You Need To Listen-Site Review

[bmiller011]

I would like to take a moment to update all of you on the progress I have made so far.

I spoke to a number of people that are willing to help in some fashion. The response has been astounding.

I played a little with wordpress as I am unfamiliar with the software. I so far have found it easy to use and design. I have not been able to get the sub domain function to work as of yet but have not exhausted my full abilities. I think there may be some server side issues preventing it from working. One issue that I have found with wordpress is that you have to set the users to contributors in order for them to be able to submit a blog entry which is fine but by setting them as a contributor you also give them the ability to edit their post after it has been submitted and I do not feel they should have the ability to do that. First because I do not want companies pressuring them to remove comments that they made and two I feel that by allowing them to edit the post it would take away from that validity of the site. I think they should be able to respond to the blog and update the status but the original post should remain un-edited. What is everyone's opinion of this?

I contacted a close friend/client of mine and through him made contact with his brother and sister which are both attorneys. All three of these people thought this was a great idea. Neither lawyer is specialized in trade marks nor issues that may arise from creating a site such as this but I was able to get some referrals which I will follow up on tomorrow.

I have generated some great ideas threw discussing this with friends and relatives on how to monetize the website.

I have researched numerous sites including one that crankydave gave me which has helped tremendously on laws and terms of services. I will still be contacting an attorney, but at first glance it appears that website owners cannot be held liable for third party posts which is good news. Second, as far as trade marks go it appears that I should be able to use the sub domains as I discussed earlier because in order to have a valid trade mark dispute case the offender has to be in direct competition with the trade mark holder. This information is pretty clear to me after doing some research but not 100%. With any luck I will have the solid answers soon from an attorney.

Now to take a moment to respond to some of the threads that I haven't got to yet.

agdm - You have some good ideas and valid questions that will need to be answered before the website launch. If possible I would like to use the specific sub domains as it should help in the serps.

Eddy Tan - I will be sure to let you know when the site is up an running. I can't wait.

ron angel - I understand where you are coming from with the comment but I don't believe it is as easy for them to remove a post as that from my research. Again, this is an area that a good attorney will help greatly.

inertia - I checked out blagger.com and it is an interesting site similar to what we are thinking. However, I would like to see this site be much more than just a company complaint forum or blog. youneedtolisten.com should extend so much farther than just business in my opinion. I could see kids.youneedtolisten.com, parents.youneedtolisten.com and probably many many more that will come up as we go.

On a side note I have not had one single person tell me this is a bad idea. I have not had a single negative comment from anyone. Everyone has been very constructive in their feedback and I greatly appreciate it. If someone does have a negative comment about the idea I would be happy to hear it but none as of yet.

I am really excited about this site and can't wait to see where it will take us. I am still open to comment and opinion. Please post if anything comes to mind.

Thanks again for all the great posts and I will continue to keep everyone updated on our progress.

[crankydave]

I played a little with wordpress as I am unfamiliar with the software. I so far have found it easy to use and design. I have not been able to get the sub domain function to work as of yet but have not exhausted my full abilities. I think there may be some server side issues preventing it from working. One issue that I have found with wordpress is that you have to set the users to contributors in order for them to be able to submit a blog entry which is fine but by setting them as a contributor you also give them the ability to edit their post after it has been submitted and I do not feel they should have the ability to do that. First because I do not want companies pressuring them to remove comments that they made and two I feel that by allowing them to edit the post it would take away from that validity of the site. I think they should be able to respond to the blog and update the status but the original post should remain un-edited. What is everyone's opinion of this?

My suggestion for intitial articles/posts is a central submission via a form for example. More likely to use a form rather than an email contact. Users would be allowed to comment once published but not access the back end. I would not make the general user a contributor. Roles would be for your staff. Once submitted, one of your team decides whether or not it should be published and where.

This route allows you to be as specific in the criteria required ie dates, invoice numbers, names, etc., and allows you to cause submitters to agree to the rules/TOS. The criteria for publication should be very detailed IMO with any generalities summarily dismissed.

Once an article is posted, then comments... positive and negative... can be added by the general public as well as bussiness owners encouraging interaction. Speaking of which, part of your marketing arm should probably be devoted strictly to the B2B side. Encouraging them to participate and giving them a direct contact for resolutions etc.

Dave

[getmea]

BMiller:

I agree with CrankyDave.

First, I envision your main domain having a list of all companies/organizations to choose from. Once the visitor selects a company, you can send them to your subdomain, which can be wordpress. Check out my main domain site. The page has a link to my Blog (wordpress), which is a subdomain of the main. The visitor can then blog to their heart's delight with no "take backs".

Second, if the visitor does not see the company/organization in question on your main page, give them a form to request a new comany to your site. Once approved by you, your staff, etc., create a new subdomain and install wordpress on it. Giving that person a sense of "ownership" will make a happy and consistent blogger.

Some drawbacks to the above are:
1 - you'll have to host many subdomains
2 - each subdomain will need their own mySql DB.
3 - hire staff to manage the subdomains -OR- when a person submits a request for a new company, ask them if they would like to volunteer to be manager. The userid can be set up with certain priviledges,

Not sure what your bankroll is, but the above can add up.

