Thursday, September 11, 2008

Look What They've Done To Our Blog, Ma


You're going to need an extra dash of the Macallan on your Puffed Wheat this morning - steel yourselves and check out this:
Wha'? Spacing? Legibility? CTRL+F over 14 pages? Heads Must Roll, ideally before tomorrow...

90 comments:

Abahachi said...

It is possible to get 'all comments on one page', whereupon ctrl-f might work, at least for those of you with more reliable computers... I fear that, if they haven't taken any notice of the complaints of the scary psychos on Comment is Free they're scarcely going to listen to us mild-mannered music lovers. Perhaps I could bore them into submission...

DarceysDad said...

Can I open the batting please, Captain Abahachi. I can't wait to start firing red missiles at the idiot techies.

I've got a 150 mile journey home from south of B'ham after work to see my girls for the first time since Sunday, and a 6.30am start tomorrow, so I may well use up my strokes 'early' tonight and go to bed.

I'm REALLY not looking forward to RR with that format, and I've NEVER said that before!!

DarceysDad said...

Whoops, sorry Skip/Shiv. I'll tell you what, I'll be Botham to Abahachi's Boycott.

Mnemonic said...

I've been dreading this ever since I saw what they did to Cif.

OOh, I can have a coloured avatar! That seems like giving a baby a rattle to distract it when it starts crying.

ejaydee said...

"-Which is our most popular blog guys?
-Readers Recommend.
-Alright, let's come up with a redesign that makes RR as unattractive and user unfriendly as possible!
-Brilliant idea!"

Proudfoot said...

It looks like Yellow Submarine after sniffing cheap solvents. Plus WHERE is the actual blog?
I've been using the 'most active' blog link until now, but that's gone. Is the Grauniad ashamed of us?

saneshane said...

I think it has been designed by someone who has never played/ contributed... stupid.
This is the most popular thread, it also keeps me buying Fridays paper, again stupid (business possibly this time)

It is possible to get 'all comments on one page'... abahachi it freezes my computer and this has more poke than a souped up Subaru on a Medway estate.

and and and... they could have eased us in by putting the 'Spill in 'SITES WE LIKE '.. did they? did they feck.. do they take any notice of who is taking care of their baby???

Anyway, I'm an open minded kind of chap, let's see how it goes. (starts sharpening the axe)

And all apologies to Maddy, who will have to be mediator I guess, good luck, we know it's not your fault.

Anonymous said...

Megadonds to making advance apologies to misscorvette!

Really, Maddy, I'm truly sorry that I am going to be in furious barking rabid dog mode at the GU techies over the weekend.

NONE OF IT IS DIRECTED AT YOU ...

maddy costa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

It smacks of the sort of corporate monoculture-type approach which is becoming prevalent across our society ... e.g corporate mugs, corporate websites ... the website where I work has been changed to look like the websites of other regional offices around the country and doesn't actually tell anybody anything they want to know any more. And heaven forfend that they should provide details of anyone you can actually contact about anything, as this would contravene the Data Protection Act or something. It's 1984 .....

goneforeign said...

Not sure if this is related but I can't open any, but this one, of the 'comments' on the Spill. I get a message; Safari can not open the requested site because the host is not responding.

Anonymous said...

@ gf - it's correct, gf, we're not responding as we're all (i) gobsmacked into stunned silence by GU's attitude, and (ii) on comment strike in protest.

@ Maddy (fyi only - don't respond, Ms.C, you'll be in trouble) / Blimpy / everyone:

THIS IS A SERIOUS SUGGESTION ...

THE 'SPILL TAKES RR OUT FROM GU - WE ABANDON/BOYCOTT THE NEW FORMAT MESS, RUN THE THREAD OURSELVES, AND SELL THE COLUMN BACK TO THE PAPER ON EACH WEDNESDAY.

ANYONE?

ShivSidecar said...

Thanks missc, on behalf of my fellow headless chickens we do appreciate the stamp of firm leadership. We aren't going to get the old format back, but if we're going to use the new one successfully I feel the technical johnnies owe us all an Operator's Manual... and an apology.

(Haven't mentioned the font... each entry looks like a memo dashed off by a tipsy Dalek, assuming Daleks use qwerty keyboards. My aesthetics are all a-jangle now.)

ShivSidecar said...

DsD sez:

"THE 'SPILL TAKES RR OUT FROM GU - WE ABANDON/BOYCOTT THE NEW FORMAT MESS, RUN THE THREAD OURSELVES, AND SELL THE COLUMN BACK TO THE PAPER ON EACH WEDNESDAY."

...or (hushed whisper) try substituting the words "THE PAPER" with "THE INDEPENDENT". Er... just kidding. I think.

Mnemonic said...

Ok, first one on the blog tonight sets up a post on the overspill and we do all our posting there.

Blimpy, at the moment, if I click on the comments link in the spill, I get a separate window with all the comments in chronological order. At what point will this fall over? Are there space limits?

