Greetings All,
Since we launched this new web initiative a week and a half ago, we’ve quickly realized that we could do a better job informing the Knots community about what has changed and why. So I’m going to attempt to do this before I head off for the long holiday weekend. I’ll respond to posts next week when I’m full on turkey.
What does a subscription get me?
FineWoodworkingNetwork.com is an entirely new product from The Taunton Press that aggregates into one website hundreds of archive articles from the magazine, over 100 how-to videos, editorial tool reviews for more than 600 tools, a gallery of images, and a forum moderated by woodworking experts who are contributors to the magazine.
We are publishing new videos and articles every week, and new experts are joining the forums at a regular pace. A monthly or annual subscription gets you unlimited access to all of this.
How can I tell if I want to subscribe?
We knew from the start that users were going to want to see what was available to them before they plunked down their hard-earned cash for a subscription, so we designed the site to be easily searched and browsed for free. A user can then find what they’re looking for before committing to a subscription.
– If you want information or project plans for beds, this page aggregates all the content on that subject.
– If you are looking for information on building period furniture, this page aggregates all the content on that subject.
– If you want information on carving, this page aggregates all the content on that subject.
– Want information or reviews on bandsaws, this page aggregates all the content on that subject.
There are almost 150 category pages on FineWoodworkingNetwork.com on topics from “Assembly and Glue-up” to “Varnish.” If you click around those pages, you will quickly begin to see how much information is available.
Why did Knots change?
Knots was changed in conjunction with this launch for two reasons: The forum technology that runs Knots is also being used to power FineWoodworkingNetwork.com. In the Tool Guide, users can post their own ratings and reviews about individual tools that have been reviewed in Fine Woodworking magazine. In The Gallery, users can post comments about featured woodwork. We also display recent posts from Knots on various pages so that people can choose to watch a video or join a discussion about that top. For example, the Workshop homepage features recent posts from the Workshop forum alongside articles and videos.
Still some fine tuning to do
We’re already getting to work tweaking things based on the loads of feedback we’ve received in Knots over the past week and a half. We understand that ease of use is one of the most important reasons many people come to Knots, and we are already at work on a solution to make things easier, specifically allowing users to view a complete snapshot of the forums in a single window.
Launching this new platform was the hard part, fine tuning it will be the fun part.
Matt Berger
Managing Editor
FineWoodworkingNetwork.com
Replies
Matt, thank you! That post is really going to help us understand FWWN. Well written, bold headings and links! What more could we ask for?! (Oooops, didn't mean to open that can o' worms, LOL).
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
One question I have is will the new site compliment this existing forum, or, will it eventually usurp the knowledgeable wood workers and supplant this forum?
If the latter case becomes true, then I'm afraid you will loose your purpose for being here in the first place if ever there was one. I for one really enjoy the eclectic mix of all levels of people that enjoy wood working.
I would like to know your long range intentions if any have been formulated.
Also, I can see the day when magazine subscriptions delivered through the mail systems will be a thing of the past. If that is one of your long range objectives, then I think that would be achievable, eventually. Especially since SBC is installing fiber optics in my neighborhood as we speak.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Mike -I merely slumped into a pile of green envy ooze at your mention of fiber optics being installed in your neighborhood.
Mr. Berger -
Thanks for the ensight to the move into this forum. Like Mike, I can forsee and understand the potential of eventually moving to an entirely on line version of FWW. In this day and age of technology, it only makes sense. But I would think that should this happen, production costs would be considerably less than what it takes to publish the print version of the mag. Perhaps not. None the less, the annual cost of subscribing to the FWW Network is more than my fixed income will support. I'm pushing it some just to keep my magazine subscription alive.
Again, if one of the in-the-future goals is to move to publishing on line exclusively, I for one would appreciate a zip option for downloading at my liesure.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled