Beer With Kyle: A Challenge, Starter/Training Rethink, and AI Content Advancements.
Hey Everyone,
I’ve got a few exciting things to discuss today, including updates to the starter experience, new training flow designs, and some behind-the-scenes developments on the AI content side.
This week’s beer is a lager from Big Bear Brewery in Kelowna, BC—a budget-friendly find that’s perfect for a laid-back day. It’s pretty good, a standard drinkable lager, and definitely a good choice on a sunny day.
Now that we’ve got the beer in hand, let’s jump into the updates!
Key Takeaways:
1. Weekly Challenge:
This week, we’re running a fun challenge within the Wealthy Affiliate community, and we’re giving out 5,000 credits (worth $25) to three different winners. All you have to do is share your niche ideas using the niche tool on the Wealthy Affiliate homepage. With over 231 comments so far, the competition is heating up, but there’s still time to join in! V
ote on your three favorite ideas, and I’ll be announcing the winners tomorrow afternoon. Don’t miss out—it’s a great way to get involved and share some creative (or even funny!) niche ideas.
2. Updates to the Starter Dashboard:
When new members join, they’re immediately introduced to the hub and all it offers—core training, a website, done-for-you research, content structure, writing tasks, and niche ideas. While this is an amazing set of tools, we know it can feel overwhelming for newcomers. That’s why we’re rethinking the layout to provide better clarity and streamline the process.
3. New Design Approach:
We’re considering moving away from the left-to-right training flow and leaning toward a top-down design that clearly presents the four phases of training. The goal is to make it immediately obvious where to start and how to progress through the core training, so there’s no confusion. We want the training to be more prominent, and we’re thinking of situating it closer to the top of your hub so that it’s the first thing you engage with upon logging in.
4. Enhanced AI Content Creation Tools:
On the AI content front, we’re working on improving how our article designer handles different content structures. Right now, it’s great for standard blog posts, but we’re adding more versatility. Soon, you’ll be able to create content in various formats—like listicles or reviews—offering greater flexibility and precision.
5. Image Integration
We’re also refining how images are integrated into your content. Instead of just “adding an image,” we’re focusing on making the images relevant and valuable to your article. You’ll have options to choose the style and placement of images to ensure they enhance the content.
Your Feedback:
As always, your feedback is incredibly important to us. Here are a few questions I’d love your thoughts on:
- What do you think of the new starter experience and dashboard design updates?
- What are your thoughts on the new training designs?
- How do you feel about the changes we’re making to the AI content creation tools?
Jump into the comments and share your insights. I look forward to hearing from you! ;)
Recent Comments
79
Hi Kyle,
Great reading this update from you today. It is good to know that you are constantly thinking of ways to make the already great WA platform even greater!
As someone who is currently immersed on the learning process, I support the idea to "move away from the left-to-right training flow and leaning toward a top-down design that clearly presents the four phases of training" and perhaps include % completion. It will be a good motivator to the learner to see the % jump up after completing a module :-)
I find the multi-step AI content creator brilliant - starting with the choosing the topic, then generating the article outline, then choosing the author and finally generating the article. The output is sharp and well tailored for online business unlike what you would typically get from ChatGPT or Co-Pilot. I have not yet tried other content types, but I am excited to know that you plan to enhance the AI capabilities to offer more flexibility and precision.
Keep going!
Thanks for your feedback, we completely agree. Left to right is NEW to almost everyone, and it isn't a familiar experience. Because of that people tend to get stuck or confused at a much higher rate.
We are going to have this completely updated and resolved next week most likely, and we are looking for to the big release.
I have been away for most of the year as we were made homeless and moved into emergency accommodation - New Experience! So I can genuinely comment on the changes more or less as a newbie: I was totally taken aback, in a very good way. I felt much more confident in what I was doing (I did get lost when I was trying to use past writings along side new and trying to use a website I already had and change the name. But these are my individual issues 'cos I am not great with tech. I had been introduced to AI before our personal dilemma and thought it was an asset, but now it is like WOW! talk about a time saver. I am not sure about the Top Down, I like what you've done now, the run across the page, click on and then it goes down. It works for me.
I think I am missing a site map for finding my way around: and a where to find XYZ for explanations of how to do basic things. YOu may already have this but I haven't found it, I am sure not all of your clients are young people with minds that easily retain information, sadly those days have gone for me But that doesn't mean I don't want to do this and learn how to I just need more prompts and how to's to go back to when I can't remember. Cheers Sian....ps it is good to be back.
