Site Stuff: Universal commenting ... is here?

Oct 7, 2023 • 1:32 am

3.2K

On the image above, look just to the right of the three filters on all of our new feed pages that say ALL, ARTICLES and EVENTS.

See that blue word balloon over there?

That's the portal to our brand new universal commenting forum. Which is exactly what it sounds like: Anyone in our community can start their own topic, or simply reply or react to the ones already there. No need to wait for a staff article or feed entry on what you'd like to discuss. No need to ask what's a good place to go to chat about a game that's happening somewhere that's got nothing to do with Pittsburgh. No need to wonder what's OK and what isn't.

(Although we'll obviously enforce all existing community standards, chief among them being no bleeping politics under any circumstance!)

Why do this?

Well, when we launched the feeds, since commenting was fragmented to go with each individual entry, some readers told us they felt they'd lose out on being able to generate their own dialogue related to the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates or colleges. This solves that, and it does so in style.

But also, our friends and developers at BoomPress are building this app out in a way that affords infinite possibilities when it comes to interactivity. Having at least one forum that's open and in control of the users is a vital foundation, and there'll be much more over time.

When Dali and I think of this company in its current incarnation, we think of the kind of day-long experience we had yesterday at the Downtown HQ/shop: Readers, listeners, viewers of our content, most of them in town for the Steelers' game this weekend, passed through all afternoon. From all over. One from England. Another from South Carolina. Another from Virginia. And it didn't stop.

It felt, as we were saying, like a little town hall of Pittsburgh sports. Which, in a cyber-sense, is what we hope to craft with the feeds, comments and, above all, the content on the app.

DROP THE PUCK!

The NHL's 2023-24 season opens in our city Tuesday night, and it does so with an ESPN prime-time audience for Sidney Crosby vs. Connor Bedard in the kid's big-league debut, Erik Karlsson's Pittsburgh debut and ... oh, man, it's hockey. That's plenty enough.

Taylor Haase will be all over it every stride of the way, as I hope everyone's already seen through the Prospects Challenge, the training camp and the preseason. I'll have all the columns off all the games I do -- and I tend to do a ton, including on the road -- plus the weekly Drive to the Net analysis, which I've forever enjoyed as much as any writing I do. And we'll have other people and other concepts involved along the way, as well.

For-real looking forward to this. Could be a fun team.

NOW HIRING FOR ...

We're seeking a full-time baseball writer for 2024, but we've also got eyes and ears open for anyone with expertise in SEO, social media and general promotion, ideally all wrapped into one wizardly individual. Professional experience is an absolute must for both positions. Sorry, but these just aren't entry-level.

Email resumes: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com

MILITARY DRIVE AT 372

Our annual Military Drive, aimed at connecting 1,000 veterans of our Armed Forces to a one-year subscription, added contributions of 10 and 5 military subscriptions from two separate readers, raising our total to 372 as we move closer to the deadline of Veterans Day Nov. 11.

Here's how it works: We sell a military subscription for $20, covering a full year for any veteran. That's one-third of the regular price. However many you'd wish to donate, even if it's just one, email me at DK@DKPittsburghSports.com, and Dali will do the processing.

Thanks to everyone who's already contributed!

NEW PAYMENT PLATFORM

If your subscription expired while we were recently switching platforms -- and we asked many of you to hang on until we were all clear -- this is our new subscribe page. Make sure you're logged in, tap on the link, and thumb down to the bottom for the SUBSCRIBE button to buy/renew at the monthly or annual level.

We also have our new pages completed for student subscriptions and senior subscriptions. If you're buying/renewing either, make sure you're logged in, tap on the appropriate link, and tap the big SUBSCRIBE button. These are all annual.

BACK TO BUSINESS

• Our page-view numbers for the past week were an all-time record 1,036,560, with an also-record 59,473 unique users over the most recent full seven-day span. Our most-read original piece was my main column from the Steelers' loss in Houston, at 27,024. And beginning this week, I'll lay out our full top 10 files right from our Google Analytics page at the bottom of this section.

• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were an all-time record 157,582 and our YouTube video views for the past week were an all-time record 166,307.

• Our company social media accounts are at 51,134 followers on X, 39,862 on Facebook, 25,158 on YouTube, 14,885 on Instagram ... and already 2,572 on the new Threads app!