News Department

[Martin]

Looking at the main site, it appears no news has been posted since the 27th August? I know there's currently only 8 people in the News Department, and people might be posted away etc, but surely there's been news to report on since then?

There's been a few threads posted on the forum etc in the News section, so I don't think its a case of lack of news?


Has there been any more talk on the whole bringing the news department onto the forum debate? Having like official news threads in the news and rumours forum posted by staff or something? I just think if you're having it on the site it needs to be more updated than it currently is, as for new visitors visiting the site we are advertising it looks really awful to see outdated stuff that isn't relevant etc. Not sure whats going on really, but theres also a few sections that aren't being updated at all on the site etc.

[Samantha]

Looking at the main site, it appears no news has been posted since the 27th August? I know there's currently only 8 people in the News Department, and people might be posted away etc, but surely there's been news to report on since then?

There's been a few threads posted on the forum etc in the News section, so I don't think its a case of lack of news?


Has there been any more talk on the whole bringing the news department onto the forum debate? Having like official news threads in the news and rumours forum posted by staff or something? I just think if you're having it on the site it needs to be more updated than it currently is, as for new visitors visiting the site we are advertising it looks really awful to see outdated stuff that isn't relevant etc. Not sure whats going on really, but theres also a few sections that aren't being updated at all on the site etc.

I think news will get busy, but I have to agree. However, currently you have no Head News Reporter, would you rather have the news on the site looking appalling or none at all? I would prefer a few quality reports that people can read. Although that's way too long without a report, I don't think the manager has been active due to college though, so I'm not sure.

[Martin]

I think news will get busy, but I have to agree. However, currently you have no Head News Reporter, would you rather have the news on the site looking appalling or none at all? I would prefer a few quality reports that people can read. Although that's way too long without a report, I don't think the manager has been active due to college though, so I'm not sure.

So who exactly is running the department, and are the entire department posted away or are they just not meeting minimums? I'm assuming there are still minimums? It just looks a bit odd having nothing posted on the site in like nearly 12 days, when quite a bit has happened on Habbo looking at the Habbo news feed etc. If its going to be on the front page of the main site, then I think it needs to be up to date otherwise there isn't much point. News is a constant thing, things need to be reported as they happen, reporters need to be investigative and enthusiastic about it and lately its just been a bit dull if I'm honest.

I do think something needs to change, whether that's forum intergration or something then maybe, but then that will impact the site a lot too. We advertise 'Habbox.com' an awful lot, and I just really worry that people are getting a ridiculous impression of Habbox lately compared to other sites, and its letting us down a lot.


You talk about no head reporters etc, thats something which needs to be addressed quite urgently, because there are mistakes on the front page right now that have been there weeks, I'm not picking on anyone here but the image in the top news article could do with touching up a bit too as the white border is like 1000 pixels away from the edge of the image etc. I know things can't be perfect 100% of the time, but this is pretty basic stuff, and if we're advertising and pushing people to be interested in Habbox then I think all departments need to work hard and up their game.


Was there anything about HxSS on the main page? An article about that etc? in the past we've really bigged it up made the page full of it etc and its just made the whole atmosphere different etc. The articles themselves aren't too bad, there's opinions in them which is good and good reader interaction etc. They are getting comments, so its evident people are reading them its just a case of staying on top of things I think as it does create a big impression to some people and their perception of Habbox.

[RyRy]

I think if you want to start boosting news on Habbox, it needs to be integrated into HabboxForum. What I suggest is having a news ticker on a side tab which can pop out to the left, a lot like how the Christmas Forum skin works (yknow the side bar?), think it'd encourage News Reporters to post a bit more too and for people to actually read the articles.

And on the note of articles, News and articles should be merged and articles should come back! Some of the best stuff was on articles, news and articles complemented eachother so well... I think renaming the News Department to show that it's not just about writing about news. Something like the Publishing department? That's just me throwing ideas around, take them how you will but I'd love to see articles back and I think it'd boost the amount of people looking at the site.

As for no head news reporters btw, I don't think you need them. It's the manager/asst managers job to get the news guys sorted, and then you've got Senior News Reporters and just News Reporters. No need for head.

[Samantha]

So who exactly is running the department, and are the entire department posted away or are they just not meeting minimums? I'm assuming there are still minimums? It just looks a bit odd having nothing posted on the site in like nearly 12 days, when quite a bit has happened on Habbo looking at the Habbo news feed etc. If its going to be on the front page of the main site, then I think it needs to be up to date otherwise there isn't much point. News is a constant thing, things need to be reported as they happen, reporters need to be investigative and enthusiastic about it and lately its just been a bit dull if I'm honest.

I do think something needs to change, whether that's forum intergration or something then maybe, but then that will impact the site a lot too. We advertise 'Habbox.com' an awful lot, and I just really worry that people are getting a ridiculous impression of Habbox lately compared to other sites, and its letting us down a lot.


You talk about no head reporters etc, thats something which needs to be addressed quite urgently, because there are mistakes on the front page right now that have been there weeks, I'm not picking on anyone here but the image in the top news article could do with touching up a bit too as the white border is like 1000 pixels away from the edge of the image etc. I know things can't be perfect 100% of the time, but this is pretty basic stuff, and if we're advertising and pushing people to be interested in Habbox then I think all departments need to work hard and up their game.


