How Can We Make Digital Media Thoughts Better?

[Jason Dunn]

Digital Media Thoughts has been around now for eight months, which is long enough to work out most of the technical kinks and get down to the task of providing the best Web site possible. So the question is, are we doing that? I think we got off to a good start, but there's always room to do better.<br /><br />One of the challenges unique to Digital Media Thoughts, unlike <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/">Pocket PC Thoughts</a> or <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/">Smartphone Thoughts</a>, is that the topic area is very broad. This site has the most far-reaching topic area of any Thoughts Media site, and that's both positive and negative. On the up side, there's no shortage of news and cool stuff for us to talk about - anything related to digital media is fair game. The down side is that because our topic area is so broad, our forums have been slow to take off because the focus is so broad.<br /><br />I never envisioned this site being a better digital camera site than dpreview.com - but I did envision it serving as a hub of information for sites like dpreview, filtering and focusing the best of digital media-related content on the Web today. I think we're doing a decent job at that, and we're publishing a couple of reviews a week now, which I'm thrilled to see.<br /><br />How can we do better? What sorts of things would make this site more useful to you? Do we do too much of one thing, or not enough of another? I'm open to constructive criticism, but be gentle please. ;-)

[Brandon Miniman]

I'm a frequent visitor to DMT, as a find it a convenience to have all digital media news in one place with an easy-on-the-eyes layout. In terms of content, I find DMT to usually be very much "on the ball" with new posts, but there are often a few days where only three or four new posts are made, while perhaps the day before there were twice that amount.

Regarding forums, I think there are too many forums offered by DMT at this point. There seem to be a forum for just about anything, which could be daunting to a new user. Once the forum becomes established, adding other sub forums could be a working endeavor.

I'm unware if you've been doing this, but having dedicated moderators per each forum to initiate conversation usually helps stimulate discussion.

[The Yaz]

Jason,

I frequent both DMT and PPCT, and I'm grateful you and your team have put in the time and effort to have these sites. You present knowledge on technology in an organized fashion and I've learned a lot just by reading through the daily articles/discussions.

I'm far from a digital expert, so I only post when I feel that my experience is pertintent to the discussion. I think there are many who feel the same way, so you lack the posts, but I still think you have members dropping in to check on the latest articles/discussions.

If you want to increase postings, I would like to see weekly poll-type questions where you ask the members their experience with a segment of the industry (ie Who is using what brand/type of flash media?). It would get the ball rolling, and as people give their experiences, there would be replies and other questions generated.

The poll would be useful for you from a marketing point, allowing you to approach vendors like Linksys or iRiver for products for review or even affiliate link specials to offer the DMT membership.

I would also like to see more interviews with people in the industry. If you or Suhit schedule an interview and give DMT members the heads-up, we could then offer questions we would want you to ask them. I think this type of interaction is exciting for members and something that would set your site apart from others.

Please keep up the good work.

Steve 8)

[sylvangale]

I posted this the other day in the Community Forum regarding the Message boards being a bit much with too little discussion going on...


There are far too many boards and far too few postings to justify them. Please consider compressing the boards.

This will help stimulate the boards and if the boards end up being over run, then the moderators should suggest splitting a board when that happens.

Also "Community Discussion" should head all discussions

It is of the upmost benefit to the site that visitors see it as an active site.

Compression Example:
Digital Photography>
"PC and Mac Software for Digital Photography"
"Printing Your Photos"
"Digital Cameras and Accessories"
"Digital Imaging Hardware"


http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6748

[Chris Gohlke]

I love DMT, my only "complaint" is that it does not have near the following of PPCT. I would love to see that kind of participation in this area. Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of suggestions on how to improve it. I'd concur with the other sentiments though. Instead of catagories for each hardware vendor, just roll them up into hardware.

And of course a DMT favicon for us Firefox users.

[Filip Norrgard]

Hi Jason,

I personally think DMT could be improved at these points:
Clear "mission statement" (aka. slogan) -- that defines DMT and what DMT is about. Sort of like "News and views on photography, video and the software inbetween." People like to know what the site they are visiting is all about. Digital media can be just about anything digital to some, depending on how they define digital media.

Shorten the forums, at least a bit. The list is quite lenghty and it is hard to find the right place for posting. It will then apper cleaner and more organized, with more people willing to take the dare to post something. When DMT starts to grow, add to the forums list to widen the discussions.

Talking about the forums, there are topics that I miss: digital TV hardware and software (belongs under digital video?), and digital storage (external drives, burners, memory, tapes... etc.).

