submitted by qntmfred on Wednesday, December 9 2009 at 11:49 PM
Dear fellow tdubbers,
The Wolf Web is nearing 10 years old. That's a pretty remarkable achievement in the internet age and I think it would be pretty amazing if tww were around in another 10 years. To help make that happen, we're giving the community the opportunity to make this site whatever we want to.
A lot of you already know me, but for those who don't, I'm qntmfred and when I arrived at NC State in 2000, thewolfweb was already a well-known fixture on campus, and has been ever since. Since the original creator, CrazyJ, moved on the site has continued to survive, but has been desperately lacking some care and attention. I've been working with the new owners for a few months and they are fully on board with letting the community lead the way forward. I'll be working on rejuvenating the code that runs the site, and also helping to get involved anybody who wants to help out.
If you've been around here at all the last few years, you know tww occassionally has "technical difficulties." I've been working on putting an end to the constant Oh Shit! errors and soon we'll be back to a reliably browsable site.
Next, the School Tool is one of the most useful features tww has and it's a shame it's been out of service for so long. Well, starting for next semester, you'll once again be able to find useful information about classes and professors at NC State.
The Textbook Exchange is another great idea that we've all been missing out on. We're revamping textbook exchange to not only allow you to buy and sell books from other students, but also to use a new price comparison engine, so you get the best deal available, whether it's local or online.
I mentioned earlier we want the community to take charge, so what does that mean? For one, let us know what you think about the site. What's awesome about it, what's not awesome, and how could we make it awesomer? Have technical skills? We want more people involved in the coding and development. Sick of stupid ads? So are we. Help us find local advertisers that have something interesting to offer our users. If you're interested in being involved in these or any other way, let me know!
Another way to help is to become a premium member. Premium members get to browse tww ad-free and get access to a bunch of other special features. Premium members will also get first access to all new features in the future. It's a cheap, easy way to help keep tww running and includes many HIGHLY DESIRABLE benefits. Sign up now! Just want to make a donation to let us know you are glad somebody is finally doing something about this place? Buy an ad with your own personal message of support.
I'm looking forward to some great changes for the New Year at The Wolf Web! Thanks for being a loyal member.
the textbook exchange should be the #1 focus of the site. if that was done in a thoughtful manner in which students can efficiently and easily buy and sell books then you would have thousands of students coming here first before they go to any book store. That could be the driver for a lot of traffic which the site needs for revenue.
but there are many things that make the tool not very user friendly, for example contacting many people to buy books only to find out they have already sold it. you should know when a book was posted, perhaps there should be a two semester limit on a posted book, also automatic email contact with the person who posts a book will make them update their book status if they sell it or to change price.