It has been a while since I last posted some news here, and there is plenty to talk about, so here is a wrap up of the goings-on around Tobacco Reviews in the month of October.
- The sorting/listing of the reviews continues to be the old style, while I work on figuring out a better way to accomplish what I want for the unregistered visitors to the site. The main reason it hasn’t been changed back is that the voting mechanism is not working as I had hoped. Some people were using it to disagree with a review, not to rate the competence and clarity of the review. Until this is resolved, things will remain as they are.
- There is a great new feature coming in the next week or so (that won’t change your experience of the site, don’t worry) that I am pretty excited about: Tobacco Reviews data will be available as an API. Developers, start your engines! If you ever wanted to do something with all of the data in Tobacco Reviews, now is your chance to do so. Details on using the API will be available when the whole thing goes public, but if you just can’t wait, email me for details.
- The big feature under development now is the message boards. Yes, I am finally getting around to getting them built! The most important feature to note about them is that they will not be free and open to everyone. Only those who have donated or subscribed will have access to them. This is for two reason: 1) People tend to be better behaved when they have something at stake. 2) I need more subscribers to the site, and this is a great way to reward subscribers without walling off and charging for something I was already giving away for free. Details on pricing, etc. will be forthcoming soon.
- Tobacco Reviews (and I) are moving. My trip to the mountains was not all for pleasure. I am in the process of relocating to North Carolina now, and will be, hopefully, settled in up there in another month or so. Wish me luck.