MEDIUM
Pinned Feature — Two Audiences, Conflicting Purposes
How to meet both goals

I recently discovered Burk’s article that followers come back to a profile looking for the writer’s most recent story. If you have five stories pinned, they have to scan through them every time. Frustrating if you are using a device with a small screen.
The Pinned feature was originally set up so the author could highlight favorite stories to new readers. It works well for new people but frustrates returning readers.
I’ve developed a Table of Contents (TOC) method to help the reader find stories in their favorite category without scanning over 100 posts. Its link is in References.
To solve the Pinned problem, I’ve added a new sub-category:
Most Recent Articles — Table of Contents (TOC)
It contains my latest six articles and sits at the top of the Pinned list. The next is the complete TOC and then my favorite three stories. Unfortunately, I had to remove two of my favorites from the Pinned list, so I have added them at the bottom of the Most Recent Articles TOC.
Of course, I have to edit that TOC every time I publish an article, but I must edit another sub-category TOC at the same time. Not much extra work and it makes things easier for both audiences.
References
- One problem with the “Pinned” feature — two conflicting uses
- Burk’s article
- How to build a Table of Contents master with sub-categories
