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This sounds like a gussied up Wordpress-MU installation with a bunch of plugins (social media, SEO, etc), adsense api (so they can switch between showing their

This sounds like a gussied up Wordpress-MU installation with a bunch of plugins (social media, SEO, etc), adsense api (so they can switch between showing their ads and their authors' ads). Or, rather, it sounds like this idea could be recreated with all that and hiring a designer to make a nice theme. The only difference is that they vet the writers beforehand, unlike Squidoo or Hubpages or Buzzle. I'm genuinely curious, how is this different than any other online journalism endeavor?

pbiggar 17y ago
By that logic, Google is just another search engine. Even if the only difference was that we vetted the journalists first, think of what that gives you. Seeing the newstilt logo on a journalist's page means you know they're good. It opens up the possibility of syndication to newspapers and other big content sites. It commands higher ad rates. It makes the frontpage a worthwhile place to go (would you go to the frontpage of blogger? probably not.) Each little thing which seems like its practically the same as other sites, is in fact massively different. We use Facebook Connect, sounds minor right? Or it could be the difference between good and bad community (I'm betting on better comments due to using real names). Consider even the fact that I'm on HN. That means we know good community when we see it, and we recognize its value. See if you find that in any other online journalism endeavor. And we're not gussi-ing anything up in wordpress. You don't take the core of your product off the shelf like that, at least, not as a technology company. Our designer is working on the new site. It'll be pretty tomorrow.
- smcnally 17y ago
  Totally agree that seemingly small tweaks can be huge differences and differentiators. When we were launching, many compared us to HuffPo, TechCrunch or one of a handful of other blog networks. It can be annoying, but it can also be a bit of - as Marcellus Wallace put it - "pride fucking with you." What you're building will be its own thing because it's a different vision and set of experience building it. True/Slant's been public for a year, and I don't think I've heard those comparisons in awhile. > And we're not gussi-ing anything up in wordpress. > You don't take the core of your product off the shelf > like that, at least, not as a technology company. But then, you will be reïmplementing major chunks of a CMS from the ground-up? Editorial and publishing workflows? Access controls? Tagging systems and info hierarchies? I am admittedly biased here, as we made a very conscious decision to build trueslant.com atop Wordpress MU. I've built CMSes from the ground-up. I've created them from general-purpose tools and content management-specific frameworks. Building atop Mu has allowed us to spend significantly more time and energy on the overall experience and less on the nuts and bolts. I'd like to think we've done more than some gussying up; the Automattic folks, among others, seem to agree http://2009.newyork.wordcamp.org/program/saturday-sessions/#cms http://www.slideshare.net/rogertheriault/technology-of-the-new-news-workflow Bless you, too, for launching with Fb Connect. We implemented it after being live for several months and had tens of thousands of existing Members to contend with "linking" existing with Fb accounts (or specifically NOT linking, as the case was). Doing it from the get-go should be simpler for everyone. I look forward to your official launch.

pbiggar 17y ago

By that logic, Google is just another search engine. Even if the only difference was that we vetted the journalists first, think of what that gives you. Seeing the newstilt logo on a journalist's page means you know they're good. It opens up the possibility of syndication to newspapers and other big content sites. It commands higher ad rates. It makes the frontpage a worthwhile place to go (would you go to the frontpage of blogger? probably not.) Each little thing which seems like its practically the same as other sites, is in fact massively different. We use Facebook Connect, sounds minor right? Or it could be the difference between good and bad community (I'm betting on better comments due to using real names). Consider even the fact that I'm on HN. That means we know good community when we see it, and we recognize its value. See if you find that in any other online journalism endeavor. And we're not gussi-ing anything up in wordpress. You don't take the core of your product off the shelf like that, at least, not as a technology company. Our designer is working on the new site. It'll be pretty tomorrow.

smcnally 17y ago
Totally agree that seemingly small tweaks can be huge differences and differentiators. When we were launching, many compared us to HuffPo, TechCrunch or one of a handful of other blog networks. It can be annoying, but it can also be a bit of - as Marcellus Wallace put it - "pride fucking with you." What you're building will be its own thing because it's a different vision and set of experience building it. True/Slant's been public for a year, and I don't think I've heard those comparisons in awhile. > And we're not gussi-ing anything up in wordpress. > You don't take the core of your product off the shelf > like that, at least, not as a technology company. But then, you will be reïmplementing major chunks of a CMS from the ground-up? Editorial and publishing workflows? Access controls? Tagging systems and info hierarchies? I am admittedly biased here, as we made a very conscious decision to build trueslant.com atop Wordpress MU. I've built CMSes from the ground-up. I've created them from general-purpose tools and content management-specific frameworks. Building atop Mu has allowed us to spend significantly more time and energy on the overall experience and less on the nuts and bolts. I'd like to think we've done more than some gussying up; the Automattic folks, among others, seem to agree http://2009.newyork.wordcamp.org/program/saturday-sessions/#cms http://www.slideshare.net/rogertheriault/technology-of-the-new-news-workflow Bless you, too, for launching with Fb Connect. We implemented it after being live for several months and had tens of thousands of existing Members to contend with "linking" existing with Fb accounts (or specifically NOT linking, as the case was). Doing it from the get-go should be simpler for everyone. I look forward to your official launch.