Is it the topics, people, or both? Considering location & signatures
NOprophet_NØprofit
Shipmate
in The Styx
The new forums emphasize the discussion I feel. The old boat balanced discussion with the people, or at least their online personas I feel. More personal to see signature statements and location, even when location was made up.
The "feel" so far is fine about topics, and more distant re people. Understanding the clutter argument, but also seeing quite a bit of blank space, particularly the avatar picture/ username area at the top.
Perhaps there is a desire for a different "feel"? Worry that the change may affect use.
The "feel" so far is fine about topics, and more distant re people. Understanding the clutter argument, but also seeing quite a bit of blank space, particularly the avatar picture/ username area at the top.
Perhaps there is a desire for a different "feel"? Worry that the change may affect use.
Comments
Totally agree. This new ship is a slightly chillier place, somehow.
I agree. I don't have as good a sense of the people here as I did. (And I wish that the people who changed their Shipboard monikers would put the old ones into their posts for a few more weeks!)
I think you have to balance that against all the people saying how much easier the New Ship is to use on a mobile device, which pretty much requires it to use up less real estate on secondary content. I personally rarely use the Ship that way, but I think it's the future.
Go to your profile. The gear at the top right should have the option to Edit. Two of the editable fields are "About you" and "From".
Is that (ease of use on a mobile phone) the main reason for this change of feel of the Ship? Personally, I barely use my phone to look at the Ship (or any other website for that matter), so find the change unnecessary, and I miss my old avatar (which actually looked not unlike me IRL) not to mention the ability to display a sig. Other people's sigs often said a lot a about them, also.
[fixed code]
Mobile device compatiblity is one factor in any new software because that's the world we live in, even if neither you nor I particularly favour it.
Any change brings with it a share of tradeoffs.
We’ll find ways to compensate for the loss of sigs, I trust.
Unfortunately this has resulted in a reduction in my reading and following discussions. That is NOT something I anticipated or wanted. But somehow it has happened. (I would have posted a "sad" face at this point, but could not easily find one under the strange new system for smilies.)
I've no doubt they're discussing at the captain's table and being a discerning group of officers and marines, they probably have some of own concerns. Looking forward to when they review the rigging and tell us how they think she sails.
So, we all start over. Not for the first time, those of us who were on the Neoworks boards will remember there being a fresh start over when we moved to the UBB platform. I'm sure those you remember with high post counts will soon re-emerge with big numbers next to their names.
We discussed sigs in relation to aesthetics of the boards - the amount of space occupied etc. We didn't consider the options for visible "from" fields or personal titles. We have heard what has been said about "humanising" posts, and will see what options are available to us. Though that will require technical input, and the tech guys are hard at work on the rest of the Ship so we can't give any timescale for possible revisions to the look of the Ship.
Never mind... found it
Great! For those of us a bit slower on the uptake, please share . . .
I miss some of the features mentioned here. They do not matter so much to me as the knowledge that without the move the Ship would probably have died in the very near future through system collapse. Here we have a more certain future.
There are some changes for Hosts to get used to on top of the changes for Shipmates. I think we will make this place a good new home. I'm currently enjoying the adjusting!
- when I click on a thread it takes me to the point I last read, whatever device I'm using (unless I'm impatient and don't let the gizmo do its thing, when I get the start of the thread).
- The new features that tell me how many posts since I last read that thread - I use that to choose which thread to click on when, particularly when travelling, as I can plan how long it's going to take me to read something.
- The auto saving of drafts - that's magic, because I can save a draft on the phone, move to the tablet and continue composing an answer, with extra added links or coding - that got lost in the past;
- increased functionality on tablets and phones (which is what I'm using most of the time)
The missing locations, strap lines, signature quotations and other personalised features are small losses against these gains. Because we get to know the other posters. I recognised some people who have changed their names before they posted on a name change thread from their style and interests. Particularly as I don't give a useful location, haven't for years. It's not advised under internet safety guidelines when posting on a public board.I have font changer set up, so I can change the font to a sans serif font, should I wish to.
Possible compromise?
The sigs on the old Ship never seemed intrusive, but here they were more distinct. Perhaps that might make them more intrusive to some people.
*Not downplaying the effort put into implementing the software.
That in mind, I do think that sigs add a personalisation that is a positive when interacting with Shipmates.
Words do not exist outside of who created them, not in the context of understanding their meaning and import. However, given how often posters ignored others' histories even with that personalisation, maybe it is just me.
I'm reading and posting a lot more now, purely because it's mobile device friendly! I can read while on my commute without having to get a laptop out…
But I really miss the locations, strap lines, signature quotations, and other personalized features. They made other Shipmates seem more like real-life people, and they often added humor to the boards. And I miss our old smileys.
I do understand the need for upgrades before the old Ship sank, and I really, really appreciate all the hours of hard work that went into the new Ship. I'm just not as delighted as some people seem to be with the results.
I don't know anything specifically about Vanilla, but it is fairly standard for open source forum software to have the facility to omit signatures on mobile devices.
It is also usual for members to have the option to block signatures on any device if they find they get in the way.
This is about how I feel. I've been a daily reader for about ten years, although my posting was obviously quite a bit more infrequent than that, but I'm feeling little pull toward this place, with the result I'm checking in maybe twice a week, and that's probably not enough to properly follow any discussions that are going on. I suspect I'll probably drift away slowly - which is sad, because SOF has kept me engaged with things Christian despite my faith having mostly bled itself out.
Locations, if they were actual places, were OK. But cryptic ones were irritating, like crossword clues you can’t ever solve.
Or just make a "signatures and quirky locations" thread?
Those who joined the new forums from the old are advantaged and might go and look at a sig and locations thread. Have we had new users yet? It would be interesting to know from their perspective if this new forum appears to be a discussion forum or a community of users, and in what proportion for each.
It was so much easier when they were right there with every post. Clicking on a poster's profile each time gets a bit tiresome (if they've even bothered to fill it in).
Sorry to keep complaining -- I'm just seeing more minuses and fewer plusses (except the major plus that the Ship is no longer held together with chewing gum and duct tape).
Gladly
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fixed bearlytone
from the east end of the desolation of Smog
May Percy, Mace and Grease go with you!
This is how I'm feeling too (and I don't use my phone for websites much so that doesn't apply to me). I've only just seen this thread because I don't come aboard so often. It *does* feel chillier and more remote, but I suppose we will get used to it in time... Sorry for whinging.
I find some of them annoying, because I know they are pasted there as SIGNATURES rather than the old signatures which took no effort once they were there. These feel rather like advertising or evangelising. Yuk.