Site Update: April 2010

Can you believe that the last site update was nearly one year ago? I am shocked and ashamed that it has taken me so long to write a personal note for the site. Please continue reading for the latest info on what is going on with Listverse.

I am very pleased to announce that our publishers, Ulysses Press, have requested a second book from us – due the popularity of the first book. We are in the top 5 best selling books for our publisher and are regularly appearing in Amazon’s Top 10 for trivia. This means that I am having to focus a lot of my spare time on the new book. The good news, however, is that that the new book will be focused mainly on the bizarre and should be about 50% new lists that have never appeared on the site. The deadline for publication is August 2010 with the book appearing on shelves for Christmas. While you are all waiting with bated breath, please consider writing a review on Amazon for the current book and buying copies for your friends and loved ones. Also, any emailed recommendations for bizarre topics would be welcome. Please send them to jamie @ frater . com.

You will all no doubt have noticed that we recently changed our commenting system to allow only registered users. This was because of the very regular trolling we were beginning to experience. Thankfully that has, for the most part, vanished. Therefore, we have opened comments back up to the general “anonymous” public. To try to strike a good balance we have asked our admins (Cyn and Mom424) to be a little harder on comments. If you write something obscene, or generally contrary to our commenting FAQ, your comment will not appear. In order to handle the increased load, we are adding two new administrators. They will be announced shortly.

We have recently begun showing links from partner sites – something we have avoided for nearly three years. Adding these links means that you get the best of our site and the best of what is on the net at the moment. Ultimately it has turned out that sharing links with others works to our benefit too – as it draws in new commenters and a fresh audience who have been, at least so far, extremely friendly and beneficial to our comments. We are receiving around 30% new visitors so please make them welcome.

For almost as long as the site has been running, we have had a site forums. For the last six months these forums have been all but closed to new subscribers. From today that changes. Subscriptions have been made easier so please consider joining our oldest site members on the forums to partake of the games, pictures, and general fun. The caveat to opening things up is that we will be adding 3 new forum administrators to handle the load. They will be announced in due course.

In between writing the new book, I am currently undertaking studies (which will, hopefully, eventually have a knock-on benefit to the site). My studies are in scholastic logic, Latin, and natural Physics. The courses are all based on Thomistic philosophy which is, in turn, based on Aristotlean philosophy. I can not recommend enough the online society through which I am taking my courses – the International Society of Scholastics. I strongly recommend the course in logic to any person who has an interest in developing their ability to reason and debate. You have a week to apply for the classes to be in the new semester and classes are only $250 per half year. What you get for your money is a class that is unique these days. This is pure unadulterated classical education. Take the chance while you can. Please note that the classes begin in a few days (though Latin will be starting in summer) so there is still time to sign up despite the dates on the Society website.

As always, a debt of thanks is owed to Cyn and Mom424 for their constant hard work in ensuring that the site runs smoothly when I am busy working on lists or the book. What you (our readers) don’t see, is the large number of comments that have to go to moderation which are handled by Cyn and Mom so that I can approve or disapprove them. The old adage is certainly true here, “behind every great man there is a great woman” – and while I am not a “great man”, it is certainly true that Mom424 and Cyn are great women – so thanks to you both.

I am seriously considering a complete overhaul of the site this year. By complete I mean new colors, new styles, new logo. Do you want to see this happen? Do you think the site will benefit from an overhaul? While it is very important that we put our best foot forward with new readers, we have to ensure that our regulars are also happy – use the comments below to tell us what you think.

Please send in new lists. As we recently learnt, some of our best lists have come from user submissions. I try to write as many as I can (which is not all that many of late due to the new book), but the heart of this site is comments and submitted lists. While we love to receive lists that are edited and proof-read, we will even accept those which are in need of a little work. Keep them coming! The thrill of having a list published for all and sundry to comment on, is priceless. If you want to submit a list, go here.

Here are three important addresses for those who love the site:

Listverse Appreciation Group on Facebook
Listverse on Twitter
My personal facebook account (I add all listverse fans without question)

If you use facebook or twitter, be sure to add us. What is also extremely useful is sharing our latest lists with your friends on all social forums; be they Digg, Reddit, Fark, Stumbleupon, or whatever (there are far too many now for me to keep count!)

I simply have to finish this post with a thank you to all of our loyal readers. Whether you have been with us since our first post, or whether you have joined us today – thank you for spending your precious time on our site. We initially started listverse in the hopes that we might be able to share new knowledge with people, and three years later I think we are holding true to that desire. So, thank you each and every one of you for thinking of us every time you go online.