We get a lot of email here. Like, a lot.
And most of it, as you'd probably presume, is about tech.
That's hardly abated since the launch of the new app and site at the start of September, even if the feedback's about an entirely different platform. People have questions, concerns, criticisms, and our culture here has always been that we'd much rather hear about them than lose a subscriber in silence. We're grateful for it. We work to apply it constructively.
In that spirit, Dali and I have pieced together this list of 10 items that, hopefully, addresses some of the feedback while also updating you on what's to come:
• The most common complaint from readers relates to being unable to log in the very first time. That's because a lot of people's devices, like my own, are set to auto-fill usernames and passwords. Our app/site currently don't recognize those, so you just have to type them out manually. Problem (temporarily) solved.
• If you're seeing label on your subscription that suggests it's 'temporary,' pay no attention. Your status hasn't changed, and we have it on record. Just hasn't made it all the way over yet. Hopefully by next week.
• Another is that readers would like to check their accounts' expiration dates, update credit cards, etc. ... and can't. The reason for that, simply, is that these functions aren't yet ready. Here again, hopefully by next week. In the meantime, you'll continue to have access to everything as a subscriber.
• There are issues with avatars. A lot of people can't create them. This is known. There aren't any workarounds. We just have to fix it.
• If there's ever a situation where your page or article or photos flat-out don't load on your app, delete the app and reinstall. There's an excellent chance these are already resolved, but you just need the latest version.
• Comments come with all kinds of crazy spaces between paragraphs, and even in different font sizes. They also don't yet have the capacity to show photos, videos, GIFs, the way our old app/site did. You aren't doing anything wrong. It just still needs to be fixed by us.
• Our statistical packages -- live boxscores, stats, standings, schedules -- aren't done. A lot of readers are sending us corrections about those but, in most cases, they're just not done. Especially in the case of football, which is now obviously our top priority. These will be done before we do our full public launch.
• Don't pay too much attention to the page-view counters you're seeing. They're way, way behind real-time and, usually, don't catch up with the actual Google Analytics. (That's why, as some of you have pointed out, you'll sometimes see articles with 0 page views but 35 comments, things like that.) This will get aligned.
• We're gradually adding older content. You can see that now, in particular, on our dedicated team pages. As you thumb down, more and more articles show. This won't be a fast process, and it'll never be one that's complete. There's just way too much of it. I'm currently working myself on migrating some of the recent 'Classic Grind' columns, as well as others from the height of the pandemic shutdown. In the interim, if anything's ever sought from the old site, there's a version still in existence.
We'll get there. November and December are the two biggest months of the year for this company -- and most companies -- and we expect to be firing on all cylinders through that season, including putting out the TV ad, promoting to the outside world and all else.
MILITARY BREAKTHROUGH
I mentioned in this space a week ago that our Moon Golf Club Military Drive to 1,500 had hit a rare wall ... and that sure didn't take long to change.
One amazing reader stepped up to buy ... 75! We had another reader buy 10, two others with five, another with one!
Needless to say, we're good for a while and, at 1,180 bought for the year, we're back on a safe enough pace to meet the annual goal of 1,500.
If you'd like to contribute to veterans seeking a free annual subscription -- we take care of all active-duty ourselves -- those are $19.99 per veteran, or half-price. The only way to get those is to email me directly at DK@DKPittsburghSports.com
ON PENN STATE, DUQUESNE
As part of resuming full coverage of Penn State football and Duquesne basketball in 2020, we've brought back dedicated team pages for both. On the app, open your slide-out menu. On the website, check for the schools' logos on the big bar across the top.
We'll need help on these, and I won't hide that. Eventually, that'll involve our subscribers coming through, primarily through reading and sharing but also, ultimately, buying gift subscriptions we'll soon be offering attached to each school. From there, it'll involve getting support from a sponsor for each one.
Here's hoping that's your business.
We've updated our Media Kit, but you also can just reach out directly to She Who Is Boss: Dali@DKPittsburghSports.com
SPEEDY DELIVERY
All the merchandise that was bought last month shipped out this week. If you didn't get yours already, it's on the way.
(The masks are awesome!)
We'll have another wave of merch available for Christmas. Some different stuff, too.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our daily page views, averaged out over the past week, were 152,531 ... maybe. I'm still not accepting this, since we've only just recently reconnected to Google Analytics. Our goal forever has been to just average 100,000, and now suddenly we're way over that. We'll see.
• Our most-read original article was Dale Lolley's coverage of the Steelers' move toward more no-huddle, at 20,341. Broken down by team, we had 276,601 for Steelers, 268,454 views for Penguins, 63,538 for Pirates, 13,658 for Pitt, 2,269 for Penn State, 934 for Duquesne.
• Our podcast downloads for DK Sports Radio original content were 50,615. Our initial goal had been to top 50,000 per week, but we've now achieved that four times in six weeks, so it might be good to adjust.
• We're at 37,474 (+95) followers on Twitter, we're at 36,782 (-1) followers on Facebook, we're at 14,763 (-8) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.
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