[getmea]

BMiller:

I'd like to jump on the bandwagon as well...see my previous post 12-11-2008 10:21 PM.

I don't think you will find any negative feedback here...

[bmiller011]

Hello again,

I created an initial design/development for You Need To Listen - Home. The site should be fully functional. All a user needs to do is register on the site, confirm their email address and their account will be active. Once their account is active the user can click on the "Tell Them To Listen" link and submit their article. Once an article has been submitted it will go into a "Pending Submissions" category. When a moderator reviews the article the moderator will then create a category if one doesn't exist and then move the post to that category.

There are still a few things that I need to work on such as a shopping cart for the shirts that I have on display but for the most part the site should be functional to the end user.

I have an attorney working on the terms of service and privacy policy but figured I would go with what is there until that is completed.

Please take a look, register and post and let me know what you think of the development this far. If anyone has any suggestions or problems please let me know.

I am also concidering putting this in the submit your site for review category but don't know if I should as it is already being discussed here. If a moderator would be so kind to let me know if I should or not it would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Brandon

[getmea]

Hi, Brandon:

I looked at your website and have a couple of comments. ( I understand it is still under development; you probably have these in your list already):

1) very nice appearance...color is good...font is good...pics are great!
2) the warning (membership...will be terminated) at the bottom of the home page may scare off some people; I would leave it in the terms and conditions page
3) does the t & c page need to be a pop up? If so, I would make it a smaller popup so people are aware there was a popup
4) why is there a 14 year old condition? At minimum, I would think 18 would be best (old enough to vote...old enough to get credit...)
5) instead of the DOB required field, I would make it a checkbox swearing they are at least 18. People may be hesitant over the DOB entry (this is considered PII - Personal and Identifiable Information - in the Insurance and Financial world)
6) your banner does not have a link back to the home page (minor issue)..

Overall, great work!

Getmea

[bmiller011]

Hi, Brandon:

I looked at your website and have a couple of comments. ( I understand it is still under development; you probably have these in your list already):

1) very nice appearance...color is good...font is good...pics are great!
2) the warning (membership...will be terminated) at the bottom of the home page may scare off some people; I would leave it in the terms and conditions page
3) does the t & c page need to be a pop up? If so, I would make it a smaller popup so people are aware there was a popup
4) why is there a 14 year old condition? At minimum, I would think 18 would be best (old enough to vote...old enough to get credit...)
5) instead of the DOB required field, I would make it a checkbox swearing they are at least 18. People may be hesitant over the DOB entry (this is considered PII - Personal and Identifiable Information - in the Insurance and Financial world)
6) your banner does not have a link back to the home page (minor issue)..

Overall, great work!

Getmea

Thanks for the comments Getmea,

I made most of the updates that you suggested with the exception of number 2. I am still debating if we want to put that in the T&C as you stated or leave it for the public to see. I originally wrote it there because I thought it would have the appearance of strength against businesses that didn't live up to the expectations of our website. I am kind of torn by the thought of removing it at this point and by saying that I don't know if it should stay or go.

Below is a post that I made in the Breakroom discussion that is going on for the website I figured I would post it here as well:

----------------

Hello all,

I took a little break for the holiday season but am back at it now. Here is an update to our project. I continue to speak with people about the project and get suggestions and feedback. The feedback has been great!

Because there is such an interest to participate in the project I have created a section on YouNeedToListen.com to submit your biographies so we can see what each other brings to the table. Anyone interested in participating should register on the website. During registration you will need to tick the check box which states you wish to become a developer and then enter webproworld as the referrer. I did this so I have an idea who are members of this site and who are just general public wishing to participate. Once you have registered I have to manually change you to developer status. Once this is done, when you log in to the website there will be a user menu that will have a "Your Information" link and a "Biographies" link. Click on the Biographies link and then click the "new" link in the main body section of the site. That will take you to the wysiwyg editor which will allow you to post your bio. Once your bio is submitted I will review it and then publish it to the Biographies category. Only the other developers will have the ability to see your bio. The public cannot.

I will also pm everyone with this same information that has shown an interest in the site.

If there is anyone else that has comments about the site please let us know.

As we develop the site please let us know your opinions. We will keep everyone up to date on the changes we have made as time goes on. Thank you all for taking an interest in the project and keep an eye on things as it should be changing frequently.

[getmea]

Thanks for the comments Getmea,

I made most of the updates that you suggested with the exception of number 2. I am still debating if we want to put that in the T&C as you stated or leave it for the public to see. I originally wrote it there because I thought it would have the appearance of strength against businesses that didn't live up to the expectations of our website. I am kind of torn by the thought of removing it at this point and by saying that I don't know if it should stay or go.

Below is a post that I made in the Breakroom discussion that is going on for the website I figured I would post it here as well:

.

No problem, Brandon. Your site was so nicely designed, I had to "dig" to find something to write about.

Getmea

[bmiller011]

No problem, Brandon. Your site was so nicely designed, I had to "dig" to find something to write about.

Getmea

Thanks for the comments. I am really getting excited as people are beginning to use the site. So far it seems that the administration of the site is working quite well. Now we just need to get people posting on it and get the word out.