Over the past few weeks, we've been pushing updates that improve LW 2.0's Sequence functionality, as well as cleaning up some of the less well known sequences.

Those updates are now complete and ready for general use. Highlights include:

The Library

If you click on the "Recommended Reading" title on the front page, or on "The Library" in the main menu, you'll be taken to our new Library page. This includes sections for our Core Reading, Curated Sequences, and Community Sequences.

Core Reading is essential content that has stood the tests of time, that users are generally expected to have read.

Curated Sequences are additional high quality essays that the admins have decided to feature.

Community Sequences are where most new sequences will appear. (Currently sorted by "newest first", although we'll probably update the sorting mechanisms soon)

Creating New Sequences

Under the "Community Sequences" header, you'll see a "Create new sequence" button. This is deliberately somewhat hard-to-find, since we don't want new users to immediately start creating sequences willy nilly.

To create a sequence, you'll start by giving it a name, description, and images for the Banner and Thumbnail. It's recommend that the Banner and Thumbnail be the same picture (although perhaps cropped differently so that they look good at large and small scales).

Banner images must be at least 1600 pixels wide. Eventually we'll add some tools to help users find appropriate images. Meanwhile, if you need help finding an appropriate banner, you can ping us and we'll help you out. (In general, a good tip is to go to Google Image search, click "tools" tab, and restrict results to images whose size is at least 2 MP, and whose usage rights are set to "noncommercial re-use)

After clicking the "create" button, you'll be able to add and change the ordering of posts.

User Profile Sequences

Once you've created at least one sequence, your User Profile page will gain a Sequences section. This will list your sequences, and includes another "create sequence" button.

You can see an example of this at Luke Muehlhauser's user page.

Happy Sequencing!

Creating better sequence tools is a core element of the LW 2.0 strategy. Some of our next goals are to improve your ability to keep track of which sequences you're currently reading (and for longer multi-part sequences, automatically suggesting the next sequence of a book when you finish)

Have fun creating new content!

New to LessWrong?

New Comment