Thursday, September 5, 2002
Relationships category
We now have some great blogs that cover relationships. These blogs are listed under Personal, which is so generic that it's not a terribly useful category.
So, I'd like to suggest that we add a Relationships category, move any other blogs in Personal to Other, and hide the Personal category for now. If anyone sees a problem with this, please speak up.
Read. Write. Rant.
We believe this new statement better reflects the site's mission. In one short week, we've seen a vibrant community emerge, with powerful voices, intense discussions and reciprocal links.
Changes to Post Excerpts and Number of Posts on Main Blog Page
As requested by several writers, the standard length of post excerpts is now much higher. Post excerpts are shown to readers who have not yet subscribed, included in e-mail sent using E-mail Page, and placed in your syndicated headlines (in RSS format). You can see what the excerpts look like by signing out before viewing your blog.
You can now adjust the excerpt length as well as the number of posts shown on the main blog page. To do so, select "Change display settings" on your blog editing page.
Writer Earnings Now Public
You can now see the estimated earnings to-date for each writer on their Profile page. For more info, see the earlier post on the ongoing transparency effort.
500th Post!
Congratulations to
Tenorman.Net for writing post #500 on Blogging Network!
Wednesday, September 4, 2002
Blogging Network coverage on Paid
Paid has a
post on Blogging Network and the ensuing "raging debate".
Joanne Jacobs on Blogging Network
Joanne Jacobs has an encouraging
post about her Blogging Network experience on her free blog. She also points to a relevant
cartoon "worth 1,000 words".
Service Improvements
We've made a few improvements requested by subscribers, and fixed a critical bug.
- As part of the increased transparency effort discussed earlier, a Stats section has been added to the home page
- A bug that could allow a member to discover another member's e-mail address, by checking "Send copy to me" on the Send E-mail page, has been fixed
- The non-subscriber "sign in" link has been made more visible
- The text on statements has been updated to clarify the end date of the statement period
Monday, September 2, 2002
Transparency
I’d like to suggest that we make some useful information public. One, the number of subscribers to Blogging Network. Two, the earnings for each writer.
That might sound strange. After all, this kind of information is often kept secret.
However, if everyone has this information, the network can work more efficiently. It’s easy to see progress, and to connect actions to results. It’s clear that half of readers’ payments are going to writers. And, it’s simple for writers to compare their results and make decisions.
Let me know what you think. If you have any concerns, now would be a good time to voice them. 
Pending Statements
If you have a blog, your Writer's Account Summary should now include a "pending" statement dated October 1. This statement covers the month of September, and will become final on October 1.
An important note: your October 1 statement will only cover payments from the readers who subscribed on August 28-30.
This is because the site only became public on August 28, and each reader's subscription payment is distributed to writers at the end of the reader's monthly cycle. Your next statement, which will be dated November 1, will include both August and September subscribers.
The pending October 1 statement includes an estimate of your earnings so far this month. The estimate is updated once a day. To learn how this estimate is calculated, and why it's just an estimate, see Help > Earnings.
