....must resist changing template

One of the design rules I set out for the site is to not dink too much with the core design template. I think 'bouncing' ad positions can be a little strage....

It certainly would. I had my "review section" blinders on.

I haven't been able to check out the new layout stuff yet but I just looked at that popular review thing and I gotta say, I'm amazed! When did the new software go up? reviews that I haven't thought about in a year have a dozen hits. That's wild! Thanks for adding this feature.

I still think a "Rate this review" poll would be cool, even if it didn't link to people's DVDTalk accounts, just as a way of knowing if people were connecting with a certain writing style and stuff.

I agree! Adam, you kick ass once again. Do the counts start from a certain date?

A little over a week ago. Any page views start from then.

I'm not big on having ratings and the like if I can't hold users accountable. I can make the e-mail link a little more prominent though -- try clicking on your name in a review and then click on 'E-mail' in the bio...that's another feature I added recently.

Wow, I can just sit here and reload the hit counting page and just watch the hits rack up! In the time since I first looked at it the hits for Grey Gardens has gone from 89 to 92. Keep readin' 'e, kids! [EDIT: in the time it took me to write this it went to 93]

I have seen the email thing and it's cool. There may be one too many steps to it (like maybe it should say "email the reviewer" and that should immediately bring up that form from the review page.

Still, as for the other idea, if people could be held accountable that would be cool too. That way also only members that are logged in could participate.

Regardless, the entire review section is looking great.

I've looked at the popular reviews segment/post however I'm not seeing a counter for any of the hits. Where should I be looking?

Sign in to your review manager page and click the new View popular reviews option.

The #1 review on the site has 2,733 views as of 6:03p 8/23.

Geez! I think my most popular review is at 374 views....sniff...

My number 2, Grey Gardens, has gotten about 150 views since yesterday this time. I find that to be totally amazing. Who knew the review site was so popular?

Thanks <b>Buskerdog!</b>

No problem buddy!

The only downside to this is that now I have one more thing to obssess on. Grrr...

Speaking of the fancy new "view popular reviews" dealy ... I think it'd be really neato if somewhere it told you "total views" for ALL your reviews (added together). And on the public side, what if DVD Xyz is viewed 800 gillion times, does that mean it'll stay the number one most popular review for all of time? Or does it reset the tote board for that category each month or something?

I was wondering that too (although the titles I review are never gonna make the top 10 anyway. Oh well.)

Sure, I can do that somewhere later.

The 'popular reviews' thing only looks for reviews posted in the past 30 days. For instance, Aaron's review of "Enemy of the Gates" was at #7, but since it was posted on 8/6, it's since dropped off the list. Also, it looks at when the reviewer posts the review for the first time, not when Geoff gives it the digital thumbs-up.

Sweet!

I should have known you'd be way ahead of me on that. You rule.

Adam, the new "grand total" review views is very neato. Thanks so much!

No problem! I also added a 'printer-friendly' reviews page, since something I did with the new layout makes Internet Explorer decide to not print text after the first page.

Is it really necessary to list 15 "Latest Theatrical Reviews"??? Many of them aren't even in theaters anymore. I just posted some DVD reviews and they're already about to get kicked off the main page. It's frustrating. Surely I'm not the only one bugged by this. My vote would be for 5 theatrical and 5 audio reviews. I just seems "latest" isn't "latest" when some were filed as long as a month ago.

I'm gonna go back to yelling at the neighborhood kids now.

Whoah! You're right. All my reviews from a couple days ago are off the front page now. That's crazy. I guess a lot of stuff is coming out, but still. Seems to me that they should have a shelf life of more than a couple days.

I apologize. I selected the number of titles in each section arbitrarily, not to intentionally ruffle any feathers. If you'd like the numbers changed, e-mail Geoff and ask him to edit the reviews index page.

As things stand currently:

$DVDDisplay = 25;
$popularDisplay = 10;
$randomDisplay = 4;
$theatricalDisplay = 15;
$audioDisplay = 10;

The variable names should be a pretty good indicator of what they represent. Let Geoff know what numbers you think would be more appropriate and I'm sure he'll make the corrections quickly.

(I would make the changes myself, but Geoff has made a couple of changes to the index page since I last sent it to him. I don't want to hammer those additions he's made by sending him the version I have sitting on my development box... Plus, if he changes the numbers directly, he can fiddle with them to perfection instead of me e-mailing files over and over again...)

Well, I got Beierled right off the page again. It was a nice couple days.

What's ironic is that both the theatrical and DVD reviews of Heartbreakers are still among our "Latest" reviews. The movie opened more than six months ago.

I'd like to see Theatrical reviews limited to 10 ... and have the remainder dedicated to DVDs (maybe 40 or 50).

Hey hey hey. Let's settle down here. There's a very valid issue of front page review realestate but I don't want this to get personal.

I've been SWAMPED this week, so I haven't had a chance to address this issue, but rest assure. I will.

Aaron does a HUGE number of reviews and I'm extremely greatful for all his hard work. I don't think it's fair to cirticize him for being prolific!

It's also important to note that I work really hard to make sure everyones reviews get featured in prime spots: like on the front of DVD Talk and in the forum. And I'm making this invitation to ALL DVDTALK REVIEWERS: If there's a review you are very happy with, that you worked really hard on, and you want to make sure it gets read. Let me know. I am MORE than happy to work with you and make sure people see it.

Also, we are in talks with Videohound to have some of our reviews re-printed in their book, this would extend readership for them by a LOT!

- Geoff

PS. I updated the index page for the review page so that there are now 40 reviews listed!!!!!