Changes on the Patch

I thought I'd take a few minutes to talk about something other than the weather since that is too boring at the moment!

As many of you are aware, the Patch website has been undergoing some changes lately, and in my opinion, are not changes for the better. You've probably noticed that the section for "What People are Saying" is now down to displaying one comment versus the eight or so we use to see. Instead in it's place is an ad, not exactly what you came to read is it? Why would the Patch reduce the space to one comment? And to make matters worse, a bloggers comments will no longer display on the main page. If I wanted to update you on a post I made, you would never see it by going to the main page but instead would have to go to the blog post.

At this point I rarely waste my time making a comment because most of you won't see it anyway. So my question is why did they move this to the top but only give it a very small area to view when there is a whole column on the right to display it in? Another issue is that I can no longer see images when I try to preview my blog post which makes it hard to determine what's been added and what hasn't!

All in all, I've been posting less due to the issues that make it more difficult to post and make updates. I've sent several emails with suggestions such as requesting that the bloggers have additional features such as inline images in order to provide richer content, add a way for users to subscribe to bloggers and be notified via email when a new post is made, and provide statistical information regarding blog traffic, not to mention all of the "fixes" that need to be made.

These are just several items of improvement I've requested. I've sent many emails to the Patch support people regarding these and other issues that I'm having as a blogger, but I'm sure you have an opinion of the direction the Patch is headed also. As a group, we can provide input for the developers of the Patch by providing feedback and suggestions, and you can do that by sending an email to feedback@patch.com. One voice isn't usually heard, so please let them know what you think.

Now is your chance to take ownership of the content on the Patch. It's now time for the Patch developers to start listening to our ideas and suggestions in order to help take the Patch to the next level. Are you in?

Speak up, let's hear your feedback!