It's been about a month since we announced the new management here at RTM, and we hope you're happy with us so far. We've tried to get things rolling and start to get the place spruced up from where it had been. Not everything is new, but it's not all old either!
The Custom Listserv has been an issue that had a lot more under the surface than it looked at first, our first iceberg though we haven't sunk like the Titanic yet! We had just assumed that everyone would want it back, and that isn't the case for everyone. There are plenty who want it back, but seemingly just as many that want to leave things as they are. Since we can't make everyone happy, we'll compromise.
We're going to promote both current lists on the RTM Custom Corner to help direct the influx of new people who may find customizing to their liking. Most people who wanted the old list back wanted it either due to sentimental reasons or because they thought RTM would be the best place to help promote the custom community and recruit new members. We think that by promoting both we can see if this helps bring people in, and as far as nostalgia - it isn't as simple as bringing back the old list. Well, maybe it could be, and we are leaving our options open for the future and we may bring it back in the future.
It wasn't an easy decision to make, and we looked at many comments both for and against the return, and decided to take the course that seemed best at the time. Hopefully, the future will bear this out as being the best decision, but if not we can always admit it and change things!!
Now here's an issue we want to check out opinions on - weekend coverage on RTM. Our traffic declines noticeably on the weekends and that clearly shows that people aren't checking the site as much then. With anything we do on the site we want it to reach the highest possible audience, so we are currently gearing our features and columns to appear only during the week, with most of the news during the week as well. But we will still be sending out some news over the weekends and we want to know if we should stick to the 5 day schedule or make a better effort to get more content up on the weekend.
It's a vicious cycle - less content on the weekends means less people read on the weekends means less incentive to put up new content on the weekend, which starts the whole thing over again. So, do you want us to step up weekend content or not?
We aren't done with features or columns by a long shot, and you'll be seeing more in the coming months. There will be at least one new column for November, and perhaps two other new ones to go with it. We'll just tantalize you by saying they will center on the toy industry and the people in it, and leave it at that. Ain't we stinkers!!
Archives, archives, archives. There will be several new archives in November. If all goes exceptionally well (the odds aren't really great for that, though) there could be as many as six new ones for November (really it could be seven...) but I wouldn't expect to see them all in November. By the end of the year though, there should be at least six new ones, possibly more. We just hope you want to see more of them; otherwise we'll have to re-think some of the things we have planned!
We plan to continue with the Spotlights, and they may stay at two per week for the present since we have a lot of new toys to cover. We'll try to keep them coming as fast as we can to give you a look at some newer stuff that may not have hit your area yet.
This first month has been good on our end, and we hope it's been the same for you. We know that RTM has the deserved reputation as the best toy site on the Internet, and we're doing everything we can to keep that deserved. The number one priority for us at RTM is the same thing that's made RTM the best - the user comes first. We want the site to maximize your enjoyment of the hobby, not maximize our page views with poor navigation or other features that aren't user friendly.
If you have an idea for something we can do better, please let us know. We'll read and consider every suggestion, though we can't promise to use them all.
To close we want to make a deal with everyone who uses and enjoys the site - as long as you keep "Making Yours Maniac!" we'll keep trying our best to put out some great content. No strings attached, no special hours or other conditions, just a simple promise.
Bobbi & Rob
