(29.07.2023, 18:34)DiMono schrieb: I'm sorry to resurrect an old thread, but as a professional web developer, I have some thoughts.

What I've gathered from catching up on this thread is that LMD began as a way for friends to share puzzles with each other, and then CTC caused an unexpected surge in traffic and sudoku content because they were saying in their videos that this was where they were getting their puzzles from. Many sudoku setters then began posting their puzzles here hoping CTC would notice them (including me). As a result of this, high quality sudoku puzzles surged, other puzzles almost entirely stopped, and a lot of the original users either left the website or significantly reduced their activity on it. I also gather there is a lot of resentment among some of the earlier users for this happening.

I think "This isn't what we created it for, and we don't like it, but we put up with it" is not the right way to view this. Regardless of how it happened, LMD has become one of the premier places on the internet for high quality sudoku. It's lightning in a bottle. For better or for worse, the website has changed into what it is now, and it's never going back to what it was without making it private.

So why not fully embrace it? Since most users now speak English, have all pages available in both languages. In addition to putting news on the frontpage, have a "Sudoku of the Week" that highlights one/some of the best puzzles posted in the last seven days. When someone new comes along and their first few puzzles are excellent, give them a spot on the homepage as a "rising star" to encourage them to keep going, and to encourage people to solve their puzzles.

Since there are many more users now, you could put the top 10 setters and solvers of the month and all-time on the homepage, to incentivize people to make higher quality puzzles and to solve more puzzles, so they can achieve accolades (but have the top 10 setters also relate to puzzle beauty, not just number of puzzles - Will Power posts almost every other day, but Phistomefel has higher rated puzzles, and should be higher in the list).

Then you could go further by offering "premium puzzles" and other additional features to paying members, to help support hosting costs and future development. CTC provides a sudoku hunt each month to their Patreon members - there's no reason you can't do the same here for paying members. Build up LMD as the place to go for high quality sudoku, and then incentivize people to join and become paying members. And for the original users, you can have a special private area where the spirit of the original website remains.

When things change, you can either change with them and grow, or resist the change and shrink. Regardless of how it started, this website's purpose has changed over the last few years, and so far you've been dragged along with it. There is so much potential here for the site to be much more than it currently is. All you have to do is decide to lead those changes instead of being led by them.

And yes, I do recognize that some of what I've suggested above would actually reward the person this thread is about for their behaviour. However, regardless of how much I disagree with that behaviour, since the LMD staff don't view it as a problem, I see no reason to have it influence my ideas.

(30.07.2023, 21:24)Schachus schrieb: I disagree both with the premise and the conclusion. You talk about the purpose of the website. This website is the online representation of the German puzzle association. As such is and always has been its purpose: That includes to show news about puzzling in Germany, host a forum for German puzzlers and other interested people, host competitions, in particular serve as host for the qualifications for German Sudoku and puzzle championships and inform interested people about Logic puzzles, among other things. And one part of this is the puzzle portal, that (in my understnading, which does not mean much), aims to excanges puzzles (with Sudokus are a part of) between enthusiasts and show new users the variety of puzzles.

But a change in the puzzle portal indicates by no means that the purpose of the website would have to change (it shouldn't, it still very much is the homepage of the German puzzle association and there should absolutely be such a homepage), or even already would have changed.

Zitat:The site was never intended for publishing puzzles in the web. There was a group of puzzlers, knowing each other IRL, who created this site to challenge each other with puzzles.