Cross-Thought Media-sites news in a small ad-like box on the front page of PPCT and SPT. Sort of a "have a look at the news over at DMT" and a short rundown of the latest posted news over at DMT. This could attract a whole lot of the off-topic digital media posts over at PPCT to DMT, and people also. ;)

Other than that, DMT is sure a great site that many people unfortunately miss and we need to start spreading the word about DMT. It would be great if DMT could get listed on Google News, but that happens only when it becomes a renowned news site (as PPCT is). Anyone got any scandalous to write for DMT regarding digital media that we could try to get slashdotted? :P

And to you who are mainly reading DMT and not posting your thoughts; shout it out now, when you have the chance to express your thoughts -- it is what this site is all about! :D

[Zack Mahdavi]

I love the news you all post everyday. I find I keep coming back here many times a day just to see what's new. I generally post on the topics linked to articles, but I rarely surf the forums.

I find the forums have way too many categories. Some of them don't even have any posts at all. I suggest you broaden the topics in the forums, e.g. instead of having a "canon cameras" and "sony cameras" forums, just remove those and group them with a "digital cameras" forum. It makes surfing through the forums easier as one doesn't have to go to five different categories just to see posts related to the same subject.

Also, I agree with the above poster that posting more polls would help get the ball rolling with the forums. Finally, this site desperately lacks reviews. I think more reviews about anything digital-media related is absolutely necessary.

Keep up the good work, everyone!

[Chris Gohlke]

Here is another idea I think was brought up a while back. Sometime the same story is posted on multiple sites, but there are three seperate discussion threads a combined discussion would help tie the sites together.

[Jason Dunn]

...I find DMT to usually be very much "on the ball" with new posts, but there are often a few days where only three or four new posts are made, while perhaps the day before there were twice that amount.

Some days there's just not much news, but we can certainly improve upon our level of consistency - we're looking to grow the team to help flesh out more content.

Regarding forums, I think there are too many forums offered by DMT at this point.

It's funny, I trimmed/merged about five forums a few weeks ago, but obviously I didn't quite do enough. ;-) I agree though we should simplify our forum structure.

I'm unaware if you've been doing this, but having dedicated moderators per each forum to initiate conversation usually helps stimulate discussion.

That's actually something that we've never done on any site - moderators to me are people who moderate discussions, deal with breaches of site policy, etc. Front-page editors are the people who are supposed to get the discussions going, but I'll think about it some more. :-)

Thanks for the feedback!

[Jason Dunn]

Good idea on the polls!

I would also like to see more interviews with people in the industry.

Another good idea - thanks!

[Jason Dunn]

I love DMT, my only "complaint" is that it does not have near the following of PPCT.

Well, we all feel that way, but I can say with 100% confidence that 8 months in, Digital Media Thoughts is pulling more traffic then Pocket PC Thoughts was, so we're ahead of the game in that regard. You have to remember that Pocket PC Thoughts has been around four years, so it takes time to achieve that critical mass.

[theukulele]

I'd love to be able to read Digital Media Thoughts on my pocketpc, like I do PocketPC Thoughts. Every month or so I click on "Mobile", but it always says "coming soon".

I really enjoy the mix of articles you have on the site overall.

[Jason Dunn]

Cross-Thought Media-sites news[/b] in a small ad-like box on the front page of PPCT and SPT

Yeah, this has been on our list FOREVER, but we just can't quite seem to get it done. I agree we need it though!

It would be great if DMT could get listed on Google News...

Actually, we are a Google news source - and one day we were listed as a featured story on Google News and it brought in an extra 5000 visitors that morning, which was nice (but bad for our server mind you).

Thanks for the feedback!

[Jason Dunn]

Finally, this site desperately lacks reviews. I think more reviews about anything digital-media related is absolutely necessary.

Well, we've only got eight people on our review team, so we're doing the best we can. That's something I want to keep growing though, that's for sure - I want to get to the point where we're publishing three reviews a week like Pocket PC Thoughts does.

[Jason Dunn]

Sometime the same story is posted on multiple sites, but there are three seperate discussion threads a combined discussion would help tie the sites together.

I know what you mean - there are more comments about Photo Story 3 over at Pocket PC Thoughts then there are comments at Digital Media Thoughts, and it's much more of a digital media topic.

