Connecting with the Wizzley Community

A large website like Wizzley relies on people working together to fill its categories and sub-categories. Over time, these articles build up to create a massive resource for our readers, plus an income for the authors.

But first we have to get there.

Even the most cursory look at the new pages will tell us that articles are coming thick and fast here. They cover loads of different topics too. The mix makes me smile every time I glance at it.

Each and every Wizzley page represents another opportunity for a reader to find our website. They may come to read one article, but veer off into another, and another.

In that regard, our fellow authors became one powerful marketing stream for our own work.

Back when I first began writing here, this was very clearly understood. There were whole forum threads about whether it was better to write where everyone else was writing, or to trample free through the fresh virgin snow of new categories.

The conversations were inconclusive, but they made for a great buzz, especially since we were all experimenting like mad to prove our points.

Articles are always key, for ourselves and for Wizzley. Encouraging others to write more is as important now, as it was at the beginning. I recall very well the moment when I went from 'Wizzley is a nice site' to 'Wow! I'm enthusiastic about being here!'  It was Humagaia in the forum urging us all to get to 100 posts.

I felt like I was part of something bigger. I would read the forum, get all excited, knock out an article or three, then report back on my progress.

Those are the articles which I'm now earning income on.  It all most definitely paid off.

Aingham69 is producing some brilliantly in-depth articles on the Tudor Period.  Her histories weave around each other, a story here tying in with another there. They are fascinating to read and a true boon for Wizzley.

They also complement the articles that Kathleen Duffy, Wisefool, Frank Beswick and I are writing in the Middle Ages. After all, a single day in Leicestershire was enough to flip that era into the Tudor Period. It's entirely possible that I may tell the beginning of one person's story, which Aingham69 picks up later in their lives.

While each one of us may be working for our own livelihoods, we're also working together. Our mutual interest in the period naturally leads to comments. Our key-words crop up in each other's article search words.

Readers coming to learn about Mary Boleyn from Aingham will find my discussion of the Battle of Flodden. And vice versa. While I'm reading one of her articles, I may be inspired to write about something related too.

It works so beautifully, but it can't be the only place in Wizzley where this is happening.  It's merely the one I know about.

Who's sick to death of the Wizzley home page looking like a mirror of my profile?  *raises hand* 

At the time of writing, 12 of the 18 articles on the front page were written by me. That's not right by anyone's reckoning.

There's only one way to boost the work of other people. That's to interact with their articles. While you're on there commenting and getting involved, their page rank is rising.

Suddenly the 'popular' page looks more representative of the whole of Wizzley. More of those wonderful articles listed in the 'new' pages make it all of the way.

This really is where the Wizzley community needs to kick in. We tend to see those articles first, when the big push to the front page is actually going on.

If each of us make an effort to comment on at least one other author's work per day, then the connections will grow.  It's easy to see where conversations are already taking place.  Either check out the 'latest comments' or the 'buzzing pages' lists.

Better still, haunt the 'new pages' list and see what brand new conversations you can spark.

The prize is getting a Wizzley home page which acts as our shop window. Which displays for our readers the full breadth of articles and topics on offer here. Which encourages those readers to keep coming back for more.

My challenge to you is to keep me from dominating that page. Reckon that, by working together, it can be accomplished?

I love the Wizzley forum. It was my classroom, when I first began writing on line.

It was the place where veteran writers encouraged us newbies into persevering.

It was the place where inspiration could be found in the way of suggestions, competitions and highlighting certain categories.

It was the place where we could be silly, devising daft games like Wizzley battleships.

It was the place where new Wizzley authors came to say hello, and we'd all shuffle along the cyber table to let them in.

It was the place where new opportunities could be aired, picked over and discussed. Or tools of the trade were displayed for us to examine.

It was the place where writers asked questions, and gained answers, from the team behind Wizzley (very important for those of us from a certain writing platform, where the silence destroyed the site).

But sometimes, these days, I can practically see the tumbleweed rolling through. Where did all the chatter go?  Or am I being too harsh?  This is the area which I would personally love to see buzzing again. I intend to do my bit there.  Anyone ready to join me?

When I joined Wizzley in 2011, one competition led to another. People rushed to write articles about Christmas or Valentine's Day, or whatever else was the theme.

I remember stepping well out of my comfort zone in topics, desperately looking for something to write, which hadn't already been covered by somebody else.

Again, those were articles which are still paying their way now. It was worth the push to write them. Even more so as they inspired other articles, until I had quite a collection.  (One of my perennially highest earning articles was originally submitted as part of a Wizzley competition.)

But as the months went on, fewer people joined in the competitions, until they simply stopped. Apathy most definitely set in.

Do we want such things back again?  They certainly motivated writers and earned us decent money.  If so, then we'll have to not only let the Wizzley team know that, but participate when the competitions come.

In truth, I thought they'd given up on such things entirely, until I happened to notice that the on-going Wizzley Weddings push is still being updated. An article which I wrote last week is listed there.

• Write more articles and encourage others to write articles
• Write articles for categories which are already buzzing; or create your own buzz in brand new categories
• Interact with said articles - commenting, liking, promoting them via social networking
• Introduce yourself on the forum, then stay to chat with us all
• Recommend articles in Knock Your Socks Off
• Write an article for Wizzley Weddings