Hi Kyle,
Following on from the changes already made, I think WA is heading in the right direction with the changes you have shared for Starter Members in this post.
It is definitely overwhelming when you first join.
There is conflict and confusion about what to tackle first and how to progress.
A key distraction is wanting to rank, be noticed and of course, start making money.
Getting our Starter Members on a consistent writing (and reading) and training cycle is critical.
The updates to the dashboard and how training flows may be beneficial.
You guys continue to evolve and I value that.
Thank you!
Cassi . . . Working Congruently 💃
Yeah, there is a lot to look at. We have 20 changes that we are rolling out today to improve the current process, before we go through a full rebuild and change the way the Hubs function (for the better).
And I agree, there is confusion about "what first". The how it works video is training on the training, and shouldn't be needed. The welcome video should be the first task and that is the direction we are moving to here.
Thanks for your feedback here, you are definitely thinking in line of what we are thinking so that is a good sign (for us). :)
20?!?
Wow!
This new direction should bring us greater results, Kyle.
Looking forward,
Cassi 💃
I’m new and think this is great to help people like me how to start this journey in my life 35 years in corporate job dead end feelings love to go another way and start enjoying life my way. I’m dedicated to this and so excited to give this a try. Thanks
Well you have come to the right place to get moving in the right direction in the online world. Stay dedicate to the process we teach here and ask for help whenever you need it, you have a community of expertise you can lean on here every step of the way! :)
Good morning Kyle,
Thank you for another Friday update, it's always good to know what's going on within the platform.
I think my head is almost spinning! You and the team have just done a major update on how the training works and now you're changing it again again!? I wouldn't have thought you have hardly had time to test the new features. It almost looks like the platform is reverting back to how it used to be with the traffic training, etc.!
I'm not an expert on this, Kyle, so I don't know all the nitty-gritty of what works and what doesn't work. But it does seem like things are changing very rapidly and almost too quickly, if that's possible. I'm just giving you genuine feedback, I'm not trying to undermine the platform at all, however, I am the type of person who is fairly set in my ways, so I don't adapt to change brilliantly! But at the same time, I also know that you are trying to improve the platform continually.
It will be interesting to see how accurate the AI writer can become, Kyle and integrating the images into blog posts, etc.
Regarding the quality of the content, I see certain people writing AI Wealthy Affiliate blog posts that are in the top 10 and obviously on their personal blogs. Some of these blog posts are almost pure AI content and yet members comment on how helpful and what a wonderful blog post they have written. Can members not see that it is not their genuine content, but just AI fluff, rather than personal experience? I know you tell people to make the content their own, but so many members are going to have their online experience shattered by poor content, unless they genuinely make it their own.
Once again, I'm just trying to be real.
Have a fantastic day and thank you for the update.
Roy
Thank you, Lindi; I'm just trying to be real and give my genuine thoughts.
Have a great day.
Roy
Thanks for your feedback here Roy. The changes are happening for a reason, and they happen fast. We are trying to mitigate any and all confusion, and the current layout and design is leaving a large portion of newcomers confused (those that immerse themselves love it however).
So we have to do better in terms of the hub design, and the updates we are going to be making are for a reason, to improve things.
As for the content within blog posts, if you ever see any AI-obvious posts here, reach out and let me know. I will remove and send them a message about it, as it is obviously not allowed here to drop pure AI content.
Appreciate your feedback as always here. ;)
It's a pleasure, Kyle!
It is amazing how quickly changes happen in this day and age! Just for your interest, when I first came to Wealthy Affiliate, which was almost ten years ago, it took me quite some time to find everything on the site, as it had so much. So, I guess I can relate to the newcomer's issues, etc! I guess it's difficult when a site has so much functionality and content, etc.
I guess one of the reasons I feel quite strongly about pure or nearly pure AI content, is the fact that Wealthy Affiliate was built on people's genuine experience and honesty and that included wins and struggles, etc.
Once again, Kyle, I appreciate your reply.
Have a fantastic Friday.
Roy
Thank you, Lindi! I can't believe that I have been on the platform for that long; however, it definitely has had many benefits over the years.
Have a great day.
Roy
Really glad to hear it, Roy! It's a fab community and even fabber coz I met you here!!
