I will be short.

I still consider myself as a subscriber. Means I pay for service and I am getting it. Honestly, service of very good quality.

But, after those years, I simply can't take it non-personally. I've read too much to 'get known' with some people here, to see all that development from AtlasF1 to even better autosport.com service as it is now.

Thus... I feel very touched. AtlasF1/Autosport.com team is simply part of my life and I hope this will not be end. Therefore I really hope that content which used to be part of weekly journal, won't disappear.

I wish you all the best and good luck! We, readers, are here with you.
T.

Hi all,

I was not subscribed to the weekly journal due to payment difficulties as I'm from Transilvania where three pounds to buy a weekly newspaper are just too much. In the other hand, I'm just 17 years old yet and I wonder if I can have a credit card under 18 - possibly yes, but I am not sure. So these little difficulties prevented me to subscribe, but I've been always reading the free stories and I was very pleased with them. It also bettered my English, which - as you can see - is still far from perfect.

I also planned to finally subscribe to the journal or to the print edition as I buy the Hungarian version of F1 Racing, and reading such magazine with tradition like Autosport seemed to be essential in keeping me well-informed in motorsport-areas. I'm really disappointed to hear that the journal disappears. But, being a free user I couldn't read Biranit Goren's farewell article and I don't know the reasons of journal's disappear. I also have some other questions, like 'will the print edition be kept or it also breaks off?'; or will remain the news that are now for free gratuitous in the future?

Thank you for answering

I have just noticed the news now, after reading the journal. This is a really good decision i think. Well done all at autosport.com, keep up the good work in 09!

It remains to be seen how this will play out, I do agree that the idea of having a weekly 'big bang' is somewhat anachronistic and not really playing to the strengths of the internet as a delivery medium.

What I do fear though, is that during lean periods the attendant lack of a deadline which the journal enforces might see weeks with very little 'premium' content at all. That said, on the otherhand, many of the pieces currently published as 'analysis' which are free for all, can more easily be included as premium content, for subscribers only, and not lose relevance like they might if they had to wait for inclusion in the journal.

Like all traditions there are certain things that become so enshrined in your routine that when they aren't there anymore there is a distinct feeling of loss. I loved coming in to work early on a Thursday morning to get my journal fix with a nice danish and cuppa tea. Oh well, tradition is currently under assault at the moment, Woolies is gone, you can't get too attached and sentimental about anything these days

Last up, just wanted to link to my favourite stand out journal moments

1. Bira's dinner with Pierre - probably the greatest, most endearing interview ever conducted.
http://atlasf1.autosport.com/2004/nov17/goren.html

2. Loneliness of a driver - seldom has an article affected me so much, heck it's accidental google caching is what led me to become a subscriber here in the first place. A truly moving piece of writing and still my single favourite article on the site. The only thing that saddens me is I don't know who wrote it, and that's a shame.
http://atlasf1.autosport.com/98/bel/schumacher.html

3. The Schumacher Victories Gallery - The whole issue in which is starred was fantastic, but I'll be forever grateful to Ross for this outstanding selection of images which grace my desktops, laptops, consoles and wall
http://www.autosport.com/gallery/index.php/id/735

There are plenty of other highlights but those three represent blinding beacons of excellence for me. I do have to say though that Dieter's columns have remained my favourite, and along with Nigel's columns over the years were staple reads.

Things change, sometimes they get better, sometimes they get worse. I hope this change represents a leap forward - but even if it doesn't, it was a hell of a ride anyway, and the highlights of the journal as exemplified above will always be there as examples of how to get it right. (As might that column by Matt Bishop, serve to show how to get it disastrously wrong, the one where he tried to argue that the noise of f1 engines was utterly irrelevant to the spectacle...).

Don't worry, the articles are still going to be there. It is just that they will now be published daily, as they are ready, rather than a whole raft of articles held up to be published weekly. More like an online newspaper rather than a magazine.

Although it may be helpful to stop advertising "The Weekly Journal" as a reason to subscribe when you click on an article.

So. Farewell then
The Weekly Journal.

You used to be called
The Journal of Formula One Motorsport.

Autosport called you the
Weekly Journal.

But in our hearts
You'll always be
Atlas F1.

Will they ever notice the
Name of the
Bulletin board?

Let's keep that one quiet.

          E. J. THRIBB (17½ laps)

I'm pleased to see this - a drip-feed of features will be better than the weekly big-bang. So long as the quality and quantity keeps up of course!

Now, is there an RSS feed for these features? I don't see one listed at http://www.autosport.com/rss/ . I'll have to revert to mashing the refresh button without an RSS feed! And, secondly, will the articles be archived somewhere? Even the journal archives only seem to run to August (http://www.autosport.com/archive/dir2008.html).

Ian

Archive will be updated in the next few days; a features index will be added once we get some bulk - so in a few days too; and RSS feed ditto (And the various places where the weekly journal is mentioned will be updated too soon)

It's early days of course but I can't actually see where the benefit to me, as a subscriber, comes from.

