Sometimes life gets in a the way. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, in fact in many cases – mine included – that can be a great thing. The fact is, Lopico has had to take a back seat to a lot of other priorities in my life – such as getting married. Lopico is developed, designed, and run by one person, when that person has other things going on, development slides. So, while I like the new version of Lopico that I was working on a couple of months ago 1) I haven’t touched it in a while and 2) the longer I wait, the more I think about redoing and the more I need to redo to stay on top of what’s happening on the web. I’m not saying that I will never launch the new Lopico, I’m just saying that things happen that get put in front of trying to redevelop a site that isn’t my primary income source and is, in fact, more of a hobby than anything else at this point. A great hobby, a great outlet for me, but a hobby none the less. At least, that’s what I’m saying today. For now, I’m living my life and having a great time doing it. I’m young and live in a great city with a wonderful fiancee and great friends… Lopico can wait.

Some of the most popular social networks seem to be taking a step backward to move forward. Twitter is, of course, the most prominent example. 140 characters, no photo albums, no music, just communication – and it works. It is for twitter, all about the content. Twitter’s success relies heavily on the network of people using twitter – no matter what you are interested in, you can find a network of experts and thought leaders twittering aways, or at least linking to great content.

Then there’s facebook, which seems to be attempting to devolve into a sort of twitter with heavier content. It seems that all you really need to create the perfect social networking app is a status message, photos, shared content, and an api for outside developers to do the heavy lifting… and, the hard part, a huge network of people relevant to the audience of your app.

So, where does lopico play in? I could have passed on recreating lopico, and just tapped into some apis to create an app on top of an existing network. Could have built a facebook app, an iphone app, or done a twitter mash-up, but that’s not my style. There’s something about creating an app from scratch that is a little more exciting, and sadly becoming less common. That’s not to say that lopico won’t integrate in some way with some sites… but the content is going to be real, and the content is going to come from lopico users on lopico – the same way it always has. What I will do, is devolve and evolve a little. Lopico is going to be easier to use and really will stick to the basics + a handful of twists and things I’ve picked up over the past year. The key is to not let anything get in the way of you and the content you want.

Lopico version 4 (that’s right 4… Though only 3 ever made it live) is well under way. The site has been down for nearly a year, and while I had reasons to take it down, it’s time to bring it back. With version 4, I am starting with the last part I worked on in version 2 (the last version to see the light) – the user pages. Users are essential to lopico, but the user area was given little attention in the previous version.

The thinking in the previous version was that people weren’t coming to the site for that type of information. Users came to the site to see business listings and see reviews. Well, that’s true and I don’t expect user profiles to be more popular than main site content, but it’s also true that ignoring user experience is a good way to turn users off. It’s also true that low traffic to user profiles was, at least partially, due to my lack of focus on this section.

So what will be different? Well, I am rethinking the entire user experience. Rethinking how users interact and want to interact with businesses and with one another. The next lopico is going to be more about local than local business and it’s going to be more about interactions with local people and businesses. There’s also going to be an increased emphasis on users ability to interact with and retrieve data from more than one place.

There’s a lot of work left to do, but that’s part of the fun. I’m starting at the end and thinking more about users throughout the development process. I’ll also be striving to give readers of this blog a more open and honest look at what goes on behind the scenes of lopico.

By JDA

Welcome to the first edition of Lopico’s favorite. Every month, the business with the most votes from the prior month will be featured here on the Lopico blog. The first favorite is Bricco in Akron.

Bricco is listed in multiple categories in Akron including Pizza, Eclectic, Lunch, Fine Dining, and Best of the Best. The reviews of Bricco are mainly positive, with a lot of attention being paid to the pizzas. Having been there myself, I can vouch for delicious food at a reasonable price at Bricco.

http://www.briccoakron.com/

If you would like to see your favorite business featured on Lopico’s Favorites, vote for it often and encourage your friends to do the same.

Though the focus at Lopico has been about the next version of the site, we haven’t forgotten about the current version. Every now and then a new feature or two will show up that is scheduled for the next release, but makes just as much sense to release now. One of those small features just landed with the introduction of the “All Reviews” page. Now when you click on the new link that says “See All” next to a users reviews – you will see all of their reviews. This request has been a long time coming, so rather than wait for the next version, you can enjoy it now.

