Need help? Check out our Support site, then


WordPress.com Forums » Support

1234…9

Why has WP destroyed my hit count with the Topics Reader?

  1. thistimethisspace
    Member

    @happygrape2
    This is timethief but I'm logged in under the username I have for my personal blog.

    Does anybody know of any other websites that had layouts similar to the old topics page?

    There are many other free blog hosts. You can use Google search to locate them. I have checked them all out quite thoroughly and I do have blogs on other free blog hosts. However, IMO none of them are equivalent to what we have here at WordPress.com, which is why my blogs are still hosted here.

    If you log out of WordPress.com then you can access the Topics (global tags) pages. Example: Log out and try putting this in your upper browser bar and then clicking http://wordpress.com/tags/history/ You can simply change "history" to any other keyword. In the case of a keyword phrase you separate the keywords words with dashes. Example: http://wordpress.com/tags/history-books/

  2. onlyfragments
    Member

    Just out of curiosity, how many people have completely stopped visiting the topics page to find new posts/blogs? I'd be interested to see the numbers on that.

  3. leannewhatever
    Member

    I have looked, but haven't clicked on anything, I can't get past how it doesn't work properly. It keeps getting stuck, then again, the only time I've looked at it is to see if my blog came up straight after I posted, which it didn't. I don't look to find other blogs anymore.

  4. gardnersworld
    Member

    Having reviewed all of the above, here's a proposed solution: engage in a proper consultation with valued WP users on options for a solution that addresses the "buggy" (whatever that means) problems that, apparently, exist with the tags gallery. In the meantime, restore it! Remember that it will be a big mistake to ignore the views of the people who care enough about the WP community to spend their time coming on this forum to express their views and give feedback. Come on, powers that be within WP - you know it makes (business) sense

  5. thistimethisspace
    Member

    @onlyfragments

    Just out of curiosity, how many people have completely stopped visiting the topics page to find new posts/blogs? I'd be interested to see the numbers on that.

    How could the numbers be determined without polling 31 million? Also what difference would it make? This isn't a democracy. Staff have clearly stated:

    We have no plans to change it back at this time. http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/why-has-wp-destroyed-my-hit-count-with-the-topics-reader/page/2?replies=63#post-884514

    And we all have the option of hiring a web host and setting up a WordPress.org install or moving our blogs to another free blog host.

  6. gardnersworld
    Member

    This latter comment is very concerning. It sounds like there is an ulterior motive behind the "Reader" change, which seeks to break up the WP community by forcing us to move to external hosts? Now that is something against which we should all rebel. And this time, timethief/alternativelogon, please don't close down/censor my thread for expressing these views.

  7. leannewhatever
    Member

    So WP is becoming a dictatorship. Why would we pay to use the platform somewhere else, there are other free blogs out there.
    This is very concerning. Is that the intention of WP that we should all take the platform somewhere else and be independent without the community?

  8. onlyfragments
    Member

    I'm obviously not suggesting a poll of all users. Just interested in seeing whether the change has caused people to alter their habits on the site. If we stop talking about this, of course the reader format will stay. Maybe if we keep discussing it, though, the opportunity to get the old format will eventually come around.

    And any customer-reliant entity is on some level a democracy. If the majority of the clients are unhappy about something, that should be looked into. It doesn't NEED to be changed simply because people are unhappy, but it SHOULD be discussed. Being told to "take it or leave" seems a hostile reaction when most of us are trying to keep the discussion civil.

    At any rate, whether they change it back or not, the bugs in the reader DO need to be addressed. Lag time and loading issues are obviously plaguing many users, not just a small minority. If staff wants to keep the new topics reader format, great - but it'd be nice if it worked most of the time. And until it does work, they can't exactly blame us for being unhappy.

  9. happygrape2
    Member

    thanks timethief!

  10. timethief
    Member

    @happygrape2
    You're welcome. :)

  11. roughseasinthemed
    Member

    1) @ timethief, appreciate you have taken time to post not just once, but twice, the link to use the old tag format.

    It works! but then, as soon as you want to comment you have to log in :(

    2) One of our HEs (I think) did say that they had super duper stats on how many people were using reader. Well, as it is now the default that hardly indicates anything does it?

    In general

    3) I'm still waiting for all the fans of the new topics in reader to show up. I'm also waiting to find out why freshly pressed hasn't yet migrated.

    Shall I start a new topic??

  12. bethsciallo
    Member

    I am really struggling with this new topics/tags change. As a blog reader, I have lost the ability to choose quickly and efficiently - I KNOW that I've missed out on good posts because there is simply not enough time to scroll through them now. The pages were beautiful and artistically displayed.Now, it looks like a Facebook page. WHAT?

    As a writer, most of my hits have come from the topics/tags link. I'm new to this, but I've had hardly ANY hits in this new format. My work is mainly in art and photography - the visual displays were how people found me! I seem to be lost in the scroll down.
    HELP!

  13. nickmomrik
    Staff

    ...the bugs in the reader DO need to be addressed. Lag time and loading issues are obviously plaguing many users, not just a small minority.

    We are still waiting for details and bug reports. ;-)

  14. onlyfragments
    Member

    Well, since any non-paying users can't access support right now, you might be waiting a while. Anyway, I did send one in and didn't get much of an answer back.

  15. nickmomrik
    Staff

    You can also get support right here.

