Getting started: a short Daily Mole FAQ
Welcome to the public phase of the Daily Mole’s beta test. We’ve been in private (invitation-only, password-protected) mode for a couple of weeks now. There are numerous additional changes coming to the site soon, but we wanted to lift the veil–and the password screen that some of users were finding cumbersome–and get started sooner rather than later.
We’ll be publishing beta feedback threads at the site. Or you can email us about any problems or questions you have, here.
(Last revised 10/26/07)
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What’s the Daily Mole all about?
A: The Daily Mole is a blogs-and-multimedia-based pro-journalism and community conversation site–the first of its kind in the Twin Cities. It features four main content tabs:
- Twin Cities (covering local news, arts, music, media, and more);
- Pop Media (our national arts/pop culture blog, covering movies, the web, music, TV, and books);
- Talk (our local issues/conversations blog, featuring both pro-journo and community contributions);
- and Multimedia Lounge (the home of original Daily Mole multimedia content as well as a repository for local music, local film/videoblogging, and photo galleries).
To learn more about the Daily Mole in general–how it came about, what it stands for, and why we’re calling it a journalism and community site–please read our Founding Principles, the Mole Manifesto, and our User Guidines at About Us.
Q: What’s a “beta test,” anyway?
A: Beta testing of a website usually starts when the basic features and tools are essentially complete, but there’s still work to do on fine-tuning the site’s software, design, navigation, etc. (There are more new user tools coming to the site, as well; more about that below.)
That’s where we’re at.
Q: So what are “beta testers” supposed to do?
A: Two things.
First, and most important: Use the site just as you would any other. We hope you’ll visit regularly and that you’ll join in on conversation threads that interest you. We also hope you’ll take advantage of the “Submit a post to this blog” tool that we’ll be installing shortly. That will allow you to submit your original news, review, or conversation-starter threads for publication at Daily Mole blogs.
Second: Talk to us. Let us know about any problems you have in using or navigating the site. If you find something confusing, or if a site tool doesn’t work correctly, or if you encounter any other problems you think we ought to know about, please let us know. Leave a comment at one of the beta feedback open threads posted at the Twin Cities blog, or you can email us directly, here.
Q: Are there more changes coming in the near future?
A: Yes. For starters, the volume of content we post daily will grow over time as we move toward a full public launch. In addition, there are a number of site features/tools that we’ll be adding or changing soon:
- You’re liable to see site design-and-graphics elements–including the layout of the home page–changing before your eyes in the days to come.
- The vertical blogroll column at the center of the page will include a Submit an original post to this blog tool that lets you create posts and submit them to the editors of the Daily Mole for publication.
- The Daily Mole will also include a tool to make it easy for you to upload photos and image galleries via Flickr. This is still in the works.
Some of the other things we’re working on:
- We’re proud to feature Upcoming, a Yahoo! company and Web 2.0 events listings pioneer, as our local listings partner. But for now, to call our listings “rudimentary” would be polite. We’ll be working on the graphic presentation and on integrating more of Upcoming’s impressive features into the Daily Mole.
- For now, Multimedia Lounge is formatted as a blog where we post (or cross-post) Daily Mole items that serve multimedia files. Later on, Multimedia Lounge will feature a gallery tool that lets you look through and choose from thumbnails of the multimedia stored there.
