it was the series of articles on water treatment methods that got me to sign up for a year's membership here at Backpackinglight. The series was definitely well done and I learned a lot going through the individual articles. That was at the end of August.

What I am wondering about is this- where are the new articles? There seems to be a lack of new material. In the past month and a half there have been maybe a half dozen new articles posted. Many of the categories haven't had new posings since August.

Perhaps I am missing the point here- maybe it is all about the community forums and the already-posted material from months ago that I have read through. I was kinda thinking that Backpackinglight was an online magazine that I was buying into.

Did I miss something?

Edited by true_north on 10/16/2012 10:35:25 MDT.

Click on "articles" above

There have been two per week the last month and a half

I've wondered this also. The articles section doesn't highlight the new stuff and I've had to pick through to find them under each sub-heading and just check back occasionally. Am I missing something? Or is that the only way to do it?

I agree it would be nice to have list with most recent first

I normally read them the week they come out, so they're there on the home page

Or, Maia posts a thread for comments about the article

How can a dog post? Must have a special keyboard and mouse.

There is a weekly email that goes with links to the 2 articles for that week, plus a mention of what's coming the week after. If you're not getting this then have a look at your email settings.

Besides that, browse the home page, or better yet, head to the 'Editors Roundtable' forum sub-section where a new thread is created for each article. These threads appear with links to the articles before the homepage is actually updated. You can usually find links to the new articles here sometime on the second half of Tuesday.

There is a link on the Home page to the list of past articles in reverse chronological order. The link is titled "ARTICLES: Archives"



The water treatment articles are on the second and third page.

Hope this helps.

Edited by Lancem on 10/16/2012 12:47:58 MDT.

On the home page, go down the left side of the page to "Articles" and click on "Archives." You'll see all the articles in reverse chronological order (most recent first). There have been two every week, the normal schedule, except for one fairly recent week where there was only one. That was just after Ryan announced that he was holding back an article or two for further editorial review.

In your time zone, unless you stay up awfully late, you'll see the new articles each Wednesday morning. Someone (presumably Ryan, in the guise of his beautiful dog Maia) posts the new articles during the evening on Tuesday usually between 8 and 9 pm, but that's Mountain time, I believe two hours later than Toronto?

Oops, Lance, you beat me to it, with a great shot of the home page in question! Thanks!

Edited by hikinggranny on 10/16/2012 12:56:28 MDT.

The "Archives" option is perfect, thanks. I guess I just assumed that was all old stuff. :)

Recycled content from the print magazine, and some short pieces that generated no forum comments. I wonder too about new quality material.

There is no one left to submit regular articles on the payroll.

I'm a non-member in less than a week after 6 plus years. I simply can't take the non committal approach by Ryan Jordan. Love Chris, Roger, et al, however.

so are you changing from Can uck to Cannot uck ?

Hey the new one by RJ is good!

I agree, it's a good one, even though I don't tarp camp. I discovered that tarp camping is not for my dog--he's restless all night, while he sleeps soundly inside a tent (which he thinks is HIS crate). There is some info in the article which is just as relevant to a tent, though.

I presume the reviews of individual gear pieces are relevant to some, but there hasn't been one this year that I've cared enough about even to read. Maybe that's just me!

Edited by hikinggranny on 10/16/2012 20:43:53 MDT.

Next week looks solid too. I'm looking forward to Dave C's article on winter.

>> I'm a non-member in less than a week after 6 plus years. I simply can't take the non committal approach by Ryan Jordan. <<

The movement is growing... or is it just the Canucks that are protesting?

Will Dandy Dan be next?

Hi Mary

> but there hasn't been one this year that I've cared enough about even to read.
Well, what sort of things do you want to read?

BPL has to publish articles covering a range of topics and levels. We need to cater for both experts and novices. If you think we have been catering too much at the novice end, then give us some hints regarding what you want.

But what about the articles on tunnel tents, water purification, ... ?

Cheers

Roger, I don't bother with the single item reviews because I have my gear pretty well to my liking so am not shopping for more. They therefore aren't relevant to me in my situation. I might read the article if it's about something I already have. That doesn't mean the articles wouldn't be relevant to someone who is looking for new gear!

There have been a number of interesting articles including your water hazards, your tunnel tents (even though I'm not in the market for one) and some of the travel ones.

One article to which I keep referring people, because I'm interested in safety issues and also because it's a freebie so non-members can read it, is Ken Knight's "The Perils of Certainty." It was a truly excellent piece of writing (I was walking down the trail with him, enjoying the beautiful fall day and the conversation!) and illustrates so well how even those of us with lots of experience and on a familiar trail can't let our attention wander and take things for granted!

In the meantime, you folks have these incessant spam attacks to deal with, which are making the forum unusable! Good luck!

Edited by hikinggranny on 10/19/2012 14:46:15 MDT.

The experience as an author of an article doesn't exactly encourage you to do another - the promised token renumeration doesn't even turn up. I wouldn't be surprised if non-staff articles dry up altogether.

Stuart. Please give a rundown of your experience of doing an article for BPL. For the sake of those thinking about it.