Marshall and the Movies

In the final installment of the “Explaining the Sidebar” series, I will explain how to operate the heavy machinery that is the final four boxes of the sidebar.  Consider this your license to explore.  (Gosh, 5 Hour Energy makes me so cheesy!)

Blog Posts

This is another sidebar box that is of questionable importance, but I think it has served its purpose quite well.  I feature these five posts (more will be added later) because these are the columns that I have put the most time into.  They are usually very personal or meaningful in content, and I really want everyone to read them.  But if this is seen as just taking up space and not having much use, I’d consider taking it down.

Fellow Bloggers

If you are looking for other average joes and janes who love cinema and foist their love onto the world wide web, then click any one of these links and be transported to another fantastic blog.  For those who blog, the quickest way to get on this list is by commenting enough for me to really notice you – but I also creepily express my admiration here too.

The Pros

I’m not going to pretend like I have all the answers to every movie question.  Try asking me about any movie made before 1990.  I’ve seen maybe 50 of them.

But I know people who do know the answers, and I want you to find the answers.  So, I have included a box that will direct you to some professional movie sites that I visit very frequently.  Some are databases, some are real critics’ blogs, and others are speculations from those close to the industry.  Hopefully between all of these, you can find anything you could ever want (except maybe the meaning of life).

F.I.L.M. of the Week

The anchor of the sidebar highlights the movie I featured as my F.I.L.M. (First-Class, Independent Little-Known Movie) of the Week.  I like having it there because it’s an additional way to feature my selection, and it promotes a movie that is undoubtedly good in my mind.  Clicking on the poster will take you to my article explaining what makes it so great.

The box seemed a little awkward to me at first, so I posted a poll to gauge the reader’s opinion.  The vote was 6-2 in favor of keeping it, so I have.

And thus concludes the “Explaining the Sidebar” series.  I hope this has proved both educational, entertaining, and informing for you – but it won’t be the latter of three for me if you don’t comment and let me know how I can make the sidebar better for you.

In the second part of the “Explaining the Sidebar” series, I will further explore the untapped beauty and simplicity of the sidebar.  All hyperboles aside, here we go.

What's Going On at "Marshall and the Movies"

The “What’s Going On” box is my personalized “most popular” section.  WordPress offers a “most popular” section, but I don’t really like the way they pick the posts.  In this box, I link to the pieces that I think are the most exciting and the ones that I am the most proud of writing.  It’s the best that “Marshall and the Movies” has to offer, so give one of the links a click.

The Poll

This is the newest and most flimsy section of the sidebar at the moment.  In an ideal world, I could get the actual poll in the sidebar rather than the actual link (see Cut the Crap Movie Reviews for what I would really like to do).  But for now, click the link and cast your vote in my movies-related poll.  For the overwhelming majority of you all who don’t COMMENT, at least do me the favor of taking the poll.  It’s an anonymous way for you to share your opinions with me.

Categories

Pretty simple stuff. If you want to compartmentalize your reading experience, pick a category and you will see only posts falling under that topic.

One thing has changed since I took this snapshot: the deletion of the “Mini-Reviews” category.  I just didn’t see anything that distinguished them from normal reviews.

Recent Comments

Many people have dreamed of having their name in lights.  I can offer you something close if you comment: your name on the sidebar.  Yet another incentive to comment!

Sorry if I’m being really terse in this post; I’m just insanely tired right now.  But again, I’ll open the post up to comments and suggestions about the sidebar.

I think that the sidebar is a very integral part of “Marshall and the Movies.”  It has not come to my attention that anyone has had any problems with it, but nonetheless I felt like it deserved some ‘splainin (Lucy and Ricky style).

So, in this three-part series, I will dissect the sidebar and how you, the reader, can optimize your experience by using it.

The "Search" Box

Pretty self-explanatory, I think.  Type in anything you want, and you’ll find anything that has ever appeared on the site with those words.  For example, if you want to find all the times that I have talked about “Avatar,” just type it in.  You’ll find my review and plenty of other posts where I referenced it.

But say you want to find the last movie I described as dreadful.  Type in dreadful, and you will see my review of “Clash of the Titans.”  The word is hidden somewhere in the post; from there on it becomes a seek-and-find on your part.  (NOTE: The search tool doesn’t pick up negation, so I could have said “Clash of the Titans” was not dreadful.  I didn’t, but it could happen for some other movie.)

The "Subscribe" Button

The subscribe button is a relatively new addition to the sidebar; I added it on the suggestion of other bloggers who say that it’s a great way to encourage traffic and reader loyalty.  It looks intimidating, but let me explain it for you as simply as possible.

Are you one of those people who so longs for an e-mail just so you can hear the ping?  Or to have that great feeling of importance of getting an e-mail?  Subscribe to “Marshall and the Movies,” and you can get that feeling all the time!  Because I publish a random factoid daily, you are guaranteed at least one e-mail a day.  And most days, I publish some additional content, so that’s up to two e-mails a day!  Are you feeling stoked yet?!  Just type in your e-mail address and hit “Yes! I want updates!”

The LAMB (Large Association of Movie Blogs)

To the normal reader, this strange photo is probably the biggest unknown on the sidebar.  What is it?  Should I click it?

Yes, I would LOVE for you to click it.  Here’s how it works: I’m a member of a very large conglomeration of movie blogs, called the LAMB.  It’s a nice community for movie bloggers, and I’ve been unfortunately limited in my interactions with them due to my hectic life.  However, by directing traffic to their site, you can put me on the “LAMB Leaderboard,” a prominently featured part of the site which would in turn bring flocks back to “Marshall and the Movies.”  It’s a win-win situation for clicking, so why not do it 7 or 8 times?

My note to every reader.

I have made no efforts to keep my commenting problems secret (taking the reverse Sandra Bullock approach, if you will).  So I have left any old reader a note imploring them to comment.

Please, non-blogging readers, I really NEED your comments!  Unlike most bloggers, I don’t write for the blogging community.  I write for the average moviegoer who deserves to hear an average person’s take on cinema.  So help me out here – please (yes, again with the nice manners).

Do you, as readers, have any suggestions on the sidebar?  In particular, I’d like to know what you think about the order that the boxes are arranged in.  Is it really as easy to use as it can be?