Was there anything about HxSS on the main page? An article about that etc? in the past we've really bigged it up made the page full of it etc and its just made the whole atmosphere different etc. The articles themselves aren't too bad, there's opinions in them which is good and good reader interaction etc. They are getting comments, so its evident people are reading them its just a case of staying on top of things I think as it does create a big impression to some people and their perception of Habbox.

I resigned from the department in August, but when I was away before that announcements weren't done and no reports were edited throughout the two weeks for whatever reason. I think it'll change now and I fully agree it needs to be sorted, if people go on for news they won't come on again due to the lack of activity. There have been mistakes, and currently there's only Jan/Tom or (A)GMs can edit.

---------- Post added 06-09-2013 at 08:30 PM ----------

I think if you want to start boosting news on Habbox, it needs to be integrated into HabboxForum. What I suggest is having a news ticker on a side tab which can pop out to the left, a lot like how the Christmas Forum skin works (yknow the side bar?), think it'd encourage News Reporters to post a bit more too and for people to actually read the articles.

And on the note of articles, News and articles should be merged and articles should come back! Some of the best stuff was on articles, news and articles complemented eachother so well... I think renaming the News Department to show that it's not just about writing about news. Something like the Publishing department? That's just me throwing ideas around, take them how you will but I'd love to see articles back and I think it'd boost the amount of people looking at the site.

As for no head news reporters btw, I don't think you need them. It's the manager/asst managers job to get the news guys sorted, and then you've got Senior News Reporters and just News Reporters. No need for head.

You haven't been around in a while .

News is the news department, in it reporters can write articles, Habbo news, interviews, real life or room reviews. So, the articles are already there and reporters can write them if you wish.
You need HEAD news reporters because they are SENIOR news reporters, the name was changed when I was manager. It goes News Reporter, Head News Reporter etc. .
They are now integrated on the forum, it's a requirement to link to the HabboxForum thread on the report.

[Suncadi]

I think it should all be merged into one- both real life, habbo news etc. I think it must be quite hard doing a Habbo news article first before being allowed to do real life?

This is what I see as a newcomer, obviously I don't know how it all works but sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is useful.

[RyRy]

I resigned from the department in August, but when I was away before that announcements weren't done and no reports were edited throughout the two weeks for whatever reason. I think it'll change now and I fully agree it needs to be sorted, if people go on for news they won't come on again due to the lack of activity. There have been mistakes, and currently there's only Jan/Tom or (A)GMs can edit.

---------- Post added 06-09-2013 at 08:30 PM ----------



You haven't been around in a while .

News is the news department, in it reporters can write articles, Habbo news, interviews, real life or room reviews. So, the articles are already there and reporters can write them if you wish.
You need HEAD news reporters because they are SENIOR news reporters, the name was changed when I was manager. It goes News Reporter, Head News Reporter etc. .
They are now integrated on the forum, it's a requirement to link to the HabboxForum thread on the report.

**** I really haven't been around in a while have I? OH WELL ITS GOOD TO SEE MY IDEAS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED BEFORE I EVEN SAID THEM!

Okay so I get your problem, no head is bad because then you can't do things like editing and that sort... How did it get to that point? Whose the current News Manager? Bet it's a shining turd.

[Samantha]

**** I really haven't been around in a while have I? OH WELL ITS GOOD TO SEE MY IDEAS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED BEFORE I EVEN SAID THEM!

Okay so I get your problem, no head is bad because then you can't do things like editing and that sort... How did it get to that point? Whose the current News Manager? Bet it's a shining turd.

Inkwell is the News Manager.
@Suncadi; if you're a newcomer how do you know that you need to do a Habbo one before real life?

Anyway, Habbo should and must be done first, we're a Habbo fansite for a reason. It's not even hard to do a Habbo article first because Habbo is split into Habbo news, Interviews and Room Reviews and anyone can go find a good room on Habbo and talk about it.

[RyRy]

Inkwell is the News Manager.
@Suncadi; if you're a newcomer how do you know that you need to do a Habbo one before real life?

Anyway, Habbo should and must be done first, we're a Habbo fansite for a reason. It's not even hard to do a Habbo article first because Habbo is split into Habbo news, Interviews and Room Reviews and anyone can go find a good room on Habbo and talk about it.

Shining turd hehe. I don't like how News has gotten lazy, now it's all on the site and you just have to put a personal spin on it but generally you're conveying the same message. Do you remember the times where people had to actually SEARCH for news? Like when I was a News Reporter under the reign of supreme news overlord Adzeh, we had to actually search for stuff about like upgrades, what's happening on the hotel and the gossip yknow? Now there's hardly any of that, it's annoying... Everybody can read the news on Habbo.com, they don't have to come to Habbox to hear the same thing regurgitated.

And also I hate the fact you can't change pages with a javascript link like "Next" & "Previous", has to be a drop down box. That's just yuck.

[Suncadi]

Inkwell is the News Manager.
@Suncadi; if you're a newcomer how do you know that you need to do a Habbo one before real life?

Anyway, Habbo should and must be done first, we're a Habbo fansite for a reason. It's not even hard to do a Habbo article first because Habbo is split into Habbo news, Interviews and Room Reviews and anyone can go find a good room on Habbo and talk about it.

I think they should all be merged into one. Didn't even realise there was real life news until I looked in the tabs