Site Stuff: Our brand of messaging's building up to a whole new level!

Feb 24, 2024 • 4:00 am

In that photo up there, that subscriber stopped by our Downtown HQ/shop in November bearing a sign calling for the Steelers to fire Matt Canada. And eventually, of course, he'd get his wish.

Soon, there'll be a better way.

We're already blessed at this app/site to have tens of thousands of readers every day, and we're beyond blessed to have the paying subscribers that we do for our premium product, the version that's 100% ad-free and affords access to the commenting community that connects us from all over the world.

If you're already part of that -- and if you're not seeing ads here and can comment in our threads, you are -- I say thank you.

I also can now, formally, make a promise that the experience is about to get even better. Because, following discussion this week with our developers and friends at BoomPress, we'll be embarking over the next couple months on an ambitious, custom project to add most or all of the following capacities to our commenting platform:

• Alerts for replies to your comments
• A YouTube-style collection of such alerts
• Ability to insert photos, GIFs, etc.
• Markers for how long you've been with us
• A third layer to all discussion threads
• More/easier refreshing options
• Flagging an unacceptable comment/user

I'll be honest here: There's no pressure to do this. There aren't many complaints at all about our current commenting system, aside from the inability to refresh. (Which, for those asking, remains a site-wide issue but has been stressed as the No. 1 priority to be repaired.) So we're basically taking this initiative on our own to ensure that your experience here with the rest of our community is nothing less than first-class.

As we see it, whichever way we happen to twist and turn over the years, the core of everything we do remains the community that allowed us to launch in the first place. We never forget that. Even now that we allow the actual content to go out free -- albeit caked with ads and autoplay videos and the like -- roughly 40% of our readership's still our subscriber base. Which is both awesome and appreciated. It's why we want to invest further. To give back, in a way.

I'll be in comments, as ever, if there are any questions about this.

HALICKE'S COMING HOME

Chris Halicke's moving back to Pittsburgh, and he'll do so with a new mission -- and mega-important-title -- on our staff.

Beginning in early July or so, Chris will return to covering the Steelers in person, helping me on the beat, as well as serving in our newly created position of managing editor, helping me on ... well, everything else. So consider it a dual role, albeit with a heavier emphasis on football. He'll be around the team daily, he'll accompany me to all 20 games, and he'll ensure that all of our various coverage factors are humming.

For anyone who wouldn't know, Chris was here previously but couldn't quite pull off the full move from his current home in Texas. After more than a year away from the family, he decided, most understandably, he had to go back. Stubborn as I am, I still wouldn't let him go, so we worked out an arrangement in which he could still assist us from afar, which eventually included the creation of his weekly Chalk Talk sessions that readers really seemed to appreciate. And after more conversation in recent weeks, I came up with this concept to promote him, he committed to coming back, and that was that.

This'll be invaluable from my own standpoint. Now that I'm writing a column every day, plus creating three podcasts and a livestream video every weekday, my focus has been on content way, way, way more than anything related to running the place. I've wanted someone in this role seemingly forever, to be honest, and there couldn't be a better fit than Chris, a true professional who's demonstrated a pride and passion for not only his own work but also for our brand.

As for me and the Steelers, nothing changes. I'm front and center on all three of our major beats and, when it comes to football, I'll still be at every single game, preseason and regular season.

Corey Crisan will continue to assist on Steelers, as well as handling Pitt and helping on Pirates.

INSIDE THE WORKS

• I'm flying down to Bradenton, Fla., day after tomorrow to spend the week covering the Pirates' spring training. So the Grinds will be all baseball for a spell, but only after the big Penguins-Flyers game tomorrow. And yeah, the columns are coming ... every ... single ... day.

• It's been forever since I've had a good word on the programmatic-ads front, but switching companies on this front turned out to be a blessing and a half. Or a double-blessing. Or a triple-blessing. Let's just say it's done very well for us in the early going, and it's the first mega-boost to the decision to have the content itself go free.

• Grateful that so many of you, per a recent Site Stuff, followed through on our request to support us without spending a penny, by simply leaving us good reviews on specific outside platforms. There were, quite literally, hundreds of them. For anyone who hasn't yet, feel free to do so on our Google listing, our Apple or Spotify podcast channels, our YouTube channels for the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates and, last but definitely not least, our own app, whether it's the Apple or Android version. And again, thank you!

• Reminder: Our 10th anniversary is July 23 at the Downtown HQ/shop. We've already heard from quite a few of you planning to attend, including some from well out of town. For anyone interested in the latter, know that the Pirates and Cardinals have a three-game series at PNC Park at that time, so it's a nice double-dip.

• Everyone still loving being ad-free? If you're not there yet, it's only for paying subscribers. If you aren't subscribed yet or if your subscription's expired: this is our new subscribe page. Make sure you're logged in, tap on the link, and thumb down to the bottom for the SUBSCRIBE button to buy/renew at the monthly or annual level. We also have discounts, as ever, for student subscriptions and senior subscriptions.

• For anyone asking -- and we still get lots of questions on this -- yeah, there's still a subscription level. It's the level where there are zero ads, first and foremost. It's an infinitely better experience. It's also the level at which readers have access to our Live Qs, our commenting platforms, our in-person meetings and many other perks. We feel it's a really good value.

BACK TO BUSINESS

• Our page-view numbers for the past week were 862,755, with 44,333 unique users over the most recent full seven-day span, Feb. 16-22. Our most-read original piece was, believe it or not, last Saturday's Site Stuff in which I announced that I'll now be writing a column every day, at 19,118. Next up up was my Mount Rushmore column, at 19,055.

• On the multimedia front, our podcast downloads for the past week were 105,850, and our YouTube video views for the past week were 101,171. That first number's a bit nuanced at the moment, as Dali's found a second home for our podcasts that we're testing from a revenue standpoint, so only one distribution point's being reflected.

• Our company social media accounts are at 52,434 followers on X, 40,384 on Facebook, 29,599 on YouTube, 14,959 on Instagram ... and already 4,012 on the new Threads!