Public Press -- The Local Newspaper
Public Press -- The Local Newspaper
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Northwest Portland
in Portland Metro Area : Portland
NW 21st & Everett, Portland, OR
Fabulously liveable neigborhood - walk and bike everywhere or catch the streetcar or MAX. Everything ...6 more words
tagicon Worth Visiting, apartments, Interesting, bars (48 more tags)
Northwest Portland -
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Portland
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Portland, OR
Its the spot. Live a bit, ok? When you're alone and life is making you lonely You can always go ...1 more words
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Portland Metro Area
in USA : Oregon
Portland, OR
Beertown
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Oregon
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Oregon, USA
This beautiful state is considered by many traveled longtime residents as: The Best Kept Secret in the ...4 more words
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3rd Planet orbiting the star Sol in the Solar System, Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group ...4 more words
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Public Press Blog
Updates on Public Press site development and operations.
Public Press Blog and by Truth private message icon
Truth

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Score: 85854

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 12:00am 1/1/2006

Comments: 793

Articles: 250

Events: 148

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 928

Places Added: 448

Edits: 49581

Tags & Votes: 7078

- 1/31/2008 7:33
 
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Linked Photo: Portland Mercury Public Press Cover
487 views icon 6 vote icon 2 comment icon
A collage of Portland from the cover of the Jan. 31st 2008 Portland Mercury, featuring Public Press. ...16 more words
tagicon charity, cover, design, illustration (5 more tags)
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Linked Photo: Portland Mercury Public Press Cover
487 views icon 6 vote icon 2 comment icon
A collage of Portland from the cover of the Jan. 31st 2008 Portland Mercury, featuring Public Press. ...16 more words
tagicon charity, cover, design, illustration (5 more tags)

Hey Everyone, It has been way too long since we have updated the site in a big way, so to make up for lost time, we are unveiling our biggest update yet. This update coincides with our awesome Mercury Cover that you Portlanders will be seeing starting today (thursday the 31st). We won the cover in a charity auction for Sisters of the Road Cafe and Mercy, one of our members was kind enough to design the cover for us. Check it out in the newstands or on their website.

This update brings 6 major things to the site:

Around The Web: This is our way to bring in all the great local content that is happening in other blogs out there. When we first started designing Public Press (long before this site...) Blogging wasn't a big deal, and barely anyone was 'placeblogging'  , blogging about their neighborhood or city. It was mostly geeks and navel gazing.... now there are a multitude of great blogs for almost every neighborhood, especially in Portland. We want more people to find these blogs and discover great local news, so we are introducing some features that allow you to add local blogs and also specific local links that you find. We are also allowing voting on these blog posts so you can help each other find the best stuff.

Much improved geotagging and location functionality: You are going to be seeing a lot more maps on the site. Every post has a geotag (an address, a latitude/longit  ude) and now you can see this more clearly and we have better tools for mapping your posts. We have also switched all of our querying and newspaper pages (like the front page) to use "Nearness" querying... so you enter an address or zip code and the page will be based around stuff near the place you put in. Play around with this and let us know how it works. We are still working out some issues here, but it works pretty well!

The Tipline and SMS: We now have a new way to contribute called the tipline. This is designed for quick news tidbits and pieces of information that are maybe not thorough enough for a full post. You can also post and read tips using text message (text PPRESS to 41411). This is just the start of what we are planning for cell phones and mobile - we really believe that mobile journalism (mojo?) is going to be the huge and we want to be at the forefront with all the right tools.

Groups: Something that has always driven this site is the goal of enriching community and bringing neighbors together. With our new Groups feature, anyone can create public or private Groups to bring together people around a cause, a neighborhood, or a common interest. Now you can start a Blazer Fan Club group or a group to help your homeowners association communicate.

Improved Editing: At the request of many, we have added the ability to format your text a bit. Simple things like bold/blockquote  /italics are available now with more coming later. We also have a dedicated editing page so that you can edit everything at once instead of piecemeal. There are also a number of things that are much easier to edit now!

New look: We have the beginning of a new look for the site. We are still working on it, so please be patient if it changes a bit. We'd love to hear feedback.

Thanks to our patient and passionate members for making Public Press what it is. We hope we can begin to repay you by continuing to build the site and trying to make Portland and Public Press the epicenter for Citizen Journalism. Please let us know what you think and if you hit any problems! We are expecting to fix a LOT of problems in the next few days, so please continue to be patient!

Thanks, Truth and Gauss

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  vote above the fold
10:05am 1/31/2008 by chthoni... private message icon
chthonicdrink

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Score: 624

Currently located in Portland Metro Area


Joined: 4:27pm 8/3/2006

Comments: 12

Articles: 7

Events: 11

Classifieds: 0

Photos: 7

Places Added: 2

Edits: 48

Tags & Votes: 100

 in Portland Metro Area - Flag

The new site and the cover looks awesome!! You rock!

