OFFICE HOURS: Ask DC Universe Your Questions Every (UPDATED) TUESDAY Night!

[BatmanMazz]

It was super stressed. Both were absolutely kind and talked for about ten minutes each.

[Applejack]

@AlexanderKnox

Well, the category has seemingly calmed down over the last few days, but recently, there has been a trend of multiple identical topics going on at the same time. And then, of course, there’s the “I’m leaving the service” rants showing up in the various subcategories of Everything DC, sometimes even spilling into and derailing completely unrelated threads.

I realize that the category with the most traffic is inevitably going to be the one with the worst behavior by “one and done” commenters, but it appeared to be getting especially bad lately, and I don’t want all of our club discussions getting buried under nonsense.

Ah, jes, jes, we have had to adapt to the big influx of members since the Q-tine. We do try to re-categorize as quickly as we can. I’m noodling on a small video, or series of graphics that a member will see when first visiting the community to improve traffic control. Our work is never done! (Thank goodness.)

But if “Fan Discussions” as a sub-category were transported to Everything DC, would you still feel buried? I have this hunch it will increase engagement for y’all, but maybe that’s not the point for the clubs; maybe it’s better if they’re discovered by people who really want it/work for it.

[Applejack]

@BatmanMazz

@Applejack

You might like this then.

You got that right.

[Applejack]

I’m at the end of the line! I’ll linger for a moment, maybe refresh my cuppa But look at this nice, normal time!

[Applejack]

@CynicalPink

Ohhh, nice! Ty!

NP! Did that help with the timestamp? Or is it still MIA?

[Reaganfan78]

Ok I send it.

[AlexanderKnox]

@Applejack

But if “Fan Discussions” as a sub-category were transported to Everything DC, would you still feel buried?

I would think so, yes. When someone clicks on the category, they’re brought to the unsorted stream of threads, and they’re very unlikely to see any of our topics at any given time. When someone clicks on Community Events, they immediately see a calendar.

Now, there does need to be more synergy between the topics in order to draw people from General Discussion to Community Events. For instance, I just posted a link to a club discussion of Batman: The Cult in response to a new General Discussion thread discussing the story.

(That gets into a pet peeve of mine. I’m a stickler for never creating a discussion thread unless I’m sure it doesn’t already exist.)

[ralphsix]

@Applejack

look at this nice, normal time!

Hmmm…maybe we didn’t do this right.

[CynicalPink]

I’m all set! A little worried about my lack of perception, but otherwise good! Ty!

[Razzzcat]

Thanks again. Informative as always. Ciao

[ralphsix]

Just a thought regarding clubs: what if once a week a different club was pinned for a day for all to see?

[Applejack]

@AlexanderKnox

@Applejack

But if “Fan Discussions” as a sub-category were transported to Everything DC, would you still feel buried?

I would think so, yes. When someone clicks on the category, they’re brought to the unsorted stream of threads, and they’re very unlikely to see any of our topics at any given time.

True, but they’re more likely to discover it by happenstance than if they specifically are looking for an activity to participate in; and the great existential debate in my mind is, aren’t Fan Discussions essentially discussions? Are we not depriving the gen. pop. of some really thoughtful, well-crafted content by separating them out?

And, could those looking for Fan Discussions not reduce to strictly those discussions by selecting the sub-category in the menu?

Now, there does need to be more synergy between the topics in order to draw people from General Discussion to Community Events. For instance, I just posted a link to a club discussion of Batman: The Cult in response to a new General Discussion thread discussing the story.

There’s another feature we’ve created that hasn’t made its way to the stage yet. I’m hoping it can help from a system function perspective. It’s a little hard for mods to hold the knowledge of all club goings on in their heads as they traverse the other tasks they’re trying to manage, but maybe we can find other creative ways to raise awareness.

(That gets into a pet peeve of mine. I’m a stickler for never creating a discussion thread unless I’m sure it doesn’t already exist.)

Well that’s because you’re a saint and deserve nothing but good things in life.

[Applejack]

@CynicalPink

I’m all set! A little worried about my lack of perception, but otherwise good! Ty!

As should we all be, always vigilant of our perception!

[Applejack]

@ralphsix

@Applejack

look at this nice, normal time!

Hmmm…maybe we didn’t do this right.

I’ve cracked your code

[AlexanderKnox]

And while I’m grumbling about everything, let me fuss about Batman #401-416 and 'Tec #567-574 being in the Bronze Age Batman collection even though everyone knows that the Bronze Age stories ended with a two-part story in 'Tec #566 and Batman #400.

[Applejack]

Are they part of the same storyline? Is there an abrupt truncation of continuity if they are omitted?

[AlexanderKnox]

Continuity resets right after those last two Doug Moench stories. You have Batman: Year One as a Bronze Age story! Oh the humanity!

(For some reason, Batman: Year Two in 'Tec made it into the modern age, but the issue that directly sets up and leads into Year Two is still hanging out in the Bronze Age. Meanwhile, issues of Batman that came out months after Year Two, going through the post-Crisis Jason Todd origin and well into the Jim Starlin run, are hanging out in the Bronze Age, too!)

[Applejack]

@AlexanderKnox

Continuity resets right after those stories. You have Batman: Year One as a Bronze Age story! Oh the humanity!

I toddled over there to browse while you were typing and saw that; what a coincidence given we were just talking about that cover. Yeah, okay, that’s worth looking into. Our Master of Collections is on a brief leave but will be back soon. I’ll harass him then.

[Applejack]

@Applejack

True, but they’re more likely to discover it by happenstance than if they specifically are looking for an activity to participate in; and the great existential debate in my mind is, aren’t Fan Discussions essentially discussions? Are we not depriving the gen. pop. of some really thoughtful, well-crafted content by separating them out?

And, could those looking for Fan Discussions not reduce to strictly those discussions by selecting the sub-category in the menu?

I’ll leave here in a moment, but if you have the extra time/wherewithal, what are your thoughts on this, AKnox?

[Mae]

If I’m counting right, this was Madam Applejack’s 2000th Office Hours comment. Big milestone! a feat indeed.