We are launching a new Cowboys site for Cowboys Fans!

[Reality]

You're right - I'm not a business person and have no business savvy whatsoever. I have made a career in public safety, not business.

I'm not saying I think this is a bad idea, I'm just admitting I don't understand the business part of it. I will still check it out, though.

I have touched on this in other posts, but it really comes down to adding another way for good posts on CZ to be seen by more Cowboys fans, especially those not familiar with CowboysZone or that do not care for forums.

Also, as a content site, the posts can also be promoted in new ways that cannot be done with forum threads.

 

[goshann]

You're not too busy savvy are you? It's more exposure for this site. As a business man you want about three different web addresses to link back to your main website. Like the bad guy said in Pirates of the Caribbean..."It's just good business."

It’s also because not every type of user is a message board type. It’s a good way to leverage content being created and to connect with new audiences, some of those may choose to participate at cowboyszone as new users

 

[Reality]

It’s also because not every type of user is a message board type. It’s a good way to leverage content being created and to connect with new audiences, some of those may choose to participate at cowboyszone as new users

 

[Bullflop]

I admired the examples that were shown. It eliminates some of the hair-brained ideas that a few of our careless members post.

 

[Diehardblues]

Great idea !! A couple of questions ..

I’m assuming that you the administrator will be exclusively making these decisions on which post or will this be a collective effort from the Mods as well?

And does this have to be a Thread OP or can it be a post from any thread?

Thanks

 

[Montanalo]

I will post an FAQ for the site in the next couple of days.

We would appreciate any suggestions you guys have on how to improve it!

Great idea, @Reality .

One suggestion is to include a hot link to the site on the CowboysZone site. Maybe it's there and I simply missed it?

 

[Diehardblues]

Great idea !! A couple of questions ..

I’m assuming that you the administrator will be exclusively making these decisions on which post or will this be a collective effort from the Mods as well?

And does this have to be a Thread OP or can it be a post from any thread?

Thanks

After linking over looks like I’ve answered my questions in that it’s about the thread OP being shared not just random post in any threads .

And you added pics to the post. Nice touch . Very professional appearance . Is that something we should consider doing with our threads .

Well done and it cleans up a cluttered front page with all too often less interesting topics we have to cypher thru on the Zone.

Reminds me a little of blogging the boys except you’re unable to respond in Fanzone which is basically an advertisement to link or bring more fans or users to the Zone. Brilliant idea !!

 

[Reality]

Great idea !! A couple of questions ..

I’m assuming that you the administrator will be exclusively making these decisions on which post or will this be a collective effort from the Mods as well?

And does this have to be a Thread OP or can it be a post from any thread?

Thanks

I will be addressing these in an FAQ thread hopefully today or tomorrow, but I will go ahead and answer them now as well.

Currently, I am the only one selecting content because I am still testing the entire process. I had to custom develop all of the programs that handle the process of selecting, exporting and importing posts, so it is important to make sure that is working correctly before I add anyone else to the process.

Posts can be added or removed from CFZ at any time, so even if a post before and after another post from CZ is included on CFZ it does not mean that the in-between post was reviewed though it is possible it was of course.

As always, post selection will be subjective no matter who handles it. Beyond the forum rules, I do not have agendas for how Cowboys fans should think and post.

That is why CowboysZone allows fans to post positive and negative things about the Cowboys. Given that CowboysFanZone is an extension of CowboysZone, the content on it will mirror the positive and negative content on CowboysZone.

As for what types of posts are included on CFZ, those are limited to threads at least for now. That may change at some point, but the selection process would get a lot more complicated and the time involved in that process would increase dramatically as a result given how many posts are made on CZ every day.

 

[Reality]

Great idea, @Reality .

One suggestion is to include a hot link to the site on the CowboysZone site. Maybe it's there and I simply missed it?

I am focused more on testing the process and the new site along with adding more posts from CZ to it right now, but it will definitely get more promotion on CZ once I get through that process.

 

[Reality]

After linking over looks like I’ve answered my questions in that it’s about the thread OP being shared not just random post in any threads .

