Please do not use this topic to discuss the “Follow Random Scratcher” suggestion; please only discuss the suggestions I have listed here, thanks.

Currently, new projects rarely get any views because:

• The default Explore page tab is “Trending” - projects that are already popular get displayed more than new projects
  

• The search engine ranks projects in order of views - the ones with more views are shown first, meaning new projects will be right at the bottom since they start with 1 view
  

• Not many people click on show and tell threads, and many projects are suggested to be featured but only a few of them will actually be featured, and a lot of the same type of project (platformers, AMVs, MAPs) get featured over and over
  

My suggestions are:

• 1. Remove the “Popular” tab from the Explore page and make the “Recent” tab default, so more people will look at the “recent” projects.
  The popular projects are already popular and are likely to continue getting a high rate of views (example: Griffpatch's Paper Minecraft which is getting about 14,000 views every day) so it could be better to direct more attention towards new, unnoticed projects. I've seen a lot of new projects that are great but hardly have any views because they aren't being displayed in search results, and not many projects get featured. Loads of projects are suggested every day but only one can be featured.

• 2. Bring back tags!
  There used to be tags where you could tag your project, for example “maze” and when people search for the “maze” tag, your project will show there in order of most recent. This was one of the ways my older projects got 30-40 views on the first day. Now without tags, they usually don't get any views for a few days.

• 3. Feature more different types of projects.
  A lot of the time the Scratch Team features very similar types of projects. Mainly platformers (that all have very similar level design), multi-animator projects (MAPs), “design your own” games, and AMVs with anime characters. Maybe feature more different varieties of projects, not just all the same type? Sure, these get suggested a lot, but based on the number of requests there are, they are obviously not the only ones being suggested…

• 4. Add a search filter to the search engine.
  “Sort by Most Recent”, “Sort by Most to Least Views”, “Sort by Least to Most Views” options so users can decide whether they want to see the newest projects, or the ones with more or less views. Currently, it seems to be most to least views only. I looked up my projects and the ones with the least views are at the bottom. Make “Sort by Recent” the default.

I know Scratch isn't about fame but new (and experienced) Scratchers might be discouraged if they put a lot of time and effort into a project and not have it get any recognition.

The reason for these suggestions is that there are a lot of new projects that are very high quality but they aren't getting the recognition they deserve, because currently, projects that are already popular are given much more coverage than new projects, so far less people will see the new project. Even if you make a show and tell thread for your new project, put it in your signature, and give it a really good thumbnail, it is unlikely to get more than 1-2 views for the first few days.

Please support!

These are all excellent ideas; I feel as though it's a little hard to gain attention on Scratch. I've only managed to do so by being friendly around the community and advertising in my signature.
Having all those extra tabs would definitely increase the amount of views that newer projects get.

Here's a suggestion to add to the list:


5. Add a “follow random Scratcher” button.
If more people follow lesser-known Scratchers, then the lesser-known Scratchers' projects will get more views. Also, there would be a feature so it wouldn't make people follow Scratchers who had previously had projects removed for inappropriate content or anything like that.

I didn't even realize that you couldn't search by tags anymore – obviously you should be able to, support

Support! When there were tags, (because I love platformers so much xD) I'd just search up “Platformers” and it'd take me to the most recent platformers so I could play them. Most of the platformers that I liked were by unnoticed scratchers, and I loved/faved them, bringing attention to the scratchers. Also, my projects got higher views since people could see that it was recently shared and could play them. But now, getting views is hard.

It doesn't matter. Scratch is about programming, not popularity. If you want a lot of people to see your project… how about you take the time to make it a quality project?

Sorry if that sounded harsh, but this can never really change.

The thing is, the front page is for displaying projects that you may be interested in, not projects that have never been seen before. Popular projects tend to be of higher quality (thus why they became popular), so that's why they get put on the front page.

Sigton

The4thPixel wrote:

It doesn't matter. Scratch is about programming, not popularity. If you want a lot of people to see your project… how about you take the time to make it a quality project?

Sorry if that sounded harsh, but this can never really change.

To be honest (not bragging) I put a lot of effort into my projects, I spent months working on the Retribution game in my signature and it doesn't have that many views, and I am working on a project that is currently unshared but I've been working on it since October and taking time to make it quality, but it's still not going to get many views based on how the viewing system is like at the moment.

Sigton wrote:

The thing is, the front page is for displaying projects that you may be interested in, not projects that have never been seen before. Popular projects tend to be of higher quality (thus why they became popular), so that's why they get put on the front page.

Sigton

Thing is, a lot of featured projects are platformers that mostly have very similar level design and some are so similar they are practically almost the same game with a different appearance, and as I said in the top post, the Scratch Team usually feature only a few different types of projects.

Can you stop complaining? You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

Cub56 wrote:

Thing is, a lot of featured projects are platformers that mostly have very similar level design and some are so similar they are practically almost the same game with a different appearance, and as I said in the top post, the Scratch Team usually feature only a few different types of projects.

Remind me, who suggests projects to be featured?

Sigton

Ugh…

i hate how people can trow posts like these just with the old and borning argument ‘'Scratch is not about fame’'

Think on this:

Imagine, program, share
Scratch will be not fun if some of these things not exist, yep, sharing project, but nobody view it? I dont say it needs to be mega-epic popular but serious, you think persons like Griffpatch would be making projects without his followers?
And aslo, i quote this:

Cub56 wrote:

I know Scratch isn't about fame but new (and experienced) Scratchers might be discouraged if they put a lot of time and effort into a project and not have it get any recognition.

I support! I'm not one of those Scratchers who is obsessed with fame, but it's nice to know someone likes your project!

