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6 minutes ago, sdolezalek said:

... re the "stark white" comment (which I agree with): Right now all of the various parts of the web site appear on that white background (our names/avatars/history, the editing and navigation tools, etc.). That makes it tougher for your eyes because there is a lot of competing contrast and a lot of things that just seem to float in space.  Those are distracting when all you are trying to do is read content...

To me the same issue exists on the Home screen as there is no clear delineation between the eight pieces of content that appear on that page, making it harder for the eyes to focus on everything that belongs together.

 

Caveat: All observations made on a Mac Browser (no IOS now, or planned)

 

Agree in spades. I have spent over 6 years using both the CA Forum and Apples iTunes*, almost daily. I know them fairly well. Today I have to say that the new CA is very much like the latest iTunes 12.5.5; Ugly and Crippled !

In fact CA is even more crippled then iTunes  :(  Functions, links, terminology, help doc, MIA or inscrutable.

 

Anyway, to try and add something positive, here is a screen shot of the 'old' CA from a cached Firefox tab. Notice that it has the same white background, but adds color to some elements, which the eye integrates to an overall color tone (like iTunes old header bars that summed the displayed album art colors). That is one element of the better, old design (which I have always found attractive). Another major element is the lines (visible and invisible) that group related content and separate it from unneeded distractions. The eye needs graphical help to quickly navigate the screen space, acquire elements of interest, and move efficiently between them. (So what do all these new little symbols mean, and do ??), A 3d feature is the relatively good use of different font sizes to indicate importance, like Header tags in well architected content in an HTML page. Note also a larger set of apparent function controls (menu items, buttons). Etc...

 

58d1fe9b6f786_OldCAscreen.thumb.jpg.cbbe2d0454390f0d2b596901ee32e7d2.jpg

 

Sorry, don't mean to advertise my Blog, but It's the only picture I've got.

 

And, oh, BTW, why didn't we have a separate Beta test system to work out the (many) kinks, and learning curve,  before it was shoved down everyone's unsuspecting throats ?

 

And, oh yeah, I'm one of the folks who has been reading posts down from the latest one, for 6 years, and now have no choice but suffer a new PITA >:(

 

And these are only the top 3 items on a 2 page (so far) list  :(

 

Color me on the edge of bailing out completely

.

.

.

 

* I'm frozen at iTunes 10.6.3 by conscious choice

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On 3/25/2017 at 3:14 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

(I don't have time to figure out the new quoting crap, but I wanted to complete this reply)

 

Chris,

 

On 3/24/2017 at 06:25 PM,  The Computer Audiophile said:
In fact, based on your comments, it seems like you have a vested interest in some items here on CA. Perhaps your business was benefiting from CA and now things ave changed. If you were just a casual reader, I don't think you'd have made some of those comments.


On 3/25/2017 at 03:14 PM,  The Computer Audiophile said:
Are you here to help or for purely personal reasons that are unrelated to CA?

 

On 3/25/2017 at 02:21 PM,  Daudio said:
Sorry for the tone (really), but you have brought it on yourself...

 

The reason for my negative tone was due to your above responses, to timely, realistic criticism, with accusations of conspiracy, malfeasance, or something mysterious and evil  :(

 

That is out simply of place here, and, I thought, beyond you. I really hope those comments were just the result of extreme exhaustion and stress, and not your normal way of thinking.

 

But then, this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed you not handling site criticism well. It might be something to think about in the future ? Could it be that the excess of trollish behavior on CA is subconsciously rubbing off ? Nah, we'll just call it stress. For now.

 

On 3/25/2017 at 03:14 PM,  The Computer Audiophile said:
If you want things fixed, please be helpful. So far you've been unwilling to help.


Unwilling to help ?? WTF! How about, NOT ASKED. That would be a prerequisite before complaining about willingness.


And I DID help, capturing and posting a screenshot of the old CA for comparison (ending talk about the white background), as well as a number of bug notifications, and got soundly ignored for my troubles. But no, I did not suck up, so does that explain this unhelpful reaction ?

