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Are my devlogs being shadowbanned?

A topic by Against the Tide created Dec 23, 2020 Views: 774 Replies: 8
Viewing posts 1 to 4

They aren't showing up in the devlogs list at all. I can't imagine they were offensive. Kind of kills the point of writing them if they can't be seen by anyone.

(+2)

Make sure to check the box which says visibility published otherwise it keeps your dev log private. Took me a while to figure that out. =/

You'll know if you check your dev logs if the one you made is public or set to draft.

I looked and everything has the green Published tag. They just don't show up on the devlogs anymore. I was getting decent views, now very few. It's weird.

(+1)

What if there's one of those many selectable sections (like one for the uploading one and another one that refers to additional options, which I've noticed after my game temporary being set as "draft" first), just including a part than nicknames devlogs being "hidden" or "just shared with logged-in profiles" or "viewable to the uploader and chosen users"?

I checked every setting for both the game and my account. It's all public and "published", including the devlogs. Somehow people are still seeing the posts as the view count goes up over time. But it used to go up rather quickly. And, more importantly, show up in the public devlog list. That's why I use the word "shadowbanned" in the title. It's like the articles are being held back and deliberately hidden from the public devlog list for some reason. It's just weird.

againstthetide, I guess I was understanding the same meaning so far. Personally I've published a game, first as draft (being sure the appearance fits, etc.) & later also being published live for public to get playable for viewers too.

So I didn't have issues with devlog being hidden somehow, while I didn't post any devlogs yet. How do you know if just some people don't notice (or just vote rather quick) that "devlog"-section there? I guess you prefer those voting being hidden from devlog-area? Maybe the game's setting do offer a dropdown-menu that refers to "just upvotes" being possible to choose or "no votings", than generally additional "up&downvotes" being offered? Probably that change affects the votes in general, not sure mine being available for upvotes-only, I guess.

Up until a couple days ago, my devlogs appeared in the public Devlog page (https://itch.io/devlogs). I would get decent views for a new game. Now my devlogs do not appear on that page. Even if I look at the page from incognito mode. I have all the options to the most public, most open settings. Further, I did not change such settings since I published the game. Far as I know, I didn't get a single up or down vote on anything I've posted. The devlogs just don't appear, even if I check a few moments (or minutes, or hours, or days) after posting. I can't imagine people are waiting to instantly downvote the articles of a barely two-weeks old game who generally posts devlogs in the middle of the night. Even if they were, I, the only person who knows when I post such things, should be able to catch a glimpse of the devlog on the public page before it gets such targeting. 

Something has triggered my devlogs not showing up and it wasn't me. I just want to know why.

Moderator (1 edit) (+1)

Did you happen to post multiple “Major Update or Launch” devlogs too often? Its text reads this:

Major Update or Launch

Highlight significant changes or a newly available project. These posts will boost project position on the Recently Added & Updated list pending curator approval.

I believe “pending curator approval” would include someone making sure this is indeed a major update / launch, and if not may not reset the game’s position in “New games” and other places.

If that’s not it, then I’m not sure.

I wrote a couple tech discussion logs about code I wrote for my project others might find useful. Maybe the mods thought they weren't very useful. I don't think I've made a "major update or launch" post. At least not on purpose. But  It's hard to tell which my posts are those kind since it doesn't show up on your list of devlogs. You have to click into each of them to find out.

In any case, absent any official...er response, this seems likely. A post that was mis-categorized and it tripped in the queue. Funny enough I plan to publish my first legitimate major update tonight. But I'm putting more effort into that one. Hopefully, it does the trick.

Thanks for the information.

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