Unfortunately, because all three sites have their own instance of phpBB, that's not possible. If were were able to go back in time to re-architect things, we'd combine them under one set of forums, but we can't, so this is the best we could come up with. :-)

[Jason Dunn]

I'd love to be able to read Digital Media Thoughts on my pocketpc, like I do PocketPC Thoughts. Every month or so I click on "Mobile", but it always says "coming soon".

&lt;sigh> That's my fault for not updating that page with more accurate information - see, we actually do have a mobile site. Hit www.digitalmediathoughts.com on your Pocket PC and you'll see a fully formatted mobile page...and if you're a paying subscriber, you'll get the same great mobile forums we have at Pocket PC Thoughts.

[wesk]

Jason,

I would like to see is a central location for all the great training articles you post. I've seen some in the past about things like megapixel size & printing. When I see the article, I think that's neat, I'll have to read that article when I have time. But when I have time, which may be days later, the article has dropped off the main pages and then I have to hunt for it. And then if I didn't make note of the articles name either that makes it harder to find. :(

How about a do it yourself section? I'm sure there a lot of people out there looking for an answer to how to hook this up, how to build a DVR, etc. And I'm sure that alot of people out there have done these things, I know I have. You'd just have to promote it. :D

More contests? Did you ever finish giving away all the prizes in your contest? That was bringing people to the site.

Wes

[Jason Dunn]

I would like to see is a central location for all the great training articles you post.

All our articles are archived here:

http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/articles.php

Or are you talking about our day to day news posts that you'd want to reference later but can't find? That's a bit tricky since we have so many - usually with the important ones, we flag them as articles.

How about a do it yourself section?

Good idea - we currently have ZERO step by step articles published, which is something I've wanted to change for a long time now.

Thanks for the feedback!

[aliensix]

The site may be only 8months old (hey I didn't notice that, it seems so expreienced!), its so informative and garners great interesting articles. I mean unlike those sites with specific brand-model information, DigitalMediaThoughts displays information about anything techie. I for one like that! In fact, I surf over here first thing everyday when I get online just to see what else new is updated. Can be quite addictive I'd say. The giveaways are also great attractions! So keep it up, any changes for the better is appreciated, but don't slur towards specifics. I guess forums may have specific categories for certain discussion points for certain products.

Cheers!
AliensIX

[butch]

I know what you mean - there are more comments about Photo Story 3 over at Pocket PC Thoughts then there are comments at Digital Media Thoughts, and it's much more of a digital media topic.

This is the perfect example, I think on PPCT you should have the message with the link to the thread on DMT and lock the one on PPCT. So people who want to discuss about it will come here.

[mcsouth]

First off, I have DMT set as one of my home pages in FireFox, and I check the site out at least twice a day, if not more often. It ranks as one of my 'must-read' sites daily, along with PPCThoughts.

Way back, you asked how we thought the site was going after the first several weeks of operation. My thoughts at the time:

"I think what I am looking for the most in Digital Media Thoughts is not so much product reviews on digital cameras, or other hardware, so much as software and hardware solutions, tutorials, and other reviews that address the growing need to maintain control over the huge amount of digital media that we are amassing each day! I am finding that just trying to rip and organize my CD collection to be time-consuming and puzzling (I rip to 64 kbps wma to suit my PPC, but would like to have a higher quality format also - how to manage???)

I am unfortunately about 2-3 years too late with my "living room" PC, since I would love to have Star Trek Enterprise 'captured' and burned to DVD in some kind of appropriate file format (mpeg4? wmv? divx?...it's all so confusing....... Confused ).

I have been involved in photography since high school, and have a large collection of photographs, both conventional and digital, but have had limited success trying to scan my older photos - not sure if it is the scanner or my settings.......

In short, I am hoping that Digital Media Thoughts may help bring some order and sanity to my little collection of digital media. "

I've thought about it, and this issue still ranks highly. As much as I think I am a geek, I still get easily confused when I start thinking about transcoding video (what do all the terms mean, what codec should I use...), or how to configure a PC to use as a PVR - there are lots of options out there, and it's not always so clear what the best route is - an AIW card? Or a Hauppauge TV tuner?

I agree with others that the digital media blanket covers a lot of ground, so I think that you need to consider exactly how much of it you want to tackle on this site, and what your specialities are going to be. Or you might run focussed sessions, where for a period of time, the reviews and tutorials cover one aspect of digital media, and then you shift to a different topic the following week or month.