Cub56 wrote:

Sigton wrote:

The thing is, the front page is for displaying projects that you may be interested in, not projects that have never been seen before. Popular projects tend to be of higher quality (thus why they became popular), so that's why they get put on the front page.

Sigton

Thing is, a lot of featured projects are platformers that mostly have very similar level design and some are so similar they are practically almost the same game with a different appearance, and as I said in the top post, the Scratch Team usually feature only a few different types of projects.

That entire thing on the platformers… It's so true, though.
It's not just the level design, though. I swear that almost every single platformer on this site uses the exact same programming for the basic jumping, wall jumping, and gravity.

Sigton wrote:

The thing is, the front page is for displaying projects that you may be interested in, not projects that have never been seen before. Popular projects tend to be of higher quality (thus why they became popular), so that's why they get put on the front page.

Sigton

A bunch of the projects that have reached the page don't really show that much work (no offense intended to anyone who has ever had a project reach the front page), especially in the What the Community is Loving or the What the Community is Remixing section. In Le Worm (I made a direct remix), Tumbling Santa (As of writing this, I recently shared a direct remix.), and Potatoes Gonna Potate (I actually made two indirect remixes.). All of these projects are just someone making a sprite with a few similar looking slides, putting it on a colorful background, and finding some catchy music. No actual skill required, so no, high quality is not required for getting on the front page.

IgnaxioScratcher wrote:

Ugh…

i hate how people can trow posts like these just with the old and borning argument ‘'Scratch is not about fame’'

Think on this:

Imagine, program, share
Scratch will be not fun if some of these things not exist, yep, sharing project, but nobody view it? I dont say it needs to be mega-epic popular but serious, you think persons like Griffpatch would be making projects without his followers?
And aslo, i quote this:

Cub56 wrote:

I know Scratch isn't about fame but new (and experienced) Scratchers might be discouraged if they put a lot of time and effort into a project and not have it get any recognition.

That's my idea behind my “Follow Random Scratch” button. If you have more followers, it's more likely that at least one of them will look at a project that you just shared.

dvargasews wrote:

Here's a suggestion to add to the list:


5. Add a “follow random Scratcher” button.
If more people follow lesser-known Scratchers, then the lesser-known Scratchers' projects will get more views. Also, there would be a feature so it wouldn't make people follow Scratchers who had previously had projects removed for inappropriate content or anything like that.

Sigton wrote:

Remind me, who suggests projects to be featured?

Sigton

I know users do, but there are so many requests in that feature topic, it is impossible that every single one of those suggestions is a platformer, but it seems as though the ST are picking the platformers out of those suggestions and featuring them.

WolfCat67 wrote:

That entire thing on the platformers… It's so true, though.
It's not just the level design, though. I swear that almost every single platformer on this site uses the exact same programming for the basic jumping, wall jumping, and gravity.

Exactly, a lot of platformers have virtually the same level design and coding with a different colour cube as the player, but loads and loads of practically the same project are being featured over and over. A lot of different types of games get suggested to be featured, but it seems like it's mainly the platformers that the Scratch Team are selecting.

Cub56 wrote:

I know users do, but there are so many requests in that feature topic, it is impossible that every single one of those suggestions is a platformer, but it seems as though the ST are picking the platformers out of those suggestions and featuring them.

6% of projects on the front page right now are platformers, 10% of featured projects are platformers. However, 40% of featured projects are animations/artwork. Looks like your facts are a bit off there…

Cub56 wrote:

Exactly, a lot of platformers have virtually the same level design and coding with a different colour cube as the player, but loads and loads of practically the same project are being featured over and over. A lot of different types of games get suggested to be featured, but it seems like it's mainly the platformers that the Scratch Team are selecting.

Compare this and this.
Both platformers are completely different; the only similarities are the fact they are both platformers. Totally different designs, concepts, levels, features, stories, characters. Just because they are the same genre of game doesn't mean that they are the same.

Sigton

Sigton wrote:

Cub56 wrote:

I know users do, but there are so many requests in that feature topic, it is impossible that every single one of those suggestions is a platformer, but it seems as though the ST are picking the platformers out of those suggestions and featuring them.

6% of projects on the front page right now are platformers, 10% of featured projects are platformers. However, 40% of featured projects are animations/artwork. Looks like your facts are a bit off there…

Out of the games it's mostly platformers, animations/artwork aren't games.

Sigton wrote:

Cub56 wrote:

Exactly, a lot of platformers have virtually the same level design and coding with a different colour cube as the player, but loads and loads of practically the same project are being featured over and over. A lot of different types of games get suggested to be featured, but it seems like it's mainly the platformers that the Scratch Team are selecting.

Compare this and this.
Both platformers are completely different; the only similarities are the fact they are both platformers. Totally different designs, concepts, levels, features, stories, characters. Just because they are the same genre of game doesn't mean that they are the same.

Sigton

A lot of front paged platformers are similar though, like these
https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/103069687/
https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/94868644/
https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/134430880/

which have all been featured and a lot of the level design is quite similar. These aren't the only ones.

dvargasews wrote:

Here's a suggestion to add to the list:


5. Add a “follow random Scratcher” button.
If more people follow lesser-known Scratchers, then the lesser-known Scratchers' projects will get more views. Also, there would be a feature so it wouldn't make people follow Scratchers who had previously had projects removed for inappropriate content or anything like that.

I think the point of the follow button was so you could get feeds about Scratcher's you cared about. I believe a lot of users like to see new and well made content, I don't want to sound mean or anything, there are lots of users who don't have great content like griffpatch, and being honest I qualify as one of these users, a random Scratcher button isn't the best way of delivering said list items above.