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Google Analytics - Collection pageviews
I've noticed over the last four days, our collection pageviews aren't accumulating like they have in the past in Google Analytics. Now in the collections traffic, the pageviews are close to the unique pageviews number. They aren't inflated anymore.
Has anyone else noticed this with their pageviews? Has Google Analytics stopped recognizing the different pages in collection assets?

Ads block text
We've received many, many complaints that ads block out text in the phone app. We've contacted customer service but nothing was done. This is a real issue for our phone users.

Adding collections to a story
I'm just getting ready to launch, and am impatient. We have created several collections, but I can't get them to show up with stories. Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong?

Google Analytics-prove site ownership
Due to unresponsive former students, I need to be able establish site ownership in order to be able to regain administrator access to our Google Analytics information. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to figure out how to go about uploading the required .txt file to the default URL or even add meta tags to be able to accomplish this. Any help would be appreciated.

Do you have a Google site verification code? It's 40 characters long and made up of letters and numbers. If you have that, you can go to the Page customizations for the top level page on your site. Under the Meta Data section, there is a Google site verification field. That's where you enter that code. That will create the google-site-verification meta tag for you.


Ability to customize email receipts for marketing.
It's important to remember that a customers trust is at it's highest right after they complete a transaction with a company.
Email receipts are the easiest way into an inbox, yet they’re the most underutilized form of email marketing, especially when working with Town News.
Having the ability to further communicate with our already engaged customers opens up opportunities to cross sell, upsell, offer discount codes on future transactions, promote social media accounts, set up a feedback loop to better understand the process/customer experience and offer logical next steps to customers who have completed a transaction, submitted content or posted a review.
Today's companies want to reach and engage more customers with every contact and e-receipts are an easy way to do so.

Community Calendar
The default event time selection the the submission form is every one minute. Who starts or ends an event on the minute? Please changed the default list to every 30 minutes with the option to type in minutes.

Inline Content
Currently, Blox CMS has a way to include inline content with text and formatting or from related assets. That's great!
However, I was wondering in the future if it would be possible to add custom inline types? Thanks!

Webinar | Tourney fever is coming—score big with ultra-engaging college bracket contests
Join us on January 17th @ 10:30 AM CST
Sports fans nationwide are turning their attention to college hoops, and pick’em contests are a fun and engaging way to turn local sports fans into loyal repeat visitors. At our January customer webinar, Gary Stibolt, sales representative, and Doug Green, product manager at TownNews, will show off our all-new basketball pick’em contests for GamesPerform.

Topics will include:
- Creating bracket pick’em contests to satisfy your audience’s hunger for March college hoops.
- Wowing advertisers with a variety of lucrative banner positions and contest sponsorship opportunities.
- Managing your contests, creating leagues, and showcasing local basketball experts.
- . . . and much more!
Bonus: Webinar registrants will be invited to join the TownNews Bracket Challenge and compete for prizes and bragging rights against other TownNews clients!
Ready to get started? Join us on January 17th at 10:30 AM CST.
Want to take in the webinar on your own time? Register now and we’ll send you a link to the webinar recording once it’s ready.

Facebook Instant Articles
Following up on Rob Weir's question, but with a Facebook focus. A Wordpress plug in was just announced making it easy for all publishers to access instant articles. Does TownNews have a plan to quickly match this?

Yes! We have already built the integration in fact. We haven't yet announced it because we'd like to have a customer go live with it to make sure it works properly and there are no issues. If anyone has a Facebook account that is approved for this, let me know, since it is still technically in beta on the Facebook side. =)
Thanks!
Christine

We are attempting to use the new promo designer block. When a reader abandons his/her unfinished AdOwl order, I would like to offer the reader a button to call us. Tech support says it isn't possible. Can that be right? Ideas?
We are attempting to use the new promo designer block. When a reader abandons his/her unfinished AdOwl order, I would like to offer the reader a button to call us. With an active click-to-call button. Tech support says it isn't possible. Can that be right? Ideas?

I'd like to sort Classified ads placed via AdOwl by category for a given date range.
I'd like to sort Classified ads placed via AdOwl by category for a given date range.
To do this. I need to be able to export a search result which includes both an AdOwl identifier and category information. I'm not finding a way to do this.
Category is not a filter setting for AdOwl Orders or Transactions searches.
I can export AdOwl Transactions, but the export does not include category information.
I do not appear to have the capability to export search results for AdOwl Orders.
AdOwl ads contain a unique External ID. but this does not appear to be searchable/indexed content in a Classifieds search: also. I am unable to export the results of a Classified search.
We would use this feature several times per year, perhaps monthly.
This feature would be used by two people (Classifieds Manager, CEO), which constitutes 50% of our users.

Are you #LocalMediaProud?
In newsrooms everywhere, our customers are gathering, analyzing, and presenting the news and information that is vital to every healthy community.
To help spread the word about the critical work you're doing, we've created the #LocalMediaProud hashtag on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We'd love to see pics of your team, in the newsroom and on the job. Don't be shy, we know you're out there. :)
Share your newsroom pics to #LocalMediaProud today!
Aaron Gillette
Marketing director
TownNews

Webinar | What’s new at TownNews
Webinar recording now available.
What’s new at TownNews

Engage your audience and earn more revenue with these features and updates you may have missed. At our November customer webinar, Christine Masters, director of product management, and Susan Bell, product manager for BLOX OTT and the BLOX Now app, will highlight the recent advancements you need to know about.
Topics will include:
- An overview of our revamped mobile reporting interface
- New revenue opportunities in BLOX Business Directory
- Improved home screen navigation for BLOX OTT
- The latest BLOX CMS speed and security enhancements
- . . . and much more!

ICYMI: Find the webinar recording and slide deck here.

Modify Public-facing "Create an Event" form for multiple but non-recurring events
Quite often the "Create an Event" tool that is hosted on our website for
the public to enter events into our calendar labels events as Spam.
This occurs especially when someone is trying to create an event that
occurs multiple times but doesn't exactly meet recurring event criteria -
like a theater show that is performed three days in a row, but at different
times of day; or a presentation that happens 2 times in one day.
Because they can't use the recurring events function they attempt to
create a separate event for each date and time, typically the first one
they enter works but the subsequent events are rejected as Spam.
As a result, we fairly regularly receive emails or calls from people who
are getting tripped up by this. The solution we are trying now is to
simply turn the Spam filter off. Time will tell if this solution is
worse than the problem.
My idea is to modify the public-facing "Create an Event" form.
The form currently has an "Occurs" selection field - with options for
Once, Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Yearly - to handle the recurring
events. When the recurring choices are selected the form adapts and
presents more fields to define the recurrence in the When section.
Could there be an occurs "Multiple" option that would then present
additional Date and Time fields? When "Multiple" is selected a secondary
selector field could appear asking "# of Additional Times" with options
for, say, 1-10. With that selection the form would then present the
extra Date and Time fields, for instance labeled Date #2, Time #2; Date
#3, Time #3; Date #4, Time #4; etc.

Default settings for 'Numbered Most Popular' block
I see on the Number Most Popular block, that you can choose a metric. (i.e. Most Viewed, or Most Commented), but what if I leave that radio button unchecked?
Does anyone know if it defaults to one or the other? Or a combination of both?
Customer support service by UserEcho