Hi folks. First, let me say that I very much appreciate all the time you are taking to explore the new site and suggest ways to make it better. We are listening, and we are continuing to work on solutions.
I do have several things to report along those lines.
- The Ministry of Technological Improvement is very pleased to report a breakthrough in the ongoing search to find a way of flagging “new” comments on a post since the last time you visited it. I agree that this is a very useful feature, and it’s the one I was saddest about losing. This is now tops on our priority list, and we hope to begin testing and implementing it very soon.
- We have also found a solution that will allow users to preview comments. That, too, will be tested and implemented very soon.
- We are eliminating the WordPress “Gravatars” for now. Seems like lots of people don’t like them, and I’m not sure they add much. We are planning to implement a system of badges for users – stay tuned for more on that.
- We have bumped up the font size in the posts and comments to improve readability. I’ve seen several comments complaining about the amount of white space, but I actually think that white space improves readability by giving you a less cluttered page. That is a matter of taste. Let’s see how it goes as people get used to the new look – we can always adjust as we go along.
- There seems to be some confusion about “Recommended” posts. Rest assured, the “Recommend” feature is intact – it’s one of the features we worked hard to replicate. The button is in a different spot now – it’s at the bottom of each post (rather than in the sidebar). But it works the same – if you are logged in, you can recommend posts, and the ones with the most recommendations show up in the “Recommended” box on the side. During the beta testing, some users reported being unable to see the “Recommend” button even when logged in; if this is happening to you, please let us know.
- A number of users have emailed us because of problems logging in. Inevitably, there were imperfections in the importation of user names and email addresses, so we will continue to sort those out manually as they arise. Feel free to email with problems of that kind. We are always reachable at blue@vps28478.inmotionhosting.com. Please be patient, though. Remember that there’s no customer service staff at BMG; it’s just us.
Please do bear with us. Right now is probably the most difficult time in this transition, since it’s the first time that all users are experiencing the new site and finding out what they like and don’t like. WordPress has an enormous amount to offer, and we are looking forward to taking advantage of it as we move ahead.
Onward!
Please share widely!
Like the fact that this post unexpectedly posted itself about 20 times. :-/
Thanks David and everyone else working behind the scenes on all of this. A few questions about recommend:
1) On the old site, the Recommend button would turn into a “Unrecommend” button so that we could correct mistakes or just change our minds. Is a similar feature available now? I recommended this post and I still have a Recommend button.
2) We had no Recommend button on our own posts before and now we do. Can we now recommend our own posts? 🙂
3) Is there a way to see who has recommended a post?
here here
… les’ just pretend I wrote “Hear hear” instead of the more prosaic “Here here”…
1. We are working on an “unrecommend” feature – still in progress.
2. As of now, apparently, one can recommend one’s own posts. We may try to fix that, but I’d call it a relatively low priority item.
3. We don’t presently have a “who has recommended” feature. Do you find that useful? I hardly ever used it.
“We don’t presently have a “who has recommended” feature. Do you find that useful? I hardly ever used it.”
Maybe because you are an editor and I’m not. 🙂
I found it useful for two purposes:
1) When recommending a post, to see who my kindred recommenders were.
2) If a post of mine hit the rec list, to see who had recommended it.
There are spaces between the paragraphs! And a preview button.
I use “Who’s Recommended” frequently and for the same reasons.
Nice work on the preview feature!
to ask if it is possible to edit my comment to spell “Jasiu” correctly. But I can’t really tell from the preview where in the thread this one is going to appear.
(Can’t stand it any more – I have to look!)
There is a substantial body of usability studies to back up the proposition that a fixed column (800 pixels or so) of text with white space is easier to read.
I’m aware of that, actually. I was being polite. 😉
Except that the ideal width of the column is dependent on the font-size. Instead of 800 pixels, you should think it “em”s – that’s the width of an upper-case M in the current font (and is also the width of an em-dash, hence the name). This randomly selected site indicates an ideal width of 30 to 35 ems, which is a value that can be expressed in CSS. Instead of “800px” just write “30em”.
I tried to find a source concerning white space, which in print, at least, can be distracting. Unless well-balanced, white space tends to draw the eye away from content. This was once a problem with high school yearbooks and school newspapers.
Right now, I’m using IE and the page margins look fine. Using Chrome at work, I couldn’t see the color in the color-filled box in the right margin. Weirdly, the color was clearer with my projector.
I think the marginal white space would be better if there were a more defined masthead to create a solid border above the posts. The old logo idea itself is okay, but it lacks solidity and definition. I don’t think advertising should make up 2/3 of the masthead either, but that’s a separate issue.
What I found seems to be a revisionist version recommending the use of white space as a design element.
Where is it hiding?
at the bottom of the post, next to the Tweet button.
“We are eliminating the WordPress “Gravatars” for now.”
Good. Make it permanent, eh?
The new look is already improving. I’m definitely happy to hear that the flagging “new comments” may be possible, because that’s probably the #1 thing I miss from the old site.
This may have been answered already, but is there a way to see one’s own previous comments? On the “Profile + Settings” link, I can easily find my previous posts. But is there a way to see my previous comments and whether anyone responded to them? This was a very useful feature in the old system.
David –
The way I have my monitor and video configured, and with your new site, there is no white margin at all to the left of the text, making it hard to read. Is there a way you add a bit of white margin on the left? I am not going to reconfigure my PC for this, as it works fine on other sites.
Thanks.
Hmm. I have a substantial white margin to the left of the text, and I’m reluctant to make it bigger. Can you supply some info on what browser and configurations you are using?
I use Firefox and have a new 20″ LCD monitor. But the problem is that I have my screen resolution set at 800 X 600 pixels. I just changed it to 1024 x 768, which alleviates the “no white margin on left” issue but does some other undesirable things on other websites and on the desktop. So I will likely change it back. The underlying issue is probably that I have a 5.5-yr old PC, whose video card is very limited. The computer works extremely well, though, and I am loathe to change anything. This margin issue occurs on a few other websites for me but on the vast majority of sites (like 95%) I have no margin problem.
add links, boldface, etc. in a comment? The array of options is nicely laid out for new posts, but it’s very obscure, at least to me, for comments. (Probably has something to do with what’s discussed next to “Tips,” but I need a translator. Thanks.
Yes it is. A clean uncluttered page is easier to read than one with a mass of jumbled text. What I would like to see, though, is some break from all of the white background on the page, such as the use of a shaded title banner across the top, distinguishing it from the rest of the page. Also, placing a “Home” button at the top and bottom of the page would make it more convenient to navigate back.