I get all the time critical information from the news area. The features are just that - features. It doesn't matter much to me if I read Tony Dodgins' excellent article about life in Disney world today or Thursday or even next Sunday, it will still be worth reading.

I do know that the discipline forced upon the writers of having a deadline to meet ensures that I get a steady flow of articles supplied in nice, week-sized, bites of reading matter. If that flow continues, I will continue to be as contented with the content of Autosport.com as I currently am.

Well it's the off season so it's a bit light on things to write about at the moment and we're still in a transitional phase. The idea is that mid-season if a team is bought on a Monday we could have an article about it that afternoon instead of waiting until the weekly journal is published.

That's called "news" and is perfectly well served already. A proper article about that piece of news needs time and we'll get a better product if the writer takes that time.

Bob, to a large extent, none of what you say will change. Tony Dodgins used to write us a column every fortnight. I don't know if now it will still be every fortnight or every week, but either way, he will have a regular deadline and you will have a regular "date" with his column on autosport.com. Likewise, Dieter Rencken has been writing a weekly column for autosport.com - and now he continues to do just that, write a weekly column. Difference is, previously both Dodgy and Dieter's columns ran on the same day whereas now they will run on different days.

This means premium content served daily. It could mean absolutely no difference to you, or it could mean a more modern approach in serving you content, or - and that's how I see it - it could lead to more content for you, since it's a lot easier to publish two features a day than to publish ten features on a single day.

Hope you get my drift

is it possible for you to more clearly timestamp when each article is published please? I know it shows it in the article's own page but if you could add this to the main page it would make figuring out what one has read much easier - especially when things like the grapevine don't get a different title each week

i tihnk its a good idea in that yep, its a modern way to publish info. There is no need to stick to a weekly format anymore.

I would hope a story that requires thorough research, such as the fuelgate story of 2007, will not be rushed out just to be the first with an analysis.

I do not think i need to say this out loud though. I think you guys have it all under control!

I just hope there's plenty to write about in 09!

Well, I will cast a dissenting opinion if no other reason than I would be expected to do so. I think that the loss of a weekly journal such as the Atlas F1 Journal is another sign of the blurring of time. Call me old-fashioned, call me out of synch with the times, but this whole 24/7 culture is not my cup of tea, even if I have to live with it.

The Journal seems to be unlamented by most, but I think that its loss is simply another turning point that some will come to regret.

I am damned proud to have been a part of it. Thank you once more Bira for making that possible.

RIP The Weekly Journal, 1995-2008.

I've been a subscriber for years, and every week I downloaded the entire weekly Journal to my Palm Pilot to read at my leisure. Specifically, I used iSilo clipper for Internet Explorer. I clicked on the main Journal page for the week, clicked on the icon to "print entire issue", checked the box to include pictures, and then used iSilo clipper to convert to an iSilo file for my Palm. This got me the whole week's journal in one document. Maybe it would take me a month to read the journal issue on my Palm, but at least I felt like I was getting my money's worth out of the subscription.

Will this functionality come back? I read Autosport nearly every day, mainly checking to see what's new with the RSS feeds, but I liked having a separate "premium" product that I could download each week and read like a magazine. I see that there's a "Features" section now that seems to list the recent features, but there's no "print entire issue" functionality.

I'm definitely willing to be patient - I know this is a big transition - but I'd like to put in a vote for a "printable" version of the past week's "features" (aka: journal)

I get your drift OK but, being a cynical old fart, I note that you don't have to prepare a front page any more either

I'll come back to this subject in a month or so. So long as the number and quality of features is maintained, I'll be a happy bunny.

Peter yes, it will be working in just a few days - hopefully by the end of this weekend

So you don't need to change your habit - you can bundle all the features published from Thursday to Wednesday, and download them all on Thursday morning, in print or PDF format. It will be just the same, effectively.

havent you seen the front page, it can change several times a day, never mind once a week!

The Journal was the reason I subscribed, and the new format of an article or two every week is fine with me.

But can the web team please put a "Features" box for my.autosport.com? I only worked out that the features are being published when I clicked on the main page by mistake ...

Will there still be a weekly email linking to the various articles, as was the case with the weekly Journal, for those of us who never look at the front page? If not, would it be possible for the individual articles to be included in the newsfeed email notifications?

yes, some of us still don't do RSS feeds...

Don, I will miss the Journal too. I see the advantages of a drip-feed of articles, but I preferred the "big bang" of features once a week -- especially when there was a big theme that several features could pick up on.

Great! I'm still catching up on journal issues from December, so I can wait...

Features are still here. It makes only a bit more difficult for me to catch them all!

Just spotted that the RSS feed is now in place... thanks muchly!

Yep, the RSS is now up and running at http://www.autosport.com/rss/features.xml

In the next couple of days, we'll also have a features index at autosport.com/features that will make it easy to browse the full range of published features.

So far, features have been added to My Autosport (along with Autosport TV, "today's top stories" from the homepage, and the "Next Race" box). They have been added to the Palm version, and to the RSS feed.

In a short bit, the multi-article PDF and print versions will be back up.

And the newsletter will again send the weekly round-up of features every Thursday - as of this coming Thursday.

