lauren
Dear edhat community,
It’s hard to put into words what we’ve all been through the past few months. My intention was to write a positive letter after the New Year to discuss exciting changes with edhat, but then the events of January 9 happened. It changed everything for us locals.
Our friends and neighbors in the Montecito community have endured immense tragedy and are now faced with an uphill battle of rebuilding. The same goes for small businesses that are struggling to make it through the day, as our local economy suffered a massive hit.
I encourage you to do what you can to help these local businesses. Eat at a local restaurant, shop at small boutiques, chat with the owners, support what you love and what you use. We all need it and we can only get through it together.
Here at edhat, we too have felt the effects of businesses struggling to get back on their feet. Edhat is completely funded by the community. Our readers and our local businesses, by way of advertising, is what keeps us around to provide news and discussions as soon as they’re available.
Just a few months ago, edhat was on the brink of shutting down completely, but I decided to take it over and continue on with the commitment to keep it going for the community. Please help me keep this free local service around that keeps you connected and informed. Please upgrade your membership (you can upgrade here) or contribute just a few dollars (donate here). Every little bit helps and it’s essential to the running of edhat as we’re a 100% grassroots organization.
Also, tell your friends and favorite local businesses to advertise with us. We’re offering some great discounts only for locals and small businesses affected by the recent disasters. Our goal is to help as many small businesses as we can by getting the word out about their fantastic services. Email me at Lauren@edhat.com with questions about advertising.
As the media landscape evolves, edhat will continue to adapt. However, our core principles will remain the same. Edhat was created by and for the community. Our online discussions will not disappear because your voice is important to us. With that said, we still have commenting rules in place to foster a healthy discussion. You can read our commenting rules and policies here.
To answer a question I get a lot, yes March Edness is still on! An announcement will be made soon about the rules and starting date. Our party last year was postponed after the old website’s meltdown. So last year’s winners will be honored along with this year’s winners for our March Edness party this coming April.
Thank you for your continued support and readership of edhat. It’s because of your appreciation and contributions that we continue to provide this free community service. And we will continue to make edhat better. There are a lot of updates on the horizon and there are many more great things to come. Stay tuned and thanks again for your dedication and enthusiasm.
Thanks,
Support local businesses! Donate to edhat, upgrade your free subscription to a paid subscription, and advertise with us! Questions? Contact us at ed@edhat.com.
The changes you have made in the page template format of edhat are awkward and universally bemoaned by people I talk with about it. Since the rebuild the navigation is not easy and unfortunately Noozhawk has much better reporting of news. I’ve been a subscriber for 13 years but see your current editorial decisions as unfortunate.
Unfortunately, I agree with Lucky777. I have stopped using Edhat all day every day, which I did for years. It was the up-to-the-moment coverage of a brushfire a number of years ago that made me decide to subscribe. But I find the new interface so clumsy and hard to navigate, that I will probably allow my membership to lapse. I’m sorry if this is not what you want to hear, but it’s how I feel.
I miss the old Edhat 🙁
I do, too.
Fully agree with you !
As the saying goes : “why kill a good thing that’s working?” !
And that’s what happened to the “old” Edhat !!
One of the reasons subscriptions are down is the over zealous censoring and the total scrubbing out of existence deleted comments. Often a thread has so many deletions that it’s difficult to understand what some of the comments mean. In the old format, if you weren’t afraid of being offended, you could see what was deleted. There was continuity. And, if you were a paid subscriber you could continue commenting after after unpaid subscribers were shutoff.
Add me to the list of formerly regular subscribers who didn’t join after the hacking/changing of the guard. I have finally paid and I would like to ask if anyone knows how to get the comments to go oldest to newest. I simply can’t follow threads anymore in this new layout and the reverse chron order. I’d also love to know why my MacBook trackpad swipe navigation doesn’t work while on Edhat.
I like the new design. It’s updated and modern and if anyone has operated a website in the past 5 years, they understand what a homepage is and how to navigate it. Unfortunately I think edhat’s demographic of older readers are just frustrated with adapting to newer technology and don’t like change. That’s ok, but don’t blame or refuse to support something you clearly read every day because it updated. Do you also still rent videos at Blockbuster? The old website had a meltdown because it couldn’t adapt to new technology. I will support what I read and if I have feedback, I’ll email edhat directly on how they can improve.
Umm… because it was broke. The site crashed due to ancient software. They had to upgrade.
has anyone read the comment rules? Edhat readers are deleting comments now, not edhat itself.
Everyone who is commenting and reading edhat should buy a paid subscription. It’s $1/week and you get to upvote and downvote comments, well worth it!