Have a FAB Sunday!!
L 🌺
Good morning Lindi,
I have just been replying to Kyle's latest beer with Kyle. I mentioned that when I first joined Wealthy Affiliate, I joined for the up-to-date training. However, I also really value the community here, especially when they are giving genuine feedback, etc; we can learn so much. It's also great to mix with like-minded people and to be able to ask a question at any time.
I hope you have a great day, Lindi.
Roy
Hi Roy, Yes, I relished the training most at first, but then I realised there were such gems of people here! And yes, superb that we are all heading in the same direction!
Yes, Sunday was lovely (21:15 here) and I'm ready for another busy week!
Speak again soon!
L 🌺
Reorienting the training bar making the navigation obvious and its placement more prominent is an excellent idea. And the idea to diversify the content creation to include reviews, well, my limitted marketing experience says reviews are my new thing, so I'm very excited to see that. It's so fast paced right now but you guys are on it! The updates are awesome, thank you, Kyle and Carson.
Thanks for your feedback Kundi, we feel it is a little difficult to see exactly what is going on when someone arrives. So we want to add some focus and clarity to the training, the left to right format of the training isn't natural either so we are aiming to rethink that a little as well.
Lots of exciting stuff going on right now, we are going to continue to evolve and improve at a faster pace than ever. :)
You're right, to make it as easy as possible for people to see where they are, where they want to go and what they must do to get there.
The recent updates have been fantastic. I am really looking forward to the upcoming enhancements to the AI writers. I would like the AI writers to generate homepages based on niche selection. I've been using the AI writers to create homepage content, but a dedicated feature would streamline the process significantly. Adding a "Home Page" option to the drop-down menu would be incredibly helpful.
WA is my happy place, and I'm committed to its long-term success. You and Carson are doing an outstanding job keeping the platform innovative and valuable. Keep up the amazing work! I'm cheering you on every step of the way! ❤️😊
That is wonderful to hear, and in terms of "homepage" what sort of content are you after.
We ideally teach that your homepage should be your blog roll as that tends to be better for rankings, indexing, and give your website the perception of being active, but if there is ever a type of content that you would like to see in the writer drop me a PM and I will see what I can do.
I love this traffic training idea! And I'm looking forward to the newer version of the Ai article designer being able to create different kinds of blog posts
One suggestion I have is making the article designer add both H2 and H3 headers into the post to add extra depth to each blog post
Yes, that is something that we are working on, in fact, much more sophisticated structure than that. The articles currently are great content, but they are not specific structures. Take the listicle idea for example, it is tough to create them within the current environment because of the rigid nature of the platform. So we are going to be addressing that.
Glad you like the traffic training concept, we are excited about getting that into everyone's hands.
Awesome! I'm so happy to be in Wealthy Affiliate. I'm glad I joined a few years ago because it's cool seeing all these changes and watching the website evolve. The current Wealthy Affiliate is even better than the old version
Glad you like it Matthew and the recent evolutions. We are continuing to improve and evolve based on the wants and the needs of the community here at WA. That's how we roll! :)
Hi, Kyle. Great post.
1-A weekly challenge might be good.
2-Simplifying the structure where it is obvious what to do when would be a step forward.
3-On the training. Could it be set up where each member/user can click a button and choose which training style they would like to use?
4-Please make this simple for those of us who are tech-challenged.
JD
Yes, a weekly challenge is definitely something that we are considering. This one was really fun, and it brought out a real creative side in some many people here within the community. :)
The training style, it just has to make sense for everyone. People don't typically know what they want, and when you give too many choices, it use brain calories which only leads to more confusion.
Our goal moving forward is to continue to simplify things, and to help you accomplish more, faster. We have a lot of exciting things that we are working on, and sometimes a lot of it comes down to design, but also being innovative.
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I love the line of thought behind the training user interface. I will definitely look forward to that.
To have the traffic training up there beside the core training is great, but maybe we need to think of a way to make the member finish the core training first and then move the traffic school.
Hmmm ..Traffic School..
Yeah, this is likely coming early next week. So stay tuned for that. We have a TON of training here, yet, it is not organized in a way that people can effectively find it or sink into a particular marketing strategy.
This is going to be a big part of our evolution in the coming months, a training re-think.
Will the traffic training by chance have any lessons on gaining topical authority? That's something I'd love Wealthy Affiliate to teach in that series