As Hack mentions, soon too there will be an autosport.com/features main page, and that should round up all the queries from the readers, I think.

Posting anyway even though some of my thoughts appear to have been addressed by Hack's and Bira's latest posts

Atlas has been, is, and will continue to be one of my internet mainstays (I still thank the fact that it was a preinstalled link/bookmark on my first work PC in 98-99 ) and in addition to the site in general, the journal was a superb document. I looked forward to the weekly email, like many autosport subscribers/purchasers I suspect; look forward to their weekly fix. What will change for me is the loss of the ability to search the 2009 2010 etc archive in an easily digested formula. for me that was just one of the many excellences that the weekly journal provided. Bira's article sent me heading straight there last week, just as many other articles have in the past. I think this in the loss that the new arrangement will bring.

I agree that things progress and formats change, I don't have a problem with that, but I'll miss the journal (I did this week). Paper based subscribers, I guess, will still get their fix :\ I'd like to still have my thursday morning analysis but that isn't an option now. At least the weekly columns will still be in place which is of course the most important element when all is considered; a continuation of the quality reporting and reflective pieces that have marked Atlas, and Autosport out as "THE MOTORSPORT SITE" will remain.

You're still the best place to get motorsports news (IMNSHO Autosport definately benefited most when Atlas joined ranks with them). Long may you be the essential source

Just to add a little more on the Palm version, I have now added the latest features to the list of default channels. This should now appear when you browse to http://palm.autosport.com/ even if you don't have a custom set of channels configured.

You can customise the number of features that are available using the palm set-up tool from a desktop computer: http://palm.autosport.com/my

The features index page - coming soon - will link to an archive page for each year, breaking down the features week by week in this style: http://www.autosport.com/archive/dir2007.html

Just got the rest of 2008 to do first though eh?

Thanks Bira It seems to be working fine!

Done: http://www.autosport.com/archive/dir2008.html

that's why you guys rule the roost! rock on Atlas

The features page is now available at http://www.autosport.com/features/ along with an archive for 2009.

I have to say that the Pavlov effect made me sit at my desk and rub my hands together with relish at the prospect of a new Weekly Journal today. Imagine my distress when...

One comment I would like to make is that I feel the site doesn't make as clear a differentiation between the premium and standard content as it could. Not just as an incentive for people to subscribe for the first time but to highlight the benefit to me as an existing subscriber, since you are spreading the 'value' more evenly through the week and therefore less obviously. I'd like to know when I am eating into my annual fee when I read an item, because it was honestly a touch and go thing for me this year and I was close to allowing it to lapse. Purely on the basis of the lack of a weekly journal. Now coming here and reading this thread has persuaded me otherwise, but I wonder how many paid subscribers will visit the forum for themselves?

Have to agree there. I find the new articles aren't really highlighted on the homepage as well as they might be. For example I missed the Weekly Grapevine completely until I looked at the new 'features' page.

It's the third item down on the features section of the homepage, where the Journal used to sit?

No that's not really the point and I have probably not explained myself very well. As a non subscriber I would get a message that I need to subscribe to get the story. As a subscriber, I just take it for granted. I'm simply suggesting that premium content that I have paid to see is highlighted as such because otherwise it is difficult to perceive the 'value' I am getting.

No question of the quality, no question of not liking the format, and no question of not finding the links. I simply believe that the old format demonstrated it's value to me once a week and the new format necessitates a different way of doing that to persuade me to keep paying.

In other words, a little 'S' or something similar next to the link to demonstrate that it is subscription only, and words to that effect at the top of the article itself?

Err, you're a subscriber, you already see it all so why do you care about differentiating between what you get and what you get?

I think he wants something that shows what he is getting for his money: if he's signed in he wouldn't know the difference between free and paid content. It would be a simple reminder of why he's paying for his subscription, presumably.

Spot on, Jackman. I'll be following links posted on the forum here and elsewhere as well as accessing through the main page and it's good to let people know what they are paying for before you have to beg them to come back because they let their subscription lapse.

I believe a simple 'Feature' logo next to the heading would suffice for what Buttoneer is talking about.

No different to when the mag stamp 'exclusive' over everything when there is an exclusive.

That's a really good idea. A bit like Salon used to do (but don't any longer).

Seconded...
I would like to get an email when a new Mark Hughes article hits or a David Cameron piece is unleashed.
Oh and... what's a RSS feed? Something to do with satellites?

ok sorry.. just show me where on the page I need to click to ..."Subscribe to this author"

Grazie Y'all
Jp

As I feared, a week has gone past without a Weekly Grapevine.

The one good thing about the all-in-one format of the old journal is you knew you were going to definitely have a fresh article from your favourite columnist at least once a week.

Seems that has been lost in the new format And it just happens to be my favourite one who is first to slip up

F-ing hell dude. The Grapevine comes out on Tuesday, the day isn't finished yet and we have it in our hands currently.

Ahh, colour me happy now :-)

Just made the (very wrong) assumption that if it wasn't published by the early afternoon it wouldn't.

Anyway, bygones, glad to see that it's there now