And speaking of the next version, here’s a screenshot of some of the progress that is being made:

For the first time ever, Lopico is releasing its listings of the top rated businesses (by votes) across the site. Not surprisingly, most of these business come from Akron, OH, but Lopico’s presence in other cities is increasing and hopefully there will be more business from other cities the next time the listings are released.

1. Ken Stewart’s Grille (Akron)
2. Russo’s (Akron)
3. Dream Dance (Milwaukee)
4. Luigi’s Restaurant (Akron)
5. First Chop (Multiple Cities)
6. DeCheco’s Pizzeria (Akron)
7. Downtown 140 (Akron)
8. Nervous Dog Coffee Bar & Roaster (Akron)
9. Bricco (Akron)
10. Diamond Grille (Akron)
11. The Harbor Inn (Akron)
12. Swenson’s Drive-in (Multiple Cities)
13. Diamond Deli (Akron)
14. Mustard Seed Market & Cafe (Akron)
15. Panera Bread (Multiple Cities)
16. Whitey’s Booze & Burgers (Multiple Cities)
17. Aladdin’s Eatery (Multiple Cities)
18. Winking Lizard (Multiple Cities)
19. Rockne’s Pub (Akron)
20. The Grotto on Merriman (Akron)
21. Crave (Akron)
22. House of Hunan (Akron)
23. Mariachi Coco’s (Akron)
24. Vaccaro’s Trattoria (Akron)
25. Moceans (Milwaukee)

by J.D. Amer

Lopico turns three today, and while we celebrated the big two with a new feature, this year I’m going to take a look back at some of the things that have happened in the past year.

Starting in September of last year, right before the last birthday, Lopico started making a number of changes to how voting is handled on the site. This has been a big theme throughout the year, as Lopico’s greatest commitment is to ensuring the integrity of the site. There have been a number of changes aimed at increasing participation and preventing unfair behavior, and hopefully this has made things better for everyone.

Also in September, Lopico launched maps. This was big right from the start and continues to be very popular. What really helped though, was the addition of directions to the maps this past July. To put it simply – people like this part of the site… A LOT!

Lopico’s looks have been worked on quite a bit this past year, and I had a little fun with the design of the homepage on a few occasions. The biggest aesthetic changes are still to come, and if you’re nice, I might just give you another sneak pico very soon.

Reviews on Lopico have undergone a few small changes in the past year, first with a new look, then with the addition of comments, and just recently the addition of reviewer reliability score.

The vote cloud came to Akron in March, and so far has been pretty helpful… even though I thought it was just for fun. Speaking of Akron, it continued to be the most popular city on Lopico throughout the year, but there’s a small chance that won’t be the case next year as Lopico is moving to Chicago!

I’ve tried to help Lopico users out a little more in the past year, most notably through the Usage Guide, but also through the increased availability of search. Both of these features will be even more prevalent in the next version of Lopico.

And the most important change of all, though you may not realize it yet, was the addition of the Friend Feed. More details about this will come later, but this is going to be pretty important in the shaping of the next version of Lopico.

It’s been a great year and I hope you love using Lopico as much as I love making it.

And if you’ve ever wondered… it’s pronounced Lo-pee-ko. Happy Lopicoing!

Lopico provides a number of methods for keeping our users honest and our information unbiased, today there’s one more. The review reliability score is an easy way for anyone to voice their opinion for or against a review. Simply navigate to any review and look for the section directly below the review that asks you to agree or disagree with the review.

Unlike many features on Lopico, this one does not require a Lopico account, but does place a different type of limit on your ability to agree or disagree with a review. Of course, the best way to learn about any new feature on Lopico is to try it out.

As promised, the Friend Feed is expanding its scope. When the Friend Feed was born, it was only for reviews; now your friends’ comments on reviews appear in your Friend Feed too. Soon even more things will appear as Lopico moves forward with the next version of the site.

To view your friend feed log in to Lopico and view your profile, then select “See your friends’ latest reviews.”

It’s hard to believe for those of us in Lopico’s high traffic cities, but there are actually some places that don’t have search yet on Lopico. When search launched on Lopico it was reserved to only the top four cities at the time: Akron, Milwaukee, San Diego, and Columbus. Since then, its reach has expanded and today it increases even more! Search is now available in all cities that have at least one review. As soon as the first review gets added to a city, a search box automatically appears on that city’s homepage. This is great for people in places like Chicago, Brooklyn, and Atlanta, but for those of you in Altoona, PA you’ll just have to wait – or better yet, write a review!