  16. thismightbepropaganda
    Member

    Can someone please explain why my newly posted posts do not show up in the new reader. What's going on?

    To see them I have to log out and then got to wordpress/tags/(subject) to get the old style grid view where I can see my post. I've cross referenced this old style view with the reader and I notice other posts are missing too.

    Does the new reader only display certain posts (like fresh pressed) .... what's the deal? Is someone at wordpress deciding which ones to display (in the reader I mean)?

    BTW I also hate the new reader. Scanning a grid layout is far more natural for the eyes/brain than vertical scrolling. Also the new scrolling is very clunky and often sticks. It's just horrible!

  17. markjwallis
    Member

    I just posted and went straight to the Reader and sure enough, no post. Under any of the tags I used in my post. Nothing but old posts '3 mins ago' more like 3 days ago. When the train-wreck of an interface actually moves... it shows repeats! Yes, you can drool over cupcake recipes repeatedly. In fact, you can't escape from them. Is that how Safari Lion users get treated?

    Brilliant. Where is my post please? This one here - it's invisible to most people...

    http://markjwallis.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/freshly-pressed-and-famous/

  18. timethief
    Member

    @thismightbepropaganda
    Will you please check the Topics > Missing posts entry and be sure none of the reasons for non-appearance apply? Also note that display of posts on the most popular Topics ( Tags and Categories) Pages is randomized simply because there are so many posts being published evry minute of the day.

  19. thismightbepropaganda
    Member

    Thanks for the reply.

    I don't think I have violated any of the tag and category rules/ etiquette. And anyway I CAN still see my posts when I sign out and use wordpress/tags/(subject)....... it's only when I sign in and try using the new reader that my posts aren't visible.

    I've *never* had a new post not appear in the old grid based topics pages (I usually check my posts there to see what the featured image/ text looks like). It's only since this new reader thing came out that my new posts have failed to appear.

    The whole thing is a nightmare!

    Thanks anyway :)

  20. timethief
    Member

    @thismightbepropaganda

    I CAN still see my posts when I sign out and use wordpress/tags/(subject)....... it's only when I sign in and try using the new reader that my posts aren't visible.

    Thanks for checking. That's valuable information for Staff.

  21. nickmomrik
    Staff

    Also note that display of posts on the most popular Topics ( Tags and Categories) Pages is randomized simply because there are so many posts being published evry minute of the day.

    Not true. Posts appear in order according to the date/time they are published (or if a tag/category is added later, that date/time is used). The old global tag pages and tagazines had some different algorithms for ordering.

  22. nickmomrik
    Staff

    @thismightbepropaganda, please provide the URL of post(s) you are looking for and which topics you have checked.

  23. nickmomrik
    Staff

    @markjwallis, the post at http://markjwallis.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/freshly-pressed-and-famous/ has 17 tags+categories. Anything with more than 10 will not be shown in Topics.

  24. nickmomrik
    Staff

    I also want to make mention about stats, which was the original post in this thread. I checked several of your blogs and didn't see any traffic decreases linked to fewer global tags referrers. In fact, of the blogs I checked, very few had any referrers at all in the last month from the global tags.

    If you still think your stats are falling due to the Topics in the Reader change, I'll be happy to take a look. Reply with the URL to your site and make sure you are ok with us quoting some of your stat counts here in the forum with our findings.

  25. markjwallis
    Member

    @nickmomrick

    Thanks, I didn't know that, have edited tags and now appear in reader. My mistake.

  26. leannewhatever
    Member

    If I can ask, then why did so many people stop getting as many hits when you did all the changes. My stats went down by a third to half in the last week. It would seem too much of a coincidence that when you the changes were made, so many people noticed that their stats had gone down. I assumed I lost all the people who would look at my blog from the reader, and then it stopped appearing there, now it is back, my stats have gone up again.

  27. timethief
    Member

    @nickmomrik
    Oh my! Thanks for the correction re:randomized display.

  28. feartheseeds
    Member

    @leannewhatever: stats go up, stats go down. It happens. Maybe, if this matters so much to you, you could supply a screenshot of your stats from the past twelve months so we can see the problem you're having.

  29. leannewhatever
    Member

    @feartheseeds I know stats go up and down, I'm not an idiot despite what you may think. I can see myself, that from the 4 of May my stats dropped dramatically from what they were. At first I thought it was just random, but then I noticed that my blog was no longer appearing on the reader, that explains it to me.

    Since I've reduced the amount of tags and categories that I was using it has appeared again, and my stats are back up to where they were before the 4th.

    I know I am not the only one who has had this problem.

    I don't understand why WP will stand up and say, "hey this is what we are doing, like it or leave", but don't have the guts to stand up and say "we stuffed up" or "that what they did did effect people".

    I AM NOT STUPID, and I don't appreciate you treating me as though I am. I can see for myself, that something wordpress did changed how many people were looking at my blog. I was feeling very depressed about it, but then realised it was happening to many many people. That can't just be a normal pattern, to me there is a definite correlation between what WP did and the stats.

  30. nickmomrik
    Staff

    @leannewhatever Look at your referrers from global tags over the last 30 days and then look at them for the last 7 days. More than half of the 30 day total has come in the last 7 days. Your traffic from global tags is actually going up even though logged in users can no longer access them. Your overall view numbers did not drop due to this change. The number of referrals you get from global tags is actually very small compared to other sources of traffic.

Topic Closed

This topic has been closed to new replies.

About this Topic

Tags