Site Issues, Updates, Changes, and Feedback Thread

[austinpop]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

OK, what about the change I just made to not show the total reputation points, but still have the Up/Down voting on each thread?

 

There goes my short lived reputation!

 

But in all seriousness - yeah, good riddance. If there were a way to measure how helpful a person was, that would be one thing, but as it stood, that number got conflated with a measure of agree/disagree and like/dislike which is not helpful.

 

Let's eschew populism.

[austinpop]

Let me offer up my little primer and a couple of my custom activities that helped me bridge from the old site to the new. Here it is in a table:

 

Desired Outcome___________________Old Site Action_________________New Site Action

Show threads with unread posts______ Click on user handle top right_____My custom activity: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/discover/34/?&view=condensed

Show all subscribed threads__________Click on Subscriptions link________My custom activity: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/discover/33/?&view=condensed

Show first unread post_______________Click on thread title link___________Click on the little green/blue dot/star to the left of the thread title (does not work if no unread)

Show last post in thread no unread____Click on thread title link___________Click on the the time value (e.g. 28 min) in the second last column of the thread title

 

Observations

1. I hope this helps
2. If you like one of my custom activities, you can always make it a default. Hover over the check box to the right of the activity name, and "set as default stream." Doing this also causes this custom activity to displace the default activity next to "Mark site read" under the search bar on the top right.
3. @The Computer Audiophile - I do feel outcomes 3 and 4 above are quirky on the new site. Item 3 at least has a visual indicator, the green/blue dot/star. Item 4 is completely opaque. Not a big deal once you know how, but impossible for a new user to learn other than by trial and error.
4. My suggestion would be to have a single action - click on topic title. The outcome could be based on context:
   • go to first post if first entry into this topic. Or, if previously traversed,
   • go to first unread, if any.
   • Or, if the topic is fully read, go the last post
5. Also, iIt would be nice to have the ability to either create tables, or at least not have tabs ignored. As it is, I had to use the ugly _'s to align things!

[austinpop]

Hi Chris,

 

I ran into a couple of minor issues, so wanted to pass them along. For reference, take a look at my post: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30634-the-true-experimental-tweak-thread/?do=findComment&comment=648849

1. Is there no longer a way to control the display size of image attachments? I attached 2 PNG files, and the size shown in the post is the largest size that I can get. I can go smaller, but not any larger.
2. When I click on the attachments, the image shown is nothing like the original. While the original has a white background, with dark text, the image view is the opposite. I suspect this is at the mercy of the default image viewer on the system. On W10, that appears to be Photos, and it totally messes up PNGs.

I'm not sure what to even recommend here, but maybe someone here has some guidance or pointers to ensure that attached images are rendered with fidelity?

[austinpop]

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

Those attachments have a transparent background. Most systems don't seem to have issues, but so.e might turn it black. If you post them with a white background, they'll work fine. 

 

The size of images uploaded is reduced to a small size so as not to take up too much space unless one clicks on them to see more. 

 

OK gotcha. I added a white background, and now all is well. 

 

 

[austinpop]

Chris, remind me...

 

What's the solution for following links to the old site embedded in posts from prior to the transition? I know they currently don't work, but I can't remember if you said that was on a roadmap to fix up or not.

 

Until or even if it ever happens, is there any trick to finding the post in the new site? Obviously it varies - but sometimes all I have is a sentence like "read this post at <link>."" Those are hard to crack. 

 

I can usually inspect the link and infer the thread - sorry, topic - name, but finding a particular post by post number is hard.

[austinpop]

On 4/12/2017 at 10:18 AM, austinpop said:

Chris, remind me...

 

What's the solution for following links to the old site embedded in posts from prior to the transition? I know they currently don't work, but I can't remember if you said that was on a roadmap to fix up or not.

 

Until or even if it ever happens, is there any trick to finding the post in the new site? Obviously it varies - but sometimes all I have is a sentence like "read this post at <link>."" Those are hard to crack. 

 

I can usually inspect the link and infer the thread - sorry, topic - name, but finding a particular post by post number is hard.

 

@The Computer Audiophile - any suggestions?

[austinpop]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

That's a touch one. Right now we really don't have a good solution for it, but we're working on a fix for the broken links that may resolve this as well.

 

Understood. Thanks.

[austinpop]

Minor iOS bug (observed on iPhone, Safari, iOS 10.3.1):

 

When composing content, hitting return doesn't automatically toggle the uppercase mode for the first letter. Interestingly, if I backspace to correct, then the toggle fires, and the first letter I type is correctly uppercase. 

