CapTimes Redesign

We've made more moves on the commenting front. Editor Paul Fanlund prefaced the most recent change with a column. We have published a new FAQ about how to comment - and the most likely causes of comment deletion by moderators. Future developments will include a language filter and an email to the author of deleted comments noting why their comment was deleted, or never posted in the first place (like running afoul of the language filter). Of course, this will only work if the author provides a real email address. We are also looking at removing the ability to comment on stories through the madison.com forum, which does not have a word limit nor a strong language filter -... READ MORE

No, it's not a race.  It's almost the opposite of a race in that's it's a limitation.  We've decided to cap comment postings to 300 words. Now, that's not exactly haiku.  300 words is a lot - I'm at 41 right now.  I could write all of this 5 times and still be well under the limit. The idea is that short and sweet will help engender further conversations, long-winded rants will kill them.  We've also noticed that folks like to paste entire articles into the comment space.  Way wrong.  Publishing outlets need traffic to pay for those things - so link to an article, don't copy-and-paste. If you REALLY need more than 300 words, perhaps you should... READ MORE

Adding maps to site elements is way-fun and can really boost the information content of a feature.  We've just added a rudimentary map to the restaurant database on 77square .com.  What kinds of features would make maps really pop for you? Driving directions?  A larger version?  Printable version?  Street view? Next up, advanced search features.  Right now, the 'Features' part of a restaurant listing is click-able, but doesn't do anything (lazy links!).  We'll be making these link to more search results and combine all the search-able parameters into one super search,... READ MORE