V2 Article Order

[bluegate]

What method is used to sort the articles showing up at the top of the page?

It's one of the first things people see when they get to the site, yet old articles seem to be stuck on there while new articles don't show up.

Going by date order in the above image, I see articles from Oct. 3, Oct. 9, Oct.9, Oct. 8, back into the future with Oct. 9 and finally an article of Oct. 2.

Meanwhile, the Escapist' main attraction for many years, Zero Punctuation, is no where to be seen on one's first glance of the website, one'd have to scroll down to find it. I personally wouldn't know that there was a new episode if I didn't know that a new one comes out every Wednesday.

Might want to put some more thought into the presentation of the main page's articles there, having the same old articles stuck on the top might give casual visitors the impression that nothing's going on with the website.

Edit: Especially on mobile, where one would have to scroll past 6 old articles before one would get to the new Zero Punctuation in this case.

 

[IceForce]

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/latest/

 

[Drathnoxis]

It's also called Escapist Magazine again, instead of The Escapist, which sucks and is going to RUIN THE SITE FOREVER!

 

[Basement Cat]

It's also called Escapist Magazine again, instead of The Escapist, which sucks and is going to RUIN THE SITE FOREVER!

Shocking.

I foresee an increase in new content across the board plus a growing number of viewers.

T'is the End of Days.[footnote]P.S. I figured you were being sarcastic, btw. [/footnote]

 

[Drathnoxis]

It's also called Escapist Magazine again, instead of The Escapist, which sucks and is going to RUIN THE SITE FOREVER!

Shocking.

I foresee an increase in new content across the board plus a growing number of viewers.

T'is the End of Days.[footnote]P.S. I figured you were being sarcastic, btw. [/footnote]

Exactly, that too. Gonna bring in all the noobs. We were pure, distilled to only the most stubborn and resistant to change. Soon we might be in danger of actually having new people invade our sanctum.

Seriously though, 'The Escapist' just sounds way cooler.

 

[bluegate]

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/latest/

I know, right?

I'm raising the questions as to why that isn't the default page, why the choice was made to "hide" new content behind a second navigational click on the website, what the negative or positive effects are of possibly having the same old content visible on the top of the front page for days for casual viewers.

Go to most game websites or news websites in general and they'll serve their latest entries on the page you land on, front and center, maybe they'll have a little subsection that is ordered by comment activity on the side for people who are into that.

 

[IceForce]

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/latest/

I know, right?

I'm raising the questions as to why that isn't the default page, why the choice was made to "hide" new content behind a second navigational click on the website, what the negative or positive effects are of possibly having the same old content visible on the top of the front page for days for casual viewers.

Go to most game websites or news websites in general and they'll serve their latest entries on the page you land on, front and center, maybe they'll have a little subsection that is ordered by comment activity on the side for people who are into that.

Meh. I assume they've adopted the reddit model. Go to any subreddit on reddit, and the default sorting is "Hot", NOT "New".

You can sort it by "New" if you want, but the default "Hot" sorting (depending on the activity of the subreddit in question) can mean that submissions might linger around on the subreddit front page for days, and certain new content might not even show up at all.

I assume there's some sort of algorithm at work there, but no-one seems to know how it works or why it's there. I imagine the new Escapist homepage is using a similar algorithm.