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User: greenxnm
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  vote above the fold
5:36pm 1/31/2008 by greenxnm private message icon
greenxnm

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Score: 11221

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 9:42pm 6/14/2006

Comments: 385

Articles: 42

Events: 21

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 217

Places Added: 153

Edits: 974

Tags & Votes: 2824

 in Northwest Portland - Flag

yes awesome indeed, congrats! and good job Mercy on the cover!

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User: Mercy
1982 views icon 3 comment icon
1 vote above the fold
5:40pm 1/31/2008 by Mercy private message icon
Mercy

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Score: 5293

Currently located in Portland Metro Area


Joined: 4:42pm 12/21/2006

Comments: 137

Articles: 14

Events: 6

Classifieds: 0

Photos: 162

Places Added: 14

Edits: 780

Tags & Votes: 1006

 in Portland Metro Area - Flag

Why can't I add any photos to this article? I was going to add the cover.

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure how I feel about the look of the new site... it's really hard to find things and visually confusing. :-(

Thanks about the cover compliment. I finally saw it printed today. I'm happy with it. Hope you all are too. :-)

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User: Truth
7656 views icon 15 comment icon
tagicon Interesting
1 vote above the fold
5:48pm 1/31/2008 by Truth private message icon
Truth

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Score: 85854

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 12:00am 1/1/2006

Comments: 793

Articles: 250

Events: 148

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 928

Places Added: 448

Edits: 49581

Tags & Votes: 7078

 in Northwest Portland - Flag

Hey Mercy, sorry the site is more confusing now! We are working on cleaning up certain things - this is very much a beta. We really wanted to get the new version out so that the new features would be available, and we thought things would be easier to use for new users. You click Edit Post to attach photos now. This is the new all-inclusive way to edit every aspect of a post. We definitely want to make attaching photos more obvious - we're working on it.

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User: Mercy
1982 views icon 3 comment icon
1 vote above the fold
6:51pm 1/31/2008 by Mercy private message icon
Mercy

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Score: 5293

Currently located in Portland Metro Area


Joined: 4:42pm 12/21/2006

Comments: 137

Articles: 14

Events: 6

Classifieds: 0

Photos: 162

Places Added: 14

Edits: 780

Tags & Votes: 1006

 in Portland Metro Area - Flag

I tried "Edit Post" but there are little locks in the different areas, so it won't let me add it.

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User: Truth
7656 views icon 15 comment icon
tagicon Interesting
1 vote above the fold
6:54pm 1/31/2008 by Truth private message icon
Truth

userpic

Score: 85854

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 12:00am 1/1/2006

Comments: 793

Articles: 250

Events: 148

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 928

Places Added: 448

Edits: 49581

Tags & Votes: 7078

 in Northwest Portland - Flag

ah ok. we have been tweaking with security. Articles are sort of a private thing, so we aren't letting people other than the publisher edit them. We may allow photo attachments on other peoples articles again, but haven't decided yet. I'll link your uploaded photo to this for now.

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User: greenxnm
3240 views icon 11 comment icon
1 vote above the fold
7:17pm 1/31/2008 by greenxnm private message icon
greenxnm

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Score: 11221

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 9:42pm 6/14/2006

Comments: 385

Articles: 42

Events: 21

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 217

Places Added: 153

Edits: 974

Tags & Votes: 2824

 in Northwest Portland - Flag

this is just an inquiry/suggest  ion.. (is there a word that combines those two? haha) BUT.. before the update, the 'add media' section was separate from the 'edit the content' section.. maybe it should remain that way?

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User: Truth
7656 views icon 15 comment icon
tagicon Interesting
1 vote above the fold
9:58pm 1/31/2008 by Truth private message icon
Truth

userpic

Score: 85854

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 12:00am 1/1/2006

Comments: 793

Articles: 250

Events: 148

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 928

Places Added: 448

Edits: 49581

Tags & Votes: 7078

 in Northwest Portland - Flag

We've just done some updates that should make the location stuff work a bit better on the front page and the explorer. Still not done yet. We also had to disable anonymous commenting as we starting getting hit with spam. We are working on a spam filtering solution, we were just hoping we wouldn't need it right away. Anonymous comments will be back soon.

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User: Mercy
1982 views icon 3 comment icon
1 vote above the fold
5:10pm 2/4/2008 by Mercy private message icon
Mercy

userpic

Score: 5293

Currently located in Portland Metro Area


Joined: 4:42pm 12/21/2006

Comments: 137

Articles: 14

Events: 6

Classifieds: 0

Photos: 162

Places Added: 14

Edits: 780

Tags & Votes: 1006

 in Portland Metro Area - Flag

Wow, I'm sorry but this version of the site is very difficult (for me) to use. I mean, it's so frustrating at times that if I was a new user, I would probably give up and move on to somewhere else.

