NEWSLETTER
There is free shipping at the BN store right now on ALL orders, so you’re gonna want to take advantage of that. Just use the code WOOSHIP when you check out. I’ve quietly created some more options for you to show off your passion, so please check out the new shirts.
Another fun homestand kicks off tomorrow! Who's joining us? #LetsGo https://t.co/kE0E2k38Sf pic.twitter.com/9RHknshM9R
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 25, 2016
Some off day #content for you: the Bryzzo Souvenir Co. staff roster. @Cubs pic.twitter.com/iGEiEYra4K
— Randall J. Sanders (@RandallJSanders) April 25, 2016
META: A general note to all of this stuff that is to follow – I hate talking about ads and site performance. I focus on it a lot behind the scenes, but I hate talking about it. The reality here is that BN is a business, and it has to generate revenue – there are real, actual people who count on that revenue. So we have ads. Those ads represent the price we ask you to pay for using BN: please let our ads display. We’re sorry that they’re not perfect, and sometimes they’re annoying. But that’s the only way we stay in business, and keep delivering you the content you love for the low-low price of waiting an extra second or two for the page to load. If you don’t let the ads display, we do not generate revenue. (For more on the problem of generating revenue and keeping sites like this in business, consider reading my piece on the death of Grantland.)
But it’s a balance, and I promise you that I care deeply about your experience on the site. I’m constantly trying to improve it.
To that end, you may or may not notice some site tweaks this month (some in the past, some in the future). Hopefully you won’t really notice at all, because the goal of the tweaks is to improve the site performance a bit. One thing I’ve done in that regard is remove several of the ads, which puts a squeeze on the site’s revenue, but I’m hoping we can make up for some of it by placing the remaining ads in slightly more prominent spots. Whatever shortfall remains, I’ll chalk up to being worth it for an improved overall site experience.
Relatedly, the ad at the very top of the site next to the BN logo is no longer a traditional rotating, kinda-slows-things-down ad. It’s now just a static banner for Amazon, so you’ll always have a convenient spot to click if you want to do some shopping at Amazon (which supports BN in the process). So, that is to say, it’s still an “ad,” but it won’t impact the loading of the site.
Finally, although Disqus is awesome, it is also kind of a beast to load, especially for folks on mobile, and especially for folks who don’t want to use the comments (without apologies to our amazing commenter community, some folks just aren’t into it (but they should be!)). I’m working on a way to delay Disqus loading until the user actually reaches the comments and opens them up. It’s likely going to involve clicking a button to open up the comments. Apologies in advance for the extra step you’ll have to take to load the comments – but, truly, it’ll just be the click of a button. No reloading the page or anything like that. Just a click. You can do it!
