Thursday, September 10, 2009

Crime Watch evolves - new features etc

Kia Ora everyone. Thanks for reading Crime Watch over the past month. It's been great getting some feedback and comments etc about how the site is going. As you will have noticed, I've been steadily adding things, tweaking things, and re-arranging things - trying to give you, the readers, the best and most user-friendly experience when it comes to learning a bit more about NZ crime fiction, and keeping up to date with crime and thriller fiction happenings in New Zealand and abroad.

Of course, as I add more to the site, it can become a little more unwieldy to find particular things that might interest you. So today I've added some new features , along with re-arranging a few things that will hopefully make it easier for you to find information. These include:
  • a search function at the top of the sidebar;
  • using hyperlinks in posts rather than posting entire http addresses (this will also mean that from now on there is likely to be far more links in my posts - I hope this is useful);
  • sidebar links to some great 20-30mins audio files of radio interviews that top crime writers have done with Radio New Zealand (clicking on these should immediately play the audio file) and also links to radio book reviews, and TV interviews with visiting writers;
  • sidebar links to the Bookstore Reviews - which will become a more regular feature
  • sidebar links to information about authors I have met/interviewed - where possible I will link to any external article or blog post relating to the meeting/interview (some are upcoming, so just currently link to the author's website);
  • re-arranging the myriad of sidebar links and info more 'thematically' - now the top third of the side-bar is everything to do with NZ & crime fiction (e.g. international author visits and other events, recent releases, general info about NZ authors), the middle part relates more to me/this blog and reviews etc (e.g. competitions, my reviews of books and bookstores, mags I write for, authors I've interviewed, etc), and then the lower part is links to many other great blogs, and other crime fiction related websites (authors, publications, organisations).
Hopefully some of these changes and additions will make it easier for you to find what you're most interested in amongst a rapidly growing amount of information and links. The overall idea is that this blog provides you with some crime/thriller fiction information you may not have been aware of, both in terms of new information on this blog and also being a portal to make it easier for you to find other relevant information on the web (e.g. the cool radio interviews).
What do you think? Feedback welcome.

2 comments:

  1. I really enjoy your blog, Craig, and amazed you've been able to do so much in such a short time! Keep it up.

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  2. A search function is a fine idea, and those other features will grow more useful the longer you keep the blog going. Good job.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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