Tools & Tricks: How To Perfect Your Front Pages In One Hour

1. Set yourself up for success.
1. A second monitor is highly recommended.
1. A slammin’ Spotify playlist is too.
2. Clean off your desktop.
3. Quit all unnecessary programs.
4. Close all of your windows except for one.
5. Log on to your metro’s site.
1. Make sure you’re using an account that has ‘Manager’ permissions.
2. Head to your home page.
2. Check your Leaderboard, Brand and Listings ads.
1. Are all ads displaying correctly?
1. Does anything look stretched or pixelated?
3. Check your ‘Latest.’
1. Click ‘View All Latest’
2. Scan through the first page of Latest Entries
1. Are there any duplicate posts? Misspellings?
2. Are all of covers relevant, text-free and low contrast?
3. Do all the tags make sense?
4. Should anything be posted to ‘Latest’ that hasn't yet been?
4. Check your Search Bar.
1. Is your search suggestion still relevant?
1. Can you update the suggestion to something more timely?
2. Click into the ‘Search’ field.
3. Are any of your Featured Stuff outdated?
1. Is there anything that you should add to Featured Stuff?
4. Do any of the featured Tastemakers have strange display names?
5. Scan through today’s event listings.
1. Check for event listings in need of the human touch.
1. Do all the events make sense?
2. Do all of the lineups seem like they’re updated?
3. Are there any duplicate events?
4. Are there any lame or off-brand events?
5. Are there ‘Buy’ links present (when applicable)?
6. Are there any shows that seem like they should be sold out that aren’t marked as such?
7. Are all of the cover photos text-free?
8. Are there any misspellings or strange / redundant top lines?
2. Open each substandard event in a new tab (on the same window) - but don’t address right away.
3. Continue working down the event listings until you’ve hit the ‘View More’ button.
4. One by one, click into each window and address the elements of the event listing that need to be improved.
1. Questionable lineup? Open the ticket link in a new window to double-check.
2. Subpar photo? Use a separate window to locate an ideal image.
1. Once you find said image, drag it your desktop.
2. Upload the image to the event page.
1. Make sure you keep your computer’s ‘Open File’ popup modal sorted by ‘Date Added’ (in descending order) by default.
1. That way, you know the most recently added image will always be on top and you don’t have to spend time digging for it.
5. Continue this process until all additional windows have been closed.
6. Switch to ‘Tomorrow’ and repeat the process.
7. Continue the process for six days into the future.
6. Check your site’s footer.
1. Are all of your Featured Event ads displaying correctly?
1. Are any ads stretched or pixelated?
2. Are there any outdated links in your footer?
3. Are all of your social links present and working?
7. Check your category navigation and click into each category.
1. Is every category displaying more than 10 events (on a given day)?
1. If not, consider either displaying all upcoming events within the category (see FAQ for instructions) or just removing the category.

• A new list (or an updated evergreen list such as ‘Top Picks,’ ‘Free Shows’ or ‘Just Announced’)
• A new /p page
• An awesome new giveaway or RSVP offer
• A doXYZ-presented event announcement

• Check ‘Display?’ to include the shortcut on your site’s shortcut navigation bar
• Check ‘Show Ongoing?’ to have the shortcut include ongoing events
• Check ‘Show Upcoming’ to have the shortcut display upcoming events immediately below the given day’s events (highly recommended for shortcuts with less than 10 events per day)