Associated Sites list in footer?

October 30, 2009 3:13 AM

Hey, how about a tiny little list of bulleted "Associated Sites" at the bottom of the page?

Like, between "Sites" and "Buy a Shirt". It could go something like this:

Associated Sites:
* MetaChat
* PoliticalFilter
* MeFightClub
* LibraryThing Group
* Deleted Threads

... and some others that I'm surely forgetting. These are all awesome sites that I don't frequent as much as I should because "out of sight out of mind," and I'm guessing other mefites might feel the same way ...

posted by jbickers to Feature Requests at 3:13 AM (44 comments total)

The list would be long, wouldn't it? MonkeyFilter, SportsFilter...

I mean, I barely have anough time to snark on people's silly MeTa pony requests. There are only 24 hours in a day, and this is one of them!
posted by not_on_display at 4:03 AM on October 30, 2009

But I like this idea and I think everyone, including satellite sites, needs a hug.
posted by not_on_display at 4:05 AM on October 30, 2009

I always got the impression that Deleted Thread was something that existed in spite of the mods, not actively supported by Metafilter. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but wouldn't it kind of partially defeat the purpose of deleting threads (as opposed to just closing them but leaving them visible) if there was a link to Deleted Thread at the bottom of each page?
posted by explosion at 4:17 AM on October 30, 2009

Alternatively, you could have a bookmarks folder with all these sites in it. I just thought of this and now later today I think I'll do this.
posted by From Bklyn at 4:28 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

In the MetaTalk sidebar there's a link to the wiki which does have a Related Websites page. I think that's about as far as MetaFilter needs to go in terms of highlighting these pages. Incidentally, that page needs work.
posted by Kattullus at 4:31 AM on October 30, 2009

Alternatively, you could have a bookmarks folder with all these sites in it.

Yeah, but that doesn't address the bigger issue of visibility to people who might have forgotten about them.

(And I realize that it isn't MeFi's job to keep people aware of other sites/communities, but some of these are really worthwhile and valuable, especially to mefites.)
posted by jbickers at 4:40 AM on October 30, 2009

Wow. I just checked, and I gotta say: I'm shocked the Monkey's alive at this late date. I had no idea.

did you see what I did there?
posted by koeselitz at 5:12 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

did you see what I did there?

About as subtle as a sledge... sledge...
...
sledgehammer.
posted by hangashore at 5:46 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

Um.
So wait... the propsal is to have a bar of links to sites on a site which links to other sites anyway? I'm confused.
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:28 AM on October 30, 2009

Please don't link to the super-secret cabal offshoots...I've said too much.
posted by ColdChef at 6:33 AM on October 30, 2009

I think it might be a reference to the Peter Gabriel hit, "Shock the Monkey"?
posted by Meatbomb at 6:47 AM on October 30, 2009

Actually it was a subtle but biting satire of casual upper-class dismissal of important animal and human rights issues such as the torturous testing of electrical products on primates by corporations lustily laying their hands on as much filthy lucre as they can carry.

But that was a good guess.
posted by koeselitz at 6:50 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

But I like this idea and I think everyone, including satellite sites, needs a hug.

Sorry, no more hugging, due to paranoia about the flu.
posted by Melismata at 7:05 AM on October 30, 2009

I really like this idea but I can see why MeFi wouldn't want to do this. Not only does this imply an official endorsement of those particular sites which Matexamyn might wish to avoid, it also creates an issue where the MeFi spinoff sites that don't get listed might get testy about it.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:08 AM on October 30, 2009

it also creates an issue where the MeFi spinoff sites that don't get listed might get testy about it.

And believe me, when the super-secret cabal gets angry, nations crumble. Oops! Shutupshutupshutup!
posted by ColdChef at 7:20 AM on October 30, 2009

jbickers: "Hey, how about a tiny little list of bulleted "Associated Sites" at the bottom of the page? "

What do you mean by "associated"? Some of those sites are sort of Meta-MetaFilter (Deleted Posts, LibraryThing) and some are MetaFilter-esque but run by members or former members or just other people (MonkeyFilter, PoliticalFilter, MetaChat, etc; given the existence of things like Metaphilter, this could be a very long list). Neither are literally associated with MetaFilter.

A good place for these lists would probably be the Wiki. Oh wait, there it is.
posted by Plutor at 7:21 AM on October 30, 2009

MeFi spinoff sites that don't get listed might get testy about it

I am not sure if my web presence counts here... maybe there should also be a link to the websites that spawned MetaFilter, and that MF is associated with?

Is a flow chart needed here? Is this mic on?
posted by Meatbomb at 7:28 AM on October 30, 2009

And what about spinoff sites that fall into decay and disuse? What do we think about them?
posted by yhbc at 7:29 AM on October 30, 2009

How many roads must a man walk down?
posted by yhbc at 7:30 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

And what about spinoff sites that fall into decay and disuse? What do we think about them?

