Top 10 Deal Block on Front Page

CheapyD

CheapyD

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We are experimenting with a new Top 10 Video Game Deal block on the front page. The list's ranking is based on a thread's page views, but it is using a weighted system so that more recent page views are more valuable. Each night, existing threads pageviews are divided by a variable (currently "4") so new threads can compete with older ones. We change change that variable as we see fit.

Hovering your mouse over the thread title will show the view and reply count.
If you don't like the box, you can collapse it with the icon in the top right corner.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback...
 
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I like it, but I think it should be positioned in a different spot. The way it is now it just pops out at you and potential new CAGs and yells, "BUY SOME SHIT THROUGH OUR AFFILIATE LINKS AND PAY ME!".
 
Well, that's the idea!

Seriously though, video game deals are the focus of the site, so why shouldn't they be front and center? The entire front page is going to get a makeover in the near future.

I'll be monitoring the change to see if people are making use of it. If its a waste of time, I'll ditch it (or move it).
 
I like the idea, but it seems out of place in the spot it occupies right now. I think it would look better directly to the right, where the "Since you've been gone" are is, but since there's an ad there, you probably don't want to touch it.
 
I do not like it there. It makes the very first thing a reader seems be too busy. I like having a review or contest post be there, not this big list. Put it where the twitter thing is now, and just move everything else down.
 
Basing it on view count leads to things like the Target thread being #1. That is terrible.

Maybe you could base it on some random formula of Stars/Posts/Views instead.
 
It's ok, but it needs to be in the column on the right.

As it is now, when you go to the main page of CAG, your entire screen is taken up by these automatically generated widgets. The site has no personality at first glance. This isn't the impression you really want to be giving first-time visitors: the site looks more like some googlebombing deal aggregator than the intricate system of hand-picked deals and discussion it really is.

Having the front page posts, reviews, superdeals etc. gives the impression that this is a professionally run site with real editors and people who care about it. All of that means nothing when users have to scroll down to even see it exists.

Concerning myself, I can't see if the site has been updated at first glance. This means that I have to close the top ten thing, even though what I really want to do is move it aside so I can still glance at it every now and then. Now, all I've got is a thick, useless unchanging bar saying "top ten video game deals," still pushing down the front page posts I'm really interested in seeing.

It's not really that big of a deal to me, but I'm concerned about what effect this will have on new users and the CAG image in general.

TLDR: Move it to the right column.
 
I think it's a smart idea, reminds me of the hot deals section slickdeals has on their site.

Although, by placing it on the left it overshadows all of the other updates under it including any new non-deal related updates (such as a new cagcast). I think if you put it to the right it would work better but that's my opinion. It'd still be in your face bot it would allow any other updates to get the same type of exposure.

And honesty I think the "since you've been gone" section is a waste of space.
 
Personally, I think it'd be a good idea to exempt certain threads from the Top 10. Threads like the clearance ones, "Xbox DotW", or "Amazon Warehouse Deals" are constantly going to be ones getting the most views as new deals are frequently posted in them, whereas new deals posted each day generally have all the details in the OP and only need to be checked once or twice.

It may not seem like a big deal, but I think constantly having certain threads in the Top 10 isn't going to make it feel as useful as it should. It may change over time, but as it is, nearly half of the Top 10 is taken up by the sorts of threads I check regularly, which sort of seems to negate the whole point.
 
I like it but I'm finding that there are better deals on CAG than those in the top 10 and sometimes there are just flat out meh deals in the top 10.

I want it to stay but I want the variables and the way those variable are calculated to more accurately give the best deals. I'd love to be able to expand the list and have it show additional categories such as:

Top 10 Online Deals
Top 10 In Store Deals
Top 10 "Official" Store Deals (the longstanding clearance threads and Kmartgamer thread)
Top 10 Console Deals (or break it into Top 10 PS3, 360, Wii, etc)
Top 10 Hardware Deals
Top 10 Software Deals

Perhaps it just showing the top 10 overall and a button to open up a page with the rest of the top 10's.
 
The right column works better, but perhaps below the notification box? I didn't know I had an incoming freidn request because it was bumped offscreen for the Deal Block.
 
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