Dear Medium, Tony, and the Team
I love you, but …
Today’s prompt: You get to sit down with Tony Stubblebine. Whatcha gonna talk about?
Dear Powers That Be,
My life would be so much easier if on the notifications page, instead of just two tabs to choose from, all or responses, you added the following tabs:
- Mentions
- Highlights
- Comments
- Private Messages
- Editor Requests
- Boosted!
- Someone Also F*g Highlights (Like anyone cares.)
Niggly crap
How about being able to mark some notifications as remind me, or unread. (Unnoticed would be cooler.)
A simple ‘undo’ button for editing drafts or writing new stories.
A big green Add to Publication button taking you directly into the Add to Publication dialogue, right alongside the big green Publish button which could then change to Self Publish … Clarity for new writers.
It would be awesome if you were to call the list/library thingy the same thing everywhere. Issues like this are one more way new writers get confused.
Publications
We have tabs for Drafts and Submissions, Scheduled, Published, and Unlisted. How about one for ‘On Hold’? Editors often wait for responses to their private messages asking for clarity.
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In a busy publication, those ‘on hold’ drafts clog up the Drafts and Submissions page. Different editors have to check to see if someone has already edited it, is waiting for a response, or got a response. This is a nightmare that the simple addition of another tab would solve instantly.
Unless I’m missing features that already exist, it would be super cool to be able to print out a list of writers for one’s publication/s and be able to see how many writers the publication has.
It would also be awesome to be able to email them or tag them all at once for publication-related news, or updated guidelines.
Late-night editing request: Instead of a Publish button, then an option to Schedule for Later, a same-size Schedule for Later button next to the Publish button would be delightful. Sometimes, late at night while trying to get through the submissions, we editors accidentally forget what we’re doing.
The tote bag
Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but …
You have a platform that is incandescent with creativity. Whyever would you produce the ugliest tote bag I’ve ever seen, and I‘ve seen a lot of ugly bags! (Even been called one on occasion.)
Seriously? Boring beige, rather rustic-looking, canvas bag with randomly spaced words? Medium’s colors are black and white … no beige. Why not a black bag with the white blobs? Forget the FOM completely, add the yellow heart, or take thirty minutes (like I did above) and actually design something.
Whose idea was this? Who signed off on it? What the hell happened? The Medium type and logo are appealing, so why not use it?
In closing
I know this sounds like a bitch session, and I don’t mean it that way. (Well, except for the ugly tote bag. I totally mean that.) I love the community of writers and this platform that allows me the opportunity to be read by thousands. What writer would not?
Love ya,
The Devil’s Advocate
©2024 Nancy Oglesby | All Rights Reserved (After all, who else would want them?)
Tagging a few of the participants. If you’d like to be removed or added, let me know.
Adrienne Beaumont / Keeley Schroder / Vidya / Karen Schwartz / Lynn L. / Imothoughts / Katie Michaelson / Bernie Pullen / Trisha Faye / Julia A. Keirns / Pamela Oglesby / Michelle Jimerson Morris / Jerry Dwyer / Harry Hogg / Randy Pulley / Pluto Wolnosci / Michael Rhodes / Brandon Ellrich / Bruce Coulter / Leigh-Anne Dennison / Kelly Corinne Elliott / S.K. Shandlin / Adrian CDTPPW / Paula Shablo / Denise Kendig / Emma Vincent / Paula Shablo / Jennifer Dunne / John Welford / John Hansen / Jerry Dwyer / Shanti C K / Patricia Timmermans / Brian Dickens Barrabee / … brilliant peeps, all!
Visit our community of challengers over at the Challenged, and, if you’re of a mind to join in the fun, publish it there so that we can all read it, make silly comments (or serious), and clap profusely!
Write daily, weekly, or whenever a prompt moves you. (Kind of like the earth moving you but most often less rumbly.) Some people like the challenge of writing daily and others dip their toes in the water when they get the chance.
Not a writer for the Challenged? Follow the publication and drop me a comment and I’ll get you added.