We think that if they were still alive, we'd never get any work done. We also like that idea.
posted by ColdChef at 7:31 AM on October 30, 2009

Matt's expressed reservation about this sort of thing in the past, I think in part because he doesn't want to play favorites with what would make the cut and in part because he doesn't want to have to be responsible for what seems like an official endorsement and hence some measure of implicit ownership/liability for what's going on in places we don't have any control over.

The Related Sites bit on the wiki really is the go-to spot at this point for the curious, yeah.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:37 AM on October 30, 2009

I have a Viagra reseller shop that I consider to be MetaFilter related and I would love to have it in this list, please.
posted by dirtdirt at 8:16 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

Neither are literally associated with MetaFilter.

But I got an email from Jessamyn once!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:21 AM on October 30, 2009 [2 favorites]

I think by now a 'blog-roll' is kind of an accepted and conventional thing and having one on metatalk wouldn't be a bad thing.
posted by empath at 8:29 AM on October 30, 2009

I'm picturing a sidebar block on metatalk, with 10 or 15 sites listed. There aren't many sites that I'd consider part of the metafilter 'eco-system', it shouldn't be hard to come up with a fairly non-controversial list.
posted by empath at 8:37 AM on October 30, 2009

I think by now a 'blog-roll' is kind of almost as passe as a 'webring' and having one on metatalk would be so hilariously unnecessary.
posted by Plutor at 8:40 AM on October 30, 2009 [4 favorites]

Can we have an official enemies of MetaFilter list, then, please? We could black out all the names so we don't give them traffic.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:59 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

The associated sites are linked from *inside the building*.
posted by lukemeister at 9:45 AM on October 30, 2009

And an ovoid cutout of that building's facade is being rotated in *three dimensions*.
posted by davejay at 9:51 AM on October 30, 2009

Wasn't there a list around of websites operated by Metafilter members? Where's that thing? There's always the possibility I could just be MAKING SHIT UP without realizing it.
posted by marxchivist at 10:12 AM on October 30, 2009

As it turns out, a Metafilter site search for "ate my balls" is unexpectedly hilarious. We've got a vivid history of ball-eating, folks.
posted by Skot at 10:15 AM on October 30, 2009

I think the wiki link should be in the footer site-wide, not just on MeTa. But I certainly agree that it would be a bad idea to start adding numerous links down there. Some sites (I'm looking at you Weblogs Inc. Network) treat the footer like an entire page of cross-linking frolic which is most hideous and gaudy.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:27 AM on October 30, 2009

I run example.com and Metafilter sends a lot of traffic my way.
posted by special-k at 10:49 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

marxchivist: "Wasn't there a list around of websites operated by Metafilter members?"

links.mefi shows a list of 100 random websites linked from user profiles. Is that what you're thinking of?
posted by Plutor at 11:04 AM on October 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

> Wasn't there a list around of websites operated by Metafilter members?

Yes, but it doesn't seem to be linked from the Wiki and I don't know how to find it. Someone will, though.
posted by languagehat at 11:06 AM on October 30, 2009

...And Plutor has it; there used to be a list of all such websites, but it probably grew too large.
posted by languagehat at 11:07 AM on October 30, 2009

There's the mefi user sites blog as well.
posted by Rumple at 11:13 AM on October 30, 2009

I like the wiki page for this, though it could use a "Dormant" section. What else is missing?

(I'm not sure I'd add MeFight Club, because it's not much to look at unless you register.)
posted by Pronoiac at 11:22 AM on October 30, 2009

And what about spinoff sites that fall into decay and disuse?

I've been to one of those, once, long time ago. It was kind of creepy. The windows were all smashed in and comments echoed, I started to register when I noticed the pool table had been chewed on by bears. That's when I was chased ....
posted by mannequito at 11:28 AM on October 30, 2009

Kattullus i writes "Incidentally, that page needs work."

It's a wiki.
posted by Mitheral at 11:44 AM on October 30, 2009 [2 favorites]

That was it Plutor.
posted by marxchivist at 11:57 AM on October 30, 2009

Incidentally, that page needs work.

The closing of Geocities probably freed up some "Under construction" icons we could use.
posted by lukemeister at 1:05 PM on October 30, 2009

Hey guys, I run this site called "The Free Republic", can you put a link to it on your sidebar? kthxbai
posted by qvantamon at 1:20 PM on October 30, 2009

How many roads must a man walk down?
Well, if the man wants to make any forward progress, at least one less than he walks up, I guess.
posted by dg at 5:15 PM on October 30, 2009