New Year, New Squid Stuff

Squidoo launched a few changes for the new year and so far I like what I'm finding.

Categories are all renewed, and sub-topics are now available within each group. There's still a bit of refinement going on based on feedback and suggestions/gripes from lensmasters who are faced with the task of putting each and every lens into a new, improved Squidoo topical category.

I have 180 lenses, but there are other lensmasters who have several hundred and I've seen some clamor (totally understandable) for a bulk-recategorization tool to ease the burden of this one-off task.

From my own perspective the new categories are better, but not best, just yet. I've got some lenses that just don't fit into a sub-topic, but I get a nag screen pushing me to select one (and a carrot of extra points for compliance). I'm trying to find the right slots in which to place each of my lenses, but my Squidoo work is, well, a bit different from some other lensmasters' niches. Perhaps that's why its done well for me? I like to think so.

For example, I categorized my How to Make Boilo lens as Food and Cooking but it really needs a special subtopic specifically for alcoholic beverage recipes. Boilo is one of those drinks known as "cultural cocktails" or regional beverages so its lens cries out for a small niche topic that better describes its basic ingredients - it's similar to wassail - and it just won't fit into a wine or beer recipe subtopic because it's made with moonshine or cheap whiskey.

I suppose I could wing it and categorize  the Boilo recipe lens as a Pennsylvania topic or try it as a Christmas topic, but those are really less specific and probably confusing (read that as it will be LOST on Squidoo and drop like a stone from Tier 1 all year long).

Here's hoping the Chatter-back we're offering leads to the usual continuous improvement by Squidoo staff - their responsiveness and approach to making Squidoo better for everyone is unquestionably one of the better aspects of Squidoo.