For now, while I realize that this is a hot market right now, I am starting to OD a bit on all of the MP3 players. With the release of MCE2005, I would be more interested in a review of the MCE2005 interface, with maybe a comparison to other solutions, such as Snapstream's recent upgrade to Beyond TV (v3.5). I've seen some random posts about these items, but little real concrete information.

Don't go too wild and crazy, but some focus and a bit more depth on a few specific subjects would be appreciated. Beyond that, I still think this is a great site, and well worth the daily visits! :D

[backpackerx]

2 thoughts:

1. I like the ideas on the how-to articles. I know whenever I'm learning a new technology like how to convert video for use on my Pocket PC, how to get DV video on my computer and edit it, or what is important when looking for a digital camera/camcorder, I spend hours searching online and have to pull from multiple sources. Simple articles that explain video and audio codecs, software solutions etc would be great.

2. I would love to see an "ask the experts" category in each topic. I know we can always post a question in a general forum and get answers but if there was a category like that in digital video for instance, I could write a question like, "what hardware and software do I need to make home movies on dvd" and then we can rely on the various knowledgeable people in our community. I for one would pass my knowledge on.

[Crocuta]

Cross-Thought Media-sites news[/b] in a small ad-like box on the front page of PPCT and SPT

Yeah, this has been on our list FOREVER, but we just can't quite seem to get it done. I agree we need it though!

Sometime the same story is posted on multiple sites, but there are three seperate discussion threads a combined discussion would help tie the sites together.

I know what you mean - there are more comments about Photo Story 3 over at Pocket PC Thoughts then there are comments at Digital Media Thoughts, and it's much more of a digital media topic.

Unfortunately, because all three sites have their own instance of phpBB, that's not possible. If were were able to go back in time to re-architect things, we'd combine them under one set of forums, but we can't, so this is the best we could come up with. :-)

I think these two things would do more to increase the participation here than anything else. You already have the traffic on PPCT, and you can leverage it to get people in the habit of participating here too.

I get what you're saying about how you didn't set up the sites to share discussion threads, but there has to be a way to hack it. Heck, you were around in the old BBS days and we managed to run worldwide forums by linking together various PCs by telephones passing along the day's messages. Today, I can have an email sent to me every time a post is entered in a particular thread.

So why can't you set up a script that takes each new message entered into a particular thread and automatically sends it to the other server? The other server would have a script that received them and put them into the specified thread. Even if they don't share a database, you can still automate the moving around of information; that's what computers are for.

Also, I agree about reducing the number of forums.

[ale_ers]

Finally, this site desperately lacks reviews. I think more reviews about anything digital-media related is absolutely necessary.

Well, we've only got eight people on our review team, so we're doing the best we can. That's something I want to keep growing though, that's for sure - I want to get to the point where we're publishing three reviews a week like Pocket PC Thoughts does.

Speaking of which, did I miss your review of the portable Media Center?

I remember you mentioning that you got a Zen to review, but I never saw the review.

These are things that I am interested. If you look at the last few issues of PC Mag, this site should be flourishing. Digital Media is growing by leaps and bounds. I enjoy checking this site every day or so for the latest products, but I would love to see more reviews from you guys. I think your team offers a prospective on new products similar to me.

[Jason Dunn]

Speaking of which, did I miss your review of the portable Media Center? I remember you mentioning that you got a Zen to review, but I never saw the review.

I never did one - I only had the device for two weeks, I found much if it frustrating to use, quite limited, and ultimately I just never got around to writing down my thoughts on it. I have lots of screen shots and snippets of info about my experience with it, but I just never found the time to put it together. When I had to send the device back so quickly, and when every other site out there had already published their reviews on it, well...that pretty much sapped my desire to crank out a review. :?

[Suhit Gupta]

I would also like to see more interviews with people in the industry. If you or Suhit schedule an interview and give DMT members the heads-up, we could then offer questions we would want you to ask them. I think this type of interaction is exciting for members and something that would set your site apart from others.
That is a good idea and it is something quite doable. I have been going to digital media related press events on a monthly (or once every two months) basis now. I can post about them ahead of time and ask you folks if you have any questions you would like me to ask vendors.

Suhit

[Suhit Gupta]

I love DMT, my only "complaint" is that it does not have near the following of PPCT. I would love to see that kind of participation in this area. Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of suggestions on how to improve it.
Dude, I totally agree with you. I basically watch the hit stats for DMT on a daily basis (typically one of the first links I hit in the morning) and am always disappointed when the numbers don't grow as rapidly as I hope. But then Jason tells me that we have only been around for about 7-8 months and it takes a long time to grow. In fact, he also mentioned that sometimes it is bad to grow too rapidly because then you lose your audience just as quickly.

