Any chance of bringing back the Google authentication for logging in?
For 4 years I would just sign in using my Google account. With that option gone, I had to create a new account and lost everything I have been following and all the history from that using that log in.
Maybe I’m missing something?
Any info is appreciated.
For whatever reason, I can’t log in from my computer. Phone works fine. I know my password, etc.
I assume it’s something to do with requiring a script or a cross-site cookie of some such.
Here’s a link for those who wish to go on a trip down memory lane.
Omg, that made me so happy -lol
Clicked on that, stepped in the Time Machine, went to the old forums, saw some old threads, names of some old forum regulars who I haven’t thought of in years… good times 
@BrickHead you see this?
S
If for some reason some of you can’t get to the forums here’s a link.
Brings back memories.
No problem, man.
Oh dude, AMEN to that! The original banner where it was “come in from the cold” or something?
It was such a badass site then. And the content was unreal and truly novel.
The site now has 50% of the screen devoted to ads (which is wild, it’s a total debacle visually [it’s actually disorienting at times] and I’m sure stemmed from a decision purely around maximizing economics rather than experience) and whereas articles used to occasionally plug products it’s as though each one plugs several products every time.
Even the “stuff we like” section - like, really? I miss the days before the Shugarts were moderating the content. Having active and respected coaches before made Tnation so unique and kept me coming back. This now is crazy and a massive shift to monetizing rather than optimizing quality of content (presumably the job of a Chief Content Officer). I hope at least in the short run it’s getting them some dollars but in terms of a long-run vision - there doesn’t seem to be one. I don’t think it’s going to work out well in a longer term timeline.
Even the forums being monitored as aggressively as they are; it’s a movement that is in total contrast to the paradigm shift that the world is currently experiencing. It’s a fairly jumbled mess that I’m sure seemed great on paper but in practice came out to be novel but subpar compared to even basic forum structure like you see on reddit. Innovation isn’t always improvement (see Physique Lab or “Livespill” for past examples).
This appears to have been addressed. The author dropdown comes up when you search, so you know what the article was vaguely about but aren’t sure who wrote it, this should narrow it down.
Are we looking at the same site? Because, it doesn’t. Not anywhere close. If you’re seeing a truly distracting number of ads on the site, toss up a screenshot please.
You may think that, but it’s verifiably false, which is what gets highlighted every time this gets brought up. I just checked, like I do every time this gets brought up, and only 7 of the last 30 articles contained any product links. That means about 80% of articles have zero product links, which is right where it’s been every time this gets brought up.
It’s fair to be skeptical, but since T-Nation just passed 23 years on the Web and has steadily grown in traffic and reach, I believe they have a handle on how to maintain a good working longevity.
As I mentioned last time the site’s durability was brought up, no successful online business does things the same way for 23 years. The brains behind TN wouldn’t make changes if it wasn’t for overall improvement.
Maybe why those features ended up being short-term? Go figure.
Seeing as how you’ve made 13 forum posts in the last 11 years, with two of those posts being in this thread, I really don’t think you’re in a place to be commenting on how the forums are handled. Regardless, I’m kinda interested to hear what you think counts as “aggressive monitoring”.
I don’t understand what you’re getting at. Is it some kind of “free speech” issue? Because, no, that’s not how it works.
Image attached for you, Chris, I think it’s fair to say that the advertisements occupy at least as much space on my screen as the content, wouldn’t you? If you still disagree then yes we must be looking at different sites.
As for my comments about plugging products - yes, my comments were hyperbole. But nevertheless, I can say it’s been dramatically more than it ever was - which unto itself is fine. This is a business, I get that. But before this was a place for content which presumably garnered business as opposed to the much more “in your face” style that it is today. Maybe you folks don’t feel like it’s a lot but if you felt the need to validate it because it’s being brought up even moderately regularly, maybe that says something.
Oh I’m certain that any brain at the top of a company makes decisions with the greater good in mind - that is obvious. But my contention is that - despite 23 years of experience - perhaps the long-term either a) wasn’t taken into account, or b) wasn’t taken into account by an appropriate business mind. I’m a huge believer in adapting with the times but leaning into a 23 year tenure as a reason for continued longevity would be a big mistake, just as assuming any change would be a positive one. Strict monetization of a website speaks counterproductively to who I would imagine this websites target demo is, or is becoming. Again, I’m hopeful you guys have seen some short-term improvements but if you speak to a lot of marketing consultants they’ll be the first to explain the importance of quality content first and foremost. The “stuff we like” is/was interesting when it was an occasional article, but in terms of brand dilution it’s a play I never anticipated a brand (that T-nation was) to pursue.
Indeed, I was a lot more active (and a “Level 1” purchaser) a long time ago. Presumably right in your target demo as well. I loved this brand and what it stood for and the reason for my posting was to hopefully have you guys view the changes with an open mind. My business pedigree is fairly strong, but even if it’s not the best my hope is that you guys understand from a zoomed-out perspective the direction you’re taking the brand and who you anticipate your customer to be. It’s very different than the one you had - and if that’s the plan, cool. I get it. And I hope it works out. Just wanted to share some feedback in terms of where I see you guys in the landscape of the several other sites in a similar space.
And fuck, I mean, you guys tell me - you have the data. If the forum activity on the site is killing it and increasing year over year, then you really don’t have to debate me.
The proof will be in the pudding. If it’s been decreasing or not at all time highs, that’s really where I’d be a little concerned about the decisions that have been made.
If I had to bet, I wouldn’t bet that they’re as high as they’ve ever been. And if that’s the case, my hope is that “the brains behind TN” are humble enough to take a look at the direction and possibly acknowledge that some things probably aren’t going the best way.
