theyworkforyou
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mysociety
Formatting/content of email alerts
Comment on our recent blog post asking for feedback: User comment: "It would be more helpful if emails notifying us of MPs’ activities listed more than three items in a section but with only the heading and link, rather than a truncated piece of text."
However, this contradicts #251 (also a user comment): "In the alerts I receive whenever my MP makes a contribution, I would like to see a few responses both before and after his response so as to clarify the context in which it/they were made without having to visit TWFY's webpage".
I guess both comments are a request for more clarity in the alert emails, and we could spend time thinking about how that would best be acheived.
Additional tickets about email alert formatting/content:
- #88: formatting of apostrophes
- #141 highlighting can break links
- #231 Inclusion of data on whether MPs voted (note subsequent comments)
- #232 Reminder to credit source (or we should close this ticket if we decide it's just not that important)
User comment, +1 for more content in alerts: "Presently I find myself following up all the URLs to find out the full content of what has been said/written. I would prefer that the full content is published outright thus avoiding this sort of follow up. Another contributor has suggested having a headline subject matter to focus attention where needed/desired, I can agree with this, but would still like an expanded presentation as the default option."
NB there may be more weight to this kind of comment because we solicited opinions on the alerts. So for these people, alerts are perhaps how they primarily experience the site. Also, they are more likely to be 'pro' users.
User comment: "I’d rather not have the full content sent to my email inbox, but prefer the initial information to then follow up if I wish. "
User comment:
"While I love the idea of the TWFY email I never read them. The content is often dull and minor. I would suggest the following instead:
A periodic email (once per month or once every six months) summarising the MPs work. To contain a list of votes and how the MP voted in them. Together with significant contributions in the house (how you define significant I appreciate may be difficult). Minor contributions could be drilled down into if wanted by the reader of the email.
I would like TWFY to be able to guide me in deciding if my MP is doing a good job or not and if I want to re-elect them. However, at the moment it just feels like a lot of minor comments made in the house of no real significant to anyone."
User comment: "The format of the emails could do with some improvement. Especially the text in the body. I understand that “text only” is what some people will like but I’d like something nicely formatted so it’s easy to read!"
"I would like clearer headings in the emails to get an idea of what the general matter is, with a little bit of further text and a link to click on for more information, like now."
User comment:
Can you include more of what my MP says please? All you show is his introductory verbosity!!
Wider questions: How could the alert emails:
- be more appealing
- engage more people
- encourage sharing?
Is there scope for HTML styling or would that break in some email inboxes?
Summary of what the users above have requested:
- More than 3 items in a section
- Only the heading and link, not a snippet of text
- (Contradicting the above) The speeches before and after, so the snippets are in context
- Send the full text within the email
- Summary emails instead of daily ones
- Nicely formatted, not just plain text
- Clearer headings
- For MP alerts, cut the beginning and somehow show the meat of the contribution
User feedback:
Firstly, can I thank you for the really important work that you do informing constituents about how their MPs are voting.
Could I make a suggestion that might further improve the email alerts that you send to subscribers,:
The titles that are given in the bulletin for each vote simply name the Bill, Schedule, or Clause that was the subject of a Division. But that wording does not really say anything about what is actually being voted on. Clicking on the link in the email takes you to a voting details page that breaks down the voting numbers by Party. It is then necessary to click again on.. Read the debate that it was part of, to find out what the vote was actually about.
The detailed breakdown of how the Ayes and Nos voted by Party is only of limited interest. Most users of your website will want to know first what the vote was actually about.
Could I make a suggestion therefore, that you reverse the order in which you direct users to your website, so that the landing page from an email bulletin link is the Read the debate that it was part of page, which would then include a further link to the voting details page, to let users see the breakdown of how the Ayes and Nos voted by Party.