[austinpop]

Folks - help please!

 

Within a topic, I want to find all content posted by a particular user. How do I do that?

 

I tried advanced search, search by author, but even then I am asked to enter a non-blank value in the content search box.

 

What am I missing?

[austinpop]

16 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

No, you are not missing anything.  I just tried six ways to Sunday to search for posts by a given member in a particular thread.  No go.

 

Ack. Please tell me, someone, that there is a way.

[austinpop]

2 hours ago, ShawnC said:

Using your name I was able to set up an Activity stream with just your posts, then I narrowed it down to say the Auralic Aries thread, which you have several posts.  This showed all your posts in just that thread, unfortunately you only see two lines of the post on that main screen.

 

Not much help but something 

 

Hi Shawn,

 

Thanks! That's promising. Can you post or PM me a link to that custom activity stream? I'll use it as a template for now.

[austinpop]

@The Computer Audiophile

 

Hi Chris - can I make a couple of feature requests? Consider these first world problems, so it's your choice whether to take any action!

1. Add back the location field in the users profile, and import this info from the old site. I like to see where a user is located sometimes, and currently have no way of knowing.
2. The controversial reputation score. How do people feel about exposing it in the user's profile, not under their handle on every post as initially implemented? Or do you not want to go there? Flawed as it was, I did like the feature. This way it could be hidden away discreetly, but still accessible.

Respectfully submitted.

[austinpop]

33 minutes ago, Daudio said:

 

And just what are we supposed to call this 'new' version of CA ? 

  Ver. 2, Ver. 4, Ver. 2017 ????

 

 

Creators update? 

[austinpop]

37 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

 

Well, I have partial good news for you. I've added back the location to the user profiles. However, I can't go back and import just the location information from the old site to the new location field. Hopefully, people will populate this field when they edit their profiles. 

 

Let's leave the reputation score alone for a little bit :~)

 

Many thanks!

[austinpop]

@The Computer Audiophile

 

Hope you had/are having/will have a safe trip back home from Munich.

 

I wanted to raise a feature request, propose a few alternative solutions, and get your thoughts if any of these are feasible.

 

The Problem:

 

Monster threads, where a wealth of information is stored within the thread in a few key posts, but these are very hard to find. Two examples of such threads are:

1. https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-the-sms-200-and-microrendu/
2. https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/28569-sacd-ripping-using-an-oppo-or-pioneer-yes-its-true/

I'm sure there are others as well. The problem is that these threads have become an endless loop of people asking the same questions ad infinitum, because there is no single index that could point them to the answers, so we get a continuing, plaintive refrain from newbies who can't find the key info they're hoping to find.

 

Solutions:

 

What is needed is an index of some sort, where a catalog of important and useful info pertinent to the thread can be cumulated, and the place that newbies can be pointed to for basic information. It doesn't need to be an FAQ per se, just a way to get to really useful stuff.

 

Here are some ideas:

• Implement a wiki feature. For example - here's what they have on Flyertalk: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/1663610-guide-welcome-aa-forum-lounge-dashboard-oso-irrops-irops.html.
  • This is obviously a fair amount of development work, so I only mention it for completeness.
• Allow the first post by the OP to have no time limit for editing. This way the OP, or a designated proxy, can create an index of useful posts.
  • This does put a burden on the OP, one they may not care to accept. Or, the OP may become unavailable or leave CA
  • Alternatively, you as CA admin, could authorize an alternate volunteer to do the same.
• Have the site auto-create an index post (a zero-th post, if you will) for every new thread (topic). This index post could then either be populated:
  • Automatically, by displaying the top 5/10/<pick a number> posts with positive like counts, ranked in descending order of likes. Of course, the like counts may not be a perfect mirror of the most useful posts, but this method has the advantage of being automagically created and maintained by the site.
    • The challenge here is that like counts don't seem to exist - I may be wrong on this - for content that existed prior to the switch to the new CA.
  • Manually, by the OP, or a volunteer, authorized by you,  the admin, to maintain a topic-specific index/cheat sheet/FAQ.

There may be other solutions too. I just want to find some way to reduce the burden on good-hearted CA regulars who find themselves answering the same questions for months and years on end, and who do so, with good grace.

 

Please let me know your thoughts.

[austinpop]

29 minutes ago, Daudio said:

 

'Stickie' thread/posts are a possible solution too, through I don't know if this new platform (whatever it is) can handle them.

 

I thought the old system supported them, but that they weren't used because they required some permission level, that wasn't delegated, to create/designate them.

 

 

I'm open to all reasonable solutions. Stickies posts are a good option too.

