will be a good intro for them into the board. I expect many a new user to be introduced to the board from the highlighted posts.

Lastly, there are many aggregators that look for sites like ours. When I've been approached by them, they always say, "give me one or two topics a day". If we could get on some of those regular lists, that alone could be huge.

(edited by: Brett_Tabke at 9:23 pm (utc) on Jan. 25, 2002)