But, alas. If I’m wrong, hail to the Shugarts .
No, I wouldn’t.
Again, that accusation is verifiably false. Your perception is not in line with reality. The articles with links have always been around 20%… as I’ve pointed out every time the issue has come up in the last few years.
I wasn’t saying they’re leaning into it or resting on laurels. My point was that they’ve made it this far, and they’ve changed things along the way, in order to remain at the head of the pack for an online-only business that does zero offline promotion. There’s no reason why that pattern of adapting-as-needed would take a suddenly turn for the worse, since they’re being led by the same team with the same goals and the same mindset.
Nah, you tell me, how did “the forums being monitored as aggressively as they are” seem like an accurate assessment? Genuine question. This is, like, something I’d need to keep tabs on.
Hey buddy, you asked to see a screenshot of a 50% advertisement screen from your business. Ask and so shall ye receive. Indeed it’s not like that ALL the time, but you’ve also cut off the sides of your screen it seems. If you don’t want to hear the truth that’s totally okay, but don’t ask and then when shown try to rebut its existence.
But also to note, there are a lot of online-only supplement companies with zero-offline promotion. Like, a lot.
Well, you seem to have sidestepped my commentary on the traffic to the forums and where it stands today relative to the past. I would guess that my bet might be a winner and I kind of feel like you’re getting defensive about it rather than entertaining the notion that even a small part of what I’m saying may be a) true, and b) affecting your viewership.
This thread was opened specifically for site feedback but if all you want to hear is how great it is (in spite of my theory of declining forum usage in a digital age) then you don’t need to engage with me man. I’m familiar with best practices for this type of business and it’s just my opinion that these decisions were not made in line with them. If your team knows better and you have the results - wonderful. But it feels to me like a “oh shit we have to find a way to make more money off this thing - let’s add a section where we can hock products and make a commission” moment. Which is, of all things, a very short-term perspective. If the larger plan is to become some sort of hub for fitness gear and to be some type of intermediary - cool. Weird to me, but cool.
Maybe that will work. But if not, then it’s a fairly evident case of brand dilution that I am guessing came from someone who doesn’t have the knowledge to understand the longer term effects.
As for the forum monitoring - this comes from a place a while back where any commentary that wasn’t positive around Biotest products and/or competitors were actually removed. At the time the banner was “the intelligent and relentless pursuit of muscle”, and to me that seemed rather unintelligent. Maybe you don’t monitor it like that anymore and maybe you guys genuinely do want to be a hub for strength training and bodybuilding enthusiasts where opinions can be shared and debated intelligently. It was a fairly closed-minded perspective - in my opinion - whereby an unfavorable post yielded strong defensiveness rather than further inquiry of how to improve. Which is pretty weird.
When I saw the new format and some of the other changes over the last couple of years, it made me wonder if the site and Biotest were being prepped for a sale. I didn’t like the new format at first, but it has grown on me. As for the ads, I never see those thanks to my ad blocker.
Haha yeah that’s also a fair guess. Building things to sell usually means inflating the bottom line as quickly as possible to get the biggest multiple. Again, also a short-term plan.
But Chris C seems to be confident in the powers that be (I assume that’s that Shugart’s) so hopefully they’re seeing the metrics that they wanted to from this. I’ve seen a lot of businesses get frustrated with lacklustre results but not tie it back to their decisions so I hope that isn’t the case with these folks.
I’m mainly rebutting that your pic conveniently tripled the “Not” section.
I said online-only business, because we’ve been talking about T-Nation.com, but okay. In either case, as I said, only a few are at the front of the pack. T Nation being among them.
When I pointed out that you were lying, or let’s be generous and say “misremembering”, the actual objective facts about links in articles, I kinda figured you didn’t really care about using actual fact-checked numbers, so addressing that issue was no longer important.
The only thing I’m defensive about is a dude who’s made more posts in the last 24 hours than he’s made in the last decade critiquing the forum.
You want to address main site issues, no prob as long as you realize some of the things you’re complaining about are either imagined or personal preference. You want to say the forum is being “monitored aggressively”, you’re literally speaking from a position of ignorance.
These are things you miss when you’re gone for a decade or more. For the last 5+ years, there’s been a standalone forum for discussing Biotest products. But in general, yes, very long-standing forum TN policy is to not offer a free platform supported by Biotest dollars to allow people to bash Biotest.
Unsurprisingly, you assume wrong.
Lol.
You’re probably familiar enough with debate logic to know that as soon as you start trying to attack a person’s credibility rather than the points raised, you’ve lost the argument. Yeah, I post infrequently because you guys lost so much of your value on the forums (see: old character thread). I’ve been around the entire time to see this strange transition.
In any event bro, I wish you the best. We’ve obviously struck a chord here in terms of the actual data presumably decreasing over time and with just how defensive you’ve gotten it’s fairly clear you guys aren’t looking for constructive criticism, but just to hear that you’re doing great stuff. So keep doing what you’re doing.
I’m not sure how you define “front of the pack,” but I wish you guys would look a little harder at your assumptions and think about where you’ll end up - in terms of general traffic that I can see from my side you aren’t that high up there. But I hope I’m wrong and you guys are crushing it.
I look forward to seeing in another 5-10 years and seeing what direction you guys went, just for my own curiosity. This isn’t industry best practice stuff, so a long timeline is really the only test we have to see how good these decisions are. I hope they work.
I do wish you guys the best. Tnation was an incredible brand that contributed to my development in many ways beyond just the physical and for that I am incredibly grateful; I just wished to lend a perspective to an open mind. We don’t have that here and that’s okay, that’s your choice to make.
Good luck.