[austinpop]

17 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Just walked in the door, home from Munich. Give me a bit to get caught up and I'll dig into this one with you. 

 

Welcome back, Chris. Rest up. There's no tearing hurry.

[austinpop]

16 minutes ago, rickca said:

Chris, I'd like a way to see all activity except certain threads.  When a thread goes bad, it tends to have a very high activity level as the rhetoric cranks up.  Lately we've had more and more of these.

 

So I'd like to ignore a thread rather than ignore a user.  Sometimes the same user posts quite intelligent things in other threads.

 

Rick,

 

this isn't exactly what you need, but I defined this custom activity that shows recent activity aggregated by topic. Try it and see if you like it:

 

https://www.computeraudiophile.com/discover/35/

 

I love your phrase "when a thread goes bad." So true! With this custom activity, no matter how active a topic is, it only occupies one spot on the list, as opposed to completely swamping the default "Unread Content" view.

[austinpop]

Chris, 

 

I just noticed a slight issue with the "Computer Audiophile Blue" theme. The Search field on the top bar of the page is the same blue color of the bar, so very hard to distinguish. It looks like this:

 

 

Other themes have the search field in a lighter (or white) color.

 

Could you change the field itself to a lighter shade, so it's more visible?

[austinpop]

@The Computer Audiophile

 

Hi Chris:

 

Have you given any more thought to my feature request regarding some means of pinning useful content? For context, here's my post:

The need is dire, IMO. Even a simple, manual solution would be a start.

[austinpop]

40 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

I don't mean to push work off to you or anyone else, but if you want you can search for a plugin that's already built or similar functionality. I'm not opposed to purchasing a plugin type of solution rather than building it myself. Here is a link to available plugins etc.. https://invisioncommunity.com/files/

 

Hi Chris,

 

I'll take a look as soon as I get a chance.

[austinpop]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I don't mean to push work off to you or anyone else, but if you want you can search for a plugin that's already built or similar functionality. I'm not opposed to purchasing a plugin type of solution rather than building it myself. Here is a link to available plugins etc.. https://invisioncommunity.com/files/

 

Chris, I'm not a UI developer, so take all this for what it's worth. The Invision site doesn't really give a lot of detail, but here are some thoughts from what I've seen so far:

1. There is mention of a "Question and Answer Forum" feature in the Forums component of the core package. Could this be exploited? I'm referring to this:
   
2. The wiki capability seems to be implemented in the Pages component. Beyond that, I don't know how easy it is to integrate wikis - um, pages - into Topics, a la Flyertalk, for example. What would be really cool is, where appropriate, pin a wiki to the top of a topic, which could be curated by the community, but with a designated moderator - either the OP, or a surrogate.
3. There are several plugins for "pinning" that seem interesting as building blocks:
   • https://invisioncommunity.com/files/file/7352-change-post-author/

     https://invisioncommunity.com/files/file/7564-nb40-pinned-posts/

     https://invisioncommunity.com/files/file/7563-nb40-reorder-pinned-topics/

     https://invisioncommunity.com/files/file/7322-nb40-separate-pinned-topics/

4. Finally, doing this requires some core moderation and permissions work:

   • designating OP or specific users to edit and curate

   • having infinite edit intervals on designated content - say the original post - so it can become a de facto FAQ or equivalent

Just some initial thoughts.

[austinpop]

Chris,

 

It also occurred to me that from an authorization and permissions perspective, it would help to allow each topic (and possibly extended to forums) to have a designated moderator. It could start out by default to be the OP, but could be overridden by "staff" to anyone else.

 

One of the key authorizations should be to allow the first post to not have the edit lifetime. This way, the OP or the designated moderator could append/prepend an index/FAQ/list to the original post.

 

While a pinned Q&A or wiki would be cooler and more elegant, the immediate ability to edit the first post could be a quick and dirty way to get this going quickly.

[austinpop]

6 minutes ago, Daudio said:

 

And easier 

 

Why easier?

[austinpop]

11 minutes ago, Daudio said:

I think that is what you were thinking of ??

 

Trimmed your quote, as I know that bothers you!

 

Yes, and no. Pinned threads are not what I was thinking of.

 

Remember - the problem we are trying to solve is for monster threads. We can not know a priori which threads will become such. When such a thread occurs, I don't want to create a different (pinned) thread to contain the curated bits from the monster thread. Rather, I want a way to have an index/wiki/Q&A/editable first post within the thread.

 

Your example from head-fi is a fine one, but it's not a pinned thread. Jason's first post is a fine example of what I'm proposing.