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I will let you get back to your unenviable tasks, with one finial bug report:

 

I've not seen a single Comment to any of my Blog posts since the 'upgrade'. I'd like to reply to one I saw before, but can't see any now. From the bottom of one of my Blog posts:

 

3 Comments
There are no comments to display.


While I can't see mine, I can see comments to other member Blog posts, just not mine. I doubt this is specific to me, probably no one can see their own Blog comments, at least that's my guess...

 

(note: this relates to browser based presentation only)

 

 

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7 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

... After a little more research, it appears that your Blogs' comments don't appear unless you've posted the comment. Look at your first Blog and there is a comment by you that shows. I opened a ticket with the software developer while I continue to troubleshoot it myself. 

 

As you suspected, this issue isn't just related to your Blog.

 

Thanks for looking into this.

I checked each of my Blog posts, where I know I had posted at least one comment reply, and the only one I could see was the very first comment, to the very first post in the Blog, which happened to be by me.

Hope that helps.

 

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56 minutes ago, mansr said:

Speaking of the persistent menu bar, it's mostly a waste of space. I'd much rather see the bar with search, notifications, etc in its place. Those I actually click on from time to time.

 

I am not a fan of the Big Black Block (BBB) either. But I agree with the previous poster on the value of the smaller bar with Search, Profile, etc. (like we had before).

 

Reminds me of an issue: I'm having: When one is inside a thread, reading and scrolling through posts, once one gets down away from the top of the page, there is nothing onscreen to indicate What Thread one is in. Usually no problem, But, whether it is a phone call, family, pets, other interruption, day dreaming, or a Senior Moment, it is very easy to come back to the list of posts and forget what thread one is reading, and thus one has to scroll all the way up to the top of the page to see the thread title. At my age and distractability, this happens all too frequently :(

 

With the old CA, I would glance up at the address/url bar at the top of the browser(Firefox) window and see the thread title in the last part of the current URL. Problem solved. But not anymore. Is it the 3 little icons and the "Audiophile Style LLC(US)" that is now taking up that space, or a different URL construction ? I'm not sure, but it is more then a little problem for me.

 

Perhaps that annoying, jumping, persistent BBB could be enlisted to serve a useful purpose. And maybe put on a diet in the process :)

 

Is anyone else bothered by the "What Thread is This ?" problem ??

 

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17 minutes ago, mansr said:

 

The tab/window title is the thread title. It is also part of the URL although it might be truncated if your address field is short.

 

That is what I said !

 

Plus, it is that same damn browser that I was using before the change-over !

 

It is also the title of the Tab, but my tabs are very short (~ 1") due to the high number of them I maintain. I now see that if I hover over the tab long enough, a tool-tip type box shows up with the full title. Useable, but could be better...

 

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39 minutes ago, mansr said:

 

The title is in roughly the same place in the URL as before. My Firefox shows the entire URL with room to spare, and the window isn't even the full width of the monitor. The thread title is also shown in the window title bar at the very top. Does your browser not have one of those?

 

 

See for yourself...

 

58dbcef627593_Threadtitlecapture.thumb.png.95da919a9fdd881c9c567b863a8bb5fc.png

 

I haven't changed the Toolbar layout in quite a while.

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1 hour ago, mansr said:

 

Why isn't the title displayed next to the close/maximise buttons in the usual fashion? Did you disable this somehow?

 

As for the URL, the green TLS indicator is new, of course, so that could be what makes the difference. Now if you want to reclaim some space, I'd suggest getting rid of the redundant "reload" and "stop" buttons and use the one at the end of the address field. Switching to small, icon-only buttons might also be something to consider. It's hardly Chris' fault if people configure their browsers in counter-productive ways.

 

I don't know what you mean about "next to the close/maximize buttons" ??  That may be because I run the "Classic Theme Restorer" plug-in to kludge the tab row down on top of the content, as nature intended, instead of Mozilla's following Google, lemming-like down some rabbit hole of faddish esthetic design (like Apple)  :(

 

Yes, it appears to be that the actual URL text has been squeezed to a remnant by the TLS on the left, and WTF's on the right.

 

As to "counter-productive ways", I would remind you that people are different, and what might be productive for one is emphatically the opposite for another. There is No One Right Way, and your arrogance in acting as such is not appreciated. Go read some Donald Norman.

 

Over and Out.

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3 hours ago, Cornan said:

 

 recent post that caught my eye as a suspisiously faulty dislike...

 cannot see that Speed Racer did anything to deserve that one! ?

 

Simply click on the 'heart/number' box and you will be shown who-did-what  :)

 

...

 

"blue theme"  ???

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5 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?

 

Oh, Down Vote on that  :)

 

I would prefer that CA keep the Like/Dislike system as-is, but fix the numbers if/when it is abused.

 

My reasoning is that the rep. score is not really that bad a gauge, and there is precious little else here to guide the newbies and chipers, as Jud noted they need some help.

 

I feel that like/dislikes for; behavior good/bad, or knowledge/idiocy, or helpfulness/mocking, or whatever someones feels compelled enough to take a moment to click, are good data. Sure some could be due to silly, questionable, or mean-spirited reasons, but they would just end up being noise over time. The bigger the dataset the lower the noise. And any really egregious behavior, as happened recently, should be fixed once proved.

 

Frankly, if a bunch of CA'ers are stomping around dissing each other, I wouldn't mind a warning to stay clear of the argumentative, bull-headed, low info...  posters. And, I support that for everybody else, including me.

 

What's to be afraid of ??  ^_^

 

Update: I also support leaving in the identity data of the Likes and Dislikes (re: prev. Jud post). I take responsibility for my actions and don't mind doing so for this. I expect others to do the same. Anonomity breeds ugly behavior. I firmly believe that hiding the identities would be a mistake, as would hiding the scores. Try it for a while longer, then revisit the issue.

 

My 2 cents

 

P.S. not enough emoticons.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/12/2017 at 10:44 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Hi @Daudio The Blog comments were restored this morning. 

 

Ah, very good ! I see them now, and can reply to a couple of commenters.

I assume that this fix (what was the fix ??) applies to all Blog writers (?)

 

And, any idea when the CA blog pictures will re-appear ?

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
2 minutes ago, austinpop said:
  • 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.
  • 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.

 

1) +1

2) +1

 

There is so little left now of any kind of member distinguishing info to help bring people into a community, that anything added (back) to the 'new' CA* is a help !

 

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

  Ver. 2, Ver. 4, Ver. 2017 ????

 

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1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

adjusted the likes feature to only allow for positive ratings. We'll see how it goes. I'm not a fan of participation trophies and believe people should be called out for certain things, but I certainly understand that the negative ratings have been misused.

 

What ! sorry, but that just sounds nuts to me, a Fantasy that everything is wonderful in this Best of All Possible Worlds :(

 

I have already made a case, in this thread, for full use and display of the Like/Dislike counts (with abuse corrections), and was promptly ignored and the count display was removed...

 

Does paranoia trump reason here too these days ?

 

 

P.S.  recall using the 'Ignore User' feature recently and being presented with 4(?) check boxes for Ignoring various kinds of appearances, including those mentioned by the questioner. So there is control over these behaviors, one just has to find them in this undocumented... uh... 'software'.

 

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24 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 I'm testing features of the website in order to find the right balance

 

I'm sorry but having 'Likes' without 'Dislikes', hardly sounds balanced to me.

 

And, surely you knew I meant the paranoid (and self-serving) anti-Dislike requests vs. other more balanced requests. Seems like anyone can pop-up in this thread with a 'Chris can you do this...' and off you go to do it, whether its a good idea or not.

 

Maybe these issues should be tested in a poll to gauge the whole community ?  Wait... I haven't yet seen a single poll, or possibility of starting one in CA 4.0 ?!!?*?

 

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20 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Perhaps you need to look for polls before you speak.

 

If I can't see them, then maybe a lot of others can't either, as evidenced by none (I've seen) appearing in the wild. It is just another bad UI issue, with no documentation to see to help learn. This upgrade should not be a teenagers video game where one only learns the obscure rules only through youthful speed, energy, and endless time...

 

I have paid attention to instructions and hints to CA 4.0 usage in this thread, as well as encountered in regular browsing, and my own (directed) fumbling around, so it's not for lack of trying. But then I didn't ask to have to relearn something I took 6 years to learn. :(

 

 

20 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Maybe there's a conspiracy

 

Please don't get defensive again.

 

And, lastly, as a retired professional, I give credit where credit is due.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, wwaldmanfan said:

You gave out half a dozen today in one thread,

 

But, you didn't count my 'Likes', so your post is just like others of yours that I may have 'Disliked' for unbalanced, ill-informed and mean-spirited utterances.

 

I'm fine with being responsible for my Like/Dislike behavior, but it sounds like you aren't  :(

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6 hours ago, Teresa said:

It is OK to disagree. What it is not OK is to attack, belittle, or make fun anyone who doesn't agree with one's position. I have agreed with all of your dislikes I've seen

 

Well said ! Thanks, Teresa.

 

 

5 hours ago, wwaldmanfan said:

No one who made jokes about burning in cables referenced the OP in any way

 

I avoided that thread, knowing the type of rif-raf it would attract.

 

19 hours ago, wwaldmanfan said:

You gave out half a dozen today...

 

And how exactly did you find all my 'dislike' clicks, some special search ?

Oh, no, you didn't go and make up those numbers, did you ?

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1 hour ago, wwaldmanfan said:

Reputations are displayed on every post for all to see. Just click it, and it displays

 

I know that way, I thought you must have had a special shortcut instead of checking every single posts Rep field for... what ? If you are still interested in stalking me, you're welcome to count the Likes on my Activity page 9_9

 

I applaud your persistence in collecting that data, but really... 

 

Dude, you need to get a life :)  Taking a break to listen to music is the usual advice, sounds good here too !

 

Have a great weekend,

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
8 minutes ago, austinpop said:

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

 

'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.

 

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2 hours ago, Superdad said:

Don't you see a toolbar with toggle icons (Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, and the buttons to add links and emoticons)?

 

I see all that you listed, except no 'Strikethrough', instead I have a 'T' with underline and sub-script 'x' - it's hover text reads "Remove Format". Then to the right are buttons for: Links, Quotes, Emoticons, Bulleted lists, Numbered lists, and Preview. (10 total)

 

Now, just how did we get different versions of the common editor (same for Blog IIRC) ? "

 

I've since seen another user, with 'Strikethrough' styling in their posts too, so I'm wondering why my (browser based) post editor looks different ??

 

And while we're talking about the CA editor, there is another odd behavior I've noticed. When I insert the cursor into the midst of previously typed text, to change something in my post-to-be, I can type characters fine, until I type a 'space', then the cursor instantly relocates to the end of the current line ! Not very helpful... Can that be fixed too ?

 

TIA

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33 minutes ago, Solstice380 said:

I should have looked at your sig.  Apologies!

 

No need for any apologies, it doesn't say "Firefox" down there  :)

 

I just clicked between "for" and "apologies" to add "any", and as soon as I tapped the space bar, the cursor was blinking just to the right of the smiley face, kinda like it was sticking out its tongue at me O.o

Had to go back to add the 'space' to separate the words, wasting my time,

 

I don't remember noticing this kind of behavior until the last few weeks. But then I've been noticing lots of bad spelling, missing words, and worsening ability to read text, both in my output (TextEdit, Mail, online editors...), and all over the web that I visit !  This effect has been growing this year. I suspect new 'smart' behavior in the latest releases of... everything(?), that isn't so damn smart after all, but is subtly corrupting our ability to communicate well (and I'm ignoring the already sad human performance factor).  OK, OT, sorry...

 

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Has anyone else noticed that the Title (name) of the CA page is now displaying in the very top of the browser window (as it should) ?  I only noticed this in the last week or two. And sorely missed it after the upgrade, since I couldn't see what thread I was in the middle of anymore.

 

Now, if post numbers magicly reappeared, we'd be back to where we used to be re: thread navigation  :)

 

 

 

(see, it wasn't my browsers address bar config. after all B|)

 

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