The Location thing is pretty annoying and fickle. What if you don't know the zip or intersection?

Wasn't there an Earth section where you could see pretty much all of the new things posted from everywhere? How do I get to that again? It's not really that exciting in my neighborhood most of the time and I want to see what's going on outside of Portland.

The Search feature is very sensitive and I have to search several times to find things/places that I KNOW are there because I posted them.

I know this is a beta version, but I had to share my thoughts.

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User: Truth
7656 views icon 15 comment icon
tagicon Interesting
1 vote above the fold
7:02pm 2/4/2008 by Truth private message icon
Truth

userpic

Score: 85854

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 12:00am 1/1/2006

Comments: 793

Articles: 250

Events: 148

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 928

Places Added: 448

Edits: 49581

Tags & Votes: 7078

 in Northwest Portland - Flag

Hey Mercy, thanks for your comments. Hopefully these are things that will be addressed very soon. We are going to add a Global/Local tab to the Front Page and to the Explorer so that it's easy to switch from location filtered or not. Also, the site will remember you global/local status, your radius, and your place so that you can stick to one view.

With regard to the location picker (assuming we're talking about front page here) you can type in a city name, a zip, an address, or a country. If the site doesn't find enough content within the radius (25miles by default) then we keep zooming out until we find stuff. Perhaps it should be relabeled so it is more obvious that you can also put a city/country in there. What do you mean by it being fickle? Can you provide some more detail here?

When you say the search is very sensitive, did you mean because of the location filtering? Were you having other problems int he explorer? Hopefully the global/local tab will help that. We are also adding a search box to the header so you can search from any page.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.

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User: greenxnm
3240 views icon 11 comment icon
1 vote above the fold
8:25pm 2/5/2008 by greenxnm private message icon
greenxnm

userpic

Score: 11221

Currently located in Northwest Portland


Joined: 9:42pm 6/14/2006

Comments: 385

Articles: 42

Events: 21

Classifieds: 2

Photos: 217

Places Added: 153

Edits: 974

Tags & Votes: 2824

 in Northwest Portland - Flag

just to add my 2cents: I think this site is great! and i will keep using it! You guys- the CREATORS- have done an awesome job raising this thing since it's infancy. Right now, it's in its adolescent phase and all i can say is It must be tough! We will see it grow/change/gro  w some more, and that is what is so exciting to me. As for new users, any new site can be confusing at first (i almost gave up on MySpace when i first started using it!), but after some regular use, things become easier until you start thinking you're a damn expert! ... one step at a time, and hopefully we'll be with you every step of the way!

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User: eschnide
2643 views icon 1 comment icon
1 vote above the fold
5:18pm 2/6/2008 by eschnide private message icon
eschnide

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Score: 16378

Currently located in Hazelwood (Southeast)


Joined: 4:37pm 1/1/2007

Comments: 207

Articles: 13

Events: 26

Classifieds: 0

Photos: 315

Places Added: 188

Edits: 7258

Tags & Votes: 3699

 in Hazelwood (Southeast) - Flag

I'm still learning this new version of the site and much of what I've been feeling of this early Beta Mercy has beaten me to commenting on it. What hasn't all ready said is: I'd like to see Public Press more dominant on it's own domain like in the old version somehow without losing many of the new and upcomming features. Right now it looks more eccentrically like a hub for all the other sites to connect to than being a main news source like it did in the old alpha phase. While I like that "hub" concept in this new version of Public Press I liked more how Public Press was also seeming like it's own entity in the alpha version of the site. The Center column (in the current version) where P2 members publish their own news and photos seems to have taken the back stage with it's new clustered size. I'd also like to see neighborhood selecting easier again as well as the add media feature improved. Getting an accurate weatherzip when seeing what the weather is doing in a specific region is sometimes difficult at the moment too. The learning curve from the old Alpha version to this new Beta version is huge but I'm also still mixed as well on how I completely feel of it because I'm learning this new layout still. The new voting system (the blue up arrow) has improved a lot. I like the ability to vote on other blogs as well as peoples comments and not just new News and Media. The big red Log-in link I don't like because it currently goes directly to a registration page for new users instead of a Log-in page like it implies. The color scheme seems eccentric now and while blue is a soothing web color it also seems as if blue is almost to abundant as a default color scheme. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of the previously mentioned and upcomming improvements!

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Northwest Portland
in Portland Metro Area : Portland
NW 21st & Everett, Portland, OR
Fabulously liveable neigborhood - walk and bike everywhere or catch the streetcar or MAX. Everything ...6 more words
tagicon Worth Visiting, apartments, Interesting, bars (48 more tags)
Northwest Portland
NW 21st & Everett, Portland, OR

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Article: Minor bug fixes - lots more to come
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in Public Press Blog