Don’t censure opinions and comments that express a position that may be counter to your political beliefs or that of some “commenters”. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”.
Feel free to read our comment policies where we explain in detail the rules and regulations of our comment board, as well as the new self-moderating feature: https://www.edhat.com/about-edhat/comment-policies
-ed staff
@TMO – I didn’t know the Indy had disabled comments. Thanks for the info. While I enjoy the content at their site, their comments section had been spiraling downhill for years (which is why I quit commenting @Indy after many years). It was filled with snarky comments more intended to provoke or get something off the commenter’s chest than to inform or contribute to understanding. I often thought if I ever met one of those commenters, I’d see a misfit or walking time bomb in front of me 🙂 There were exceptions of course but they eventually couldn’t be heard over the noise. I definitely see that noise drifting over to Edhat. That’s why I support any rules the principals at Edhat want to use to make sure this site doesn’t turn into the comment sections of Noozhawk and the Indy. As the editor at Noozhawk said, sites like these aren’t soapboxes where commenters are entitled to say anything that pops into their minds. Too many Edhat commenters have already abused their privilege to use this site.
Of course !!
ANY NO P.C. far left opinion gets censured out within an hour.
Free speech is a thing of a (distant now) past .
Just look at how non P.C. opinion makers are totally forbidden OUT of your “higher education (what a joke)” “institutions.
You will come to regret one day that mass censorship which you are all advocating and promoting !
So, how’s the weather in St. Petersburg?
We rely on Edhat (Roger) for accurate info when we hear sirens or see fire engines heading toward the hills. That info is greatly appreciated. In the pre-Edhat days we’d fret and search in vain for info. Now we know what to do, open the scanner app and check Edhat!
Roger’s reporting is a vital SB resource. We’ll renew our subscription – we appreciate the reminder – I believe we used to get an email subscription renewal reminder. Of course, we enjoy all the other news & info (& comments) posted as well. Thank you for keeping Edhat going!
I agree. The orange print is almost impossible to read. I have loved Edhat for years, but now not so much. The deleted comments were amusing ,controversial and sometimes offensive, but it wasmy choice to read them or not. I also really miss not being able to forward articles to friends who have an interest in S.Barb but not enough to subscribe daily. i do not like having vote downs–why do others get to tell me what to read? I hope Edhat continues to improve Right now it has many problems. Roer is one of the redeeming features!!!
” the up down comment process is common in social media”
No it isn’t. The EdHat order is just a bug and is nothing like the top posting that is used by old timers but is rare these days.
“The majority of expressed opinions here are WAY left so NO dissenting opinion has ANY chance of being expressed !!”
Not even remotely true. And it’s user downvotes (mostly by right wingers) that primarily cause comments to be deleted — and that policy is a disaster that needs to change.
Roger, I hope one of the other reasons you stick around is because we __need you__ for reassurance, safety, laughter, compassion, and amazement. When things get tough, I’ve noticed you get tougher. You have a strong backbone…allowing for the Roger Early Warning System…I so depend on. Thank you. And, thank you Lauren for staying strong and resilient. YOU are exactly what Peter Sklar would have wanted. And, thank you Edhatters for all your comments. You are great!
The people involved in that theft were dangerous the RV was taken at gunpoint the take down was in a residential neighborhood The police were there to take down the criminals as peacefully as possible I posted to warn residents, I’m grateful I serve a purpose. I agree with you on Lauren she is exactly what Peter would have wanted to carry on Edhat.
I think there used to be a button where if you preferred, you could have comments go from newest to oldest or oldest to newest as you preferred. That would be cool to have again. Having comments go from the top with newest to oldest at bottom is my preference, but since this seems to be a problem for some, having a choice would be great! In any event, having the local comments section is a priceless local forum.
Thank you for your support!!
Edhat
Po Box 3846
Santa Barbara, CA 93130
Our address is located at the bottom of our site in the footer section.
It’s distressing how many people seem to equate arrant insanity with entertainment.
Seniors pay a lower rate if they request it.
Some bozo says “It’s $1/week and you get to upvote and downvote comments”, and I say the truth — that anyone who logs in can NOW vote on comments — and the bozo then says that you have to subscribe to log in — not stopping to think whether you need to pay to subscribe. This sort of stupidity is why our civilization is going to hell.
Please state what policy changes, if any, you will implement regarding comment deletions in the new and improved version.
Didn’t the ed staff just address these issues below? I don’t understand why people don’t just email them their questions. They said so many times the website is a work in progress and these issues will be fixed. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best thing we have in town and edhat said they’re continuing to work on things.