Suhit

[Suhit Gupta]

More contests? Did you ever finish giving away all the prizes in your contest? That was bringing people to the site.
Ok I have to admit that not only am I lazy but also very forgetful. Lately my thesis work has been making rapid progress so I get caught up with that every night. But I just added "prize giveaway" as a daily reminder to Outlook so I am not going to forget it anymore.

Suhit

[Suhit Gupta]

For now, while I realize that this is a hot market right now, I am starting to OD a bit on all of the MP3 players. With the release of MCE2005, I would be more interested in a review of the MCE2005 interface, with maybe a comparison to other solutions, such as Snapstream's recent upgrade to Beyond TV (v3.5). I've seen some random posts about these items, but little real concrete information
Will try and keep that in mind. In fact lately I have been trying to push for the 'combine multiple news about different MP3 players into one post' idea. I think that reduce the apparent emphasis on MP3 players.

Suhit

[Andy Manea]

Ehem, I kind-of like everything the way it is. This site is marked in my "daily treats" favorites folder and comes right after PPCT.

I am not sure about the contests. With the last prize it was pretty obvious that people did not even read ANYTHING but just left a message in the thread - even after the prize had already be given away. I think that's pretty sad - and hey - it's all about quality, not quantity!

But I do think polls would be a great idea (like you have them on SPT - yes, I sometimes sneak around on that page, too, even though It's really an MS centred page).

[Ploobers]

It might solve some of the problems with people not seeing what they want if you put some sort of filtering system in. Maybe flag each news entry as "Digital Camera", "MP3 Player", "PC", etc and people could change their viewing options in their profile. That would allow you to post a lot more content without people getting angry looking at stuff they don't care about. I personally like everything and the only thing I'd like better is if the site had even more news!

[sylvangale]

It would be nice if when you put up a an article to keep the main discussion thread for it in it's corresponding discussion forum, rather than in the archive.

For example... this thread should be in the Community Discussion Forum so that those who miss it as it scrolls off the front page can see it there and discuss. A copy can sit in the archive for archival purposes.

[Chris Gohlke]

Sometime the same story is posted on multiple sites, but there are three seperate discussion threads a combined discussion would help tie the sites together.

I know what you mean - there are more comments about Photo Story 3 over at Pocket PC Thoughts then there are comments at Digital Media Thoughts, and it's much more of a digital media topic.

Unfortunately, because all three sites have their own instance of phpBB, that's not possible. If were were able to go back in time to re-architect things, we'd combine them under one set of forums, but we can't, so this is the best we could come up with. :-)

So why can't you set up a script that takes each new message entered into a particular thread and automatically sends it to the other server? The other server would have a script that received them and put them into the specified thread. Even if they don't share a database, you can still automate the moving around of information; that's what computers are for.



EXACTLY! That was the solution in my head, but I had no idea how to communicate it.

[Chris Gohlke]

I love DMT, my only "complaint" is that it does not have near the following of PPCT.

Well, we all feel that way, but I can say with 100% confidence that 8 months in, Digital Media Thoughts is pulling more traffic then Pocket PC Thoughts was, so we're ahead of the game in that regard. You have to remember that Pocket PC Thoughts has been around four years, so it takes time to achieve that critical mass.

I agree, given the short time this site has been around, it is very impressive. I think the "Thoughts formula" is a surefire winner and the fact that most of the suggestions in this thread are really just minor tweaks to that formula is a testament to that. The thought of the day when DMT gets the traffic and discussion level of PPCT just makes me http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/images/smiles/drool.gif .

[Jason Dunn]

It would be nice if when you put up a an article to keep the main discussion thread for it in it's corresponding discussion forum, rather than in the archive. For example... this thread should be in the Community Discussion Forum so that those who miss it as it scrolls off the front page can see it there and discuss. A copy can sit in the archive for archival purposes.

Interesting concept, but unfortunately one that isn't compatible with our current setup. Right now we have a set of forums (the UPPERCASE ones) that, when we post a new message in them, they go to the front page and are archived after that based on date.

[the_rapture]

I know what you mean - there are more comments about Photo Story 3 over at Pocket PC Thoughts then there are comments at Digital Media Thoughts, and it's much more of a digital media topic.

Unfortunately, because all three sites have their own instance of phpBB, that's not possible. If were were able to go back in time to re-architect things, we'd combine them under one set of forums, but we can't, so this is the best we could come up with. :-)

Couldn't you just redirect people to DMT's for signup and posting for an article that clearly fall under DMTs, probably a good majority are already members here. Maybe that is where the problem lies is that you are cross posting info/news and we only have to go to one site to get it all. What about a one liner news for DMTs on the other sites that has the subject only. I know sometimes when I visit both, which I try to do everyday, there seems to be the same articles on both sites.

Just my 2 cents...

[Suhit Gupta]

So the idea is that we are planning (at some point in the future, hopefully near future) on going to a common posting engine of some sort. Like Jason said though, it will require some re-architecting.

About the one-liners, I suggested that to Jason some time ago and he liked the idea, so it is under development.

Suhit

[ale_ers]

Speaking of which, did I miss your review of the portable Media Center? I remember you mentioning that you got a Zen to review, but I never saw the review.

I never did one - I only had the device for two weeks, I found much if it frustrating to use, quite limited, and ultimately I just never got around to writing down my thoughts on it. I have lots of screen shots and snippets of info about my experience with it, but I just never found the time to put it together. When I had to send the device back so quickly, and when every other site out there had already published their reviews on it, well...that pretty much sapped my desire to crank out a review. :?

In fairness, this was before you had Media Center...I think you might have found more to love about it. I know that many find the PMC's limiting, but I think that the ease of use (if you have MCE) might outweigh that.

Personally, I think products like these are what will help grow this site. PPCT has the following it does because we share a passion about a common device.

[Jason Dunn]

In fairness, this was before you had Media Center...I think you might have found more to love about it. I know that many find the PMC's limiting, but I think that the ease of use (if you have MCE) might outweigh that.

Don't worry, I haven't given up on PMC - I think it's a fantastic concept, but the screen and 320 x 240 resolution left me wanting higher quality media display. Ironically, a Pocket PC with WMP10 makes a *better* PMC, just not one that's as easy to use. ;-) We'll be talking about this a lot in the coming months I'm sure. :-)

[Jason Dunn]

By the way, thanks SO much to everyone for their input - we'll be implementing a few of these suggestions in the next week or two, and some will take a lot longer, but we're listening :-)

[djh]

I pop over here every now and again, and I think the biggest challange DMT has is that it covers such a broad range of technologies.

Most of the individual subjects already have their own dedicated sites that are well established and much more active.

Jason, you mentioned DPReview, which is the perfect example of this. I'm trying to improve my photography (it needs it that's for sure :D ) and find that site to be great. I'm nothing like as interested in the other subjects covered here, so I would like to see a bit more going on in the photography forums.

The idea of consolidating the number of forums seems to be a great idea. Since there are only 28 threads in the Canon forum (the busiest one) and 12 in the Nikon one (love my new D70 by the way) I agree with the earlier poster who suggested making one simple "Camera Forum".

I think you should leverage the success of PocketPC Thoughts and use links on that site to bring readers to stories over here. The content here is good and the people you have on the team do an excellent job, just need to get more people reading and contributing to the site.

Oh, having PPCT subscriptions valid over here would be kinda nice too :lol:

[the_rapture]

....... Oh, having PPCT subscriptions valid over here would be kinda nice too :lol:

Or even a discounted price for 2 or all 3 sites....

[Chris Gohlke]

....... Oh, having PPCT subscriptions valid over here would be kinda nice too :lol:

Or even a discounted price for 2 or all 3 sites....

I agree with this, if there was more of an incremental upgrade cost, I might add a DMT membership to my PPCT one.

Something like if you are on the regular or lite subscription at PPCT, an extra $1 a month each if you want to add one of the other two sites.

On the lifetime maybe $60 for the second and $30 for the third site.

Maybe a super special bonus gift for subscibers to multiple sites (or more microlights (maybe an exclusive color?)

[Jason Dunn]

Or even a discounted price for 2 or all 3 sites....

Already done:

http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/subscribe_discounted.php

There's no discount on Lite subs because they're already so cheap, a 33% discount on full subs, and a $21 discount on the lifetime sub. I have hard costs associated with each subscription (discount coupons, Micro lights, etc.) so I can't give them away for free.

We talked and thought a lot about a "Thoughts Media Subscription", one that would be valid on all three sites, but it was a technical nightmare to implement - there are so many variations and combinations. What if people don't want Smartphone Thoughts or Pocket PC Thoughts as part of their bundle? How do we manage usernames with three different sites and databases?