And you added pics to the post. Nice touch . Very professional appearance . Is that something we should consider doing with our threads .

Well done and it cleans up a cluttered front page with all too often less interesting topics we have to cypher thru on the Zone.

Reminds me a little of blogging the boys except you’re unable to respond in Fanzone which is basically an advertisement to link or bring more fans or users to the Zone. Brilliant idea !!

Thank you for the positive review

The associated images are selected and added through the transfer system.

Unfortunately, we have to be careful about what images are displayed there because content sites, even when the posts originate from members, are handled differently when it comes to image copyrights than forum sites are.

I plan to add more images soon like those to help further increase the uniqueness of each post, but for now I just wanted to have a good variety of images to pull from.

 

[Diehardblues]

This will definitely bring more users and traffic to the Zone which translates to revenue .

Over the years some of my fellow Cowboy fans I’ve invited over thought there was too much garbage and trolling on main site. Most stay on BTB or others .

But this Fanzone presents a much more professional look highlighting the better post and subject matters. This will be a home run for the Zone.

 

[Montanalo]

I am focused more on testing the process and the new site along with adding more posts from CZ to it right now, but it will definitely get more promotion on CZ once I get through that process.

An unintended consequence of the new site: it might "lift" the quality of posts (not that they're poor by any means) on CowboysZone in an attempt to be featured on CowboysFanZone.

 

[Reality]

Reminds me a little of blogging the boys except you’re unable to respond in Fanzone which is basically an advertisement to link or bring more fans or users to the Zone. Brilliant idea !!

I gave serious thought to allowing comments on CFZ, but I realized that would split discussions over two sites for the same posts while also increasing moderation requirements and it was just not a good idea.

The main goals for the site are to provide CZ members with more exposure for their posts while also helping promote CowboysZone to a lot more Cowboys fans.

 

[Reality]

This will definitely bring more users and traffic to the Zone which translates to revenue .

Over the years some of my fellow Cowboy fans I’ve invited over thought there was too much garbage and trolling on main site. Most stay on BTB or others .

But this Fanzone presents a much more professional look highlighting the better post and subject matters. This will be a home run for the Zone . But I’d recommend more strict guidelines for some of the junk and inciting troll like threads we all too often get so when we attract these new users they’ll be tempted to become Zone members .

I enjoy forums, but for some people forums are too "busy" even before you factor in the quality or general attitude of the posts being made on it.

That is where the idea for CFZ came from because I constantly see some great posts by members yet I know that after they drop to page 2 or 3 of the Fan Zone, they will be an afterthought.

By including those posts on a content/blog site though, there are a lot fewer posts to read through and they are sorted in reverse chronological order rather than by last reply.

That means that posts on CFZ will get more exposure and have a longer lifespan than they do on CZ.

Even better, by presenting them on a content site, it opens up several new ways to promote those posts to a lot more people.

 

[Reality]

An unintended consequence of the new site: it might "lift" the quality of posts (not that they're poor by any means) on CowboysZone in an attempt to be featured on CowboysFanZone.

That's not unintended at all

That is something I hope happens as well as the season progresses.

 

[Montanalo]

That's not unintended at all

That is something I hope happens as well as the season progresses.

Overt manipulation... love it

 

[Motorola]

So I guess this is a way to feature "serious" threads instead of the bait threads? Just call it the @Bobhaze Zone

I get the concept but it's a lot of linky loo to just come back to this site. Maybe more thread titles per page
would be cool there since you're trying to feature threads that may have gotten lost in the shuffle on later pages here. There's currently only 10-11 per page. But maybe that would impact the serious "newsy" feel. Worth a go and thanks!

I just counted 42 threads listed on page 1 (not counting this one).

 

[MarcusRock]

I just counted 42 threads listed on page 1 (not counting this one).

I was talking about the new site.

 

[DandyDon52]

checked it out, nice site, just glad it isnt replacing this site!

 

[VaqueroTD]

Cowboys Zone without the cra... I'll be professional, without the "noise." I like it. Also like the news links next to it on the right.

Good alternative for the members you lose who get burnt out on the internet nonsense.