If, on the main blog, we suggest posting on the overspill (as soon the topic is set up there), how long will it take before GU deletes the comment? What's the risk of being declared persona non grata on the GU blog? Good opportunities for spread betting here.

I won't be back from Bon Iver in time to do this (eta 12:30 at the earliest) and Maddy obviously can't. DsD, are you up for it?

maddy costa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Abahachi said...

Sorry, everybody, but the boring pragmatist side of me has kicked in. One issue is that my computer doesn't like the 'Spill much either, and I worry about how it might cope if the level of comments rises exponentially.

More significantly, however, I'm not sure I'm convinced by the idea of declaring UDI. Part of what is great about RR is that new people come along all the time; yes, we have to explain what donds are, and try to encourage them to use ctrl-f and not to be too rude about other people's tastes, but it does keep things fresh. It's not so long since I joined - I'm sure it seems longer - and I would never have encountered this if it wasn't a Graundiad blog. I imagine there are lots of music blogs out there, and I wouldn't think for a moment of bothering with them. Okay, redesign solely for the sake of the casual user is a slap in the face - but responding by cutting out the casual user altogether would be cutting off our noses to spite our faces.

Which does, admittedly, leave me in the "oh well I suppose we just have to put up with it then" camp, for want of any alternative (actually I'm waiting for the Grauniad to bribe me with the offer of a new computer that can cope with the redesign...)

Mnemonic said...

For me, the real problem is the random five comments that appear at the beginning. Anyone new to the blog will see those and post or not, according to their interest. There will be no sense of the community and conversations that havbe built up over time or even over the course of one week's blog.

This discontinuity has already happened on Paul Lester's Elbow blog, where a comment from our previous guru is posted as though it is a stand-alone comment, whereas it is in fact the third comment from Dorian in a conversation with PL and other bloggers.

We're not going to have to explain donds to anybody because, in all probability, nobody's going to see one.

May1366 said...

I tend to agree with you on the "don't like it but have to lump it" score, Abahachi, and the whole point of the blog, though it by no means exceeds the sum of its parts, is to help Maddy produce a column for The Guardian every Friday so the game would be lessened if it didn't come with the knowledge that someone's going to pick up their paper in the morning and be recommended something far-out and wonderful thanks to the efforts of a bunch of strangers...but I think there's a caveat to be added about the mythical "casual user" the marketing people (I doubt the techies concocted this on their own) throw in our faces to justify every move to diminish expectations by just that bit more (see Albert Brooks in 'Breaking News' ranting to Holly Hunter about William Hurt being a nice guy but basically the Devil, for the rest of this speech).

I was a casual user a few months ago. Dorian's last column was my first - how insular must that discussion have seemed with its personal messages of thanks and farewell, let alone the deadline, the whole donding business and all the other staples of the community - especially coming as I did from the narky footy blogs. Yet by the time I'd scrolled down all the comments to date, it felt like a conversation I could join.
Which makes me wonder - how does the re-design actually benefit a casual user, about three clicks away from being able to view all the previous comments on one page (losing the full article in the process) and thereby easily track any responses to their attempt to join in the conversation? Have you ever attempted to read every comment posted in response to a YouTube clip? Ever managed to get through every page without tripping over a troll on every reload? If the new format persuades a few interested wallflowers to shuffle onto the dancefloor, I reckon we'd have to find a way to love it - but I'd be interested to note if such casual users aren't outnumbered by the type more likely to run into a room, shouting, "FFS, YOU BUNCH OF PRICX - HAS NOBODY IN HERE EVER HEARD OF BOB DILLAN!!!!?"

Mnemonic said...

And while we're on the subject or upgrades, I've just got the latest from i-Tunes and I HATE it.

Abahachi said...

Still, every cloud etc.; I've just been looking through the thread where we're asked to comment on the changes - not a lot of enthusiasm, as you can imagine - and anytimefrances is threatening to leave and never come back...

Abahachi said...

Another thought: obviously I don't know what Maddy's theme is going to be this week, but we could always ignore it (even more than normal) and start recommending songs about pointy-headed corporate marketing men instead.

ejaydee said...

Donds to what May1366 said.
I don't want to lump it, but I may find myself just not bothered anymore and retreat to the 'Spill. For those of us that read every single comment, its going to be more of a hassle. For potential newcomers, it'll make even less sense. But I'm sure it'll be perfect for those that just pop in and say: "This list would be worthless without Stagger Lee/Ode To Billie Joe!" for the 28th time. I think it's a bit early to declare independence, although I did give it some thought last night and earlier this morning. I don't want to harm Maddy, or discourage any potential newcomers, even though I doubt there'll be that many now.

ejaydee said...

For more redesign, check this out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2007/apr/20/readersrecommendtheazofal

Abahachi said...

I wonder how often they check what's being written about them on Wikipedia...

steenbeck said...

It makes sense to give it a try tonight, and let them know if we have problems. We don't want to make things harder for Maddy; and this is her JOB after all. Plus I like having the 'Spill separate from RR. I want it all!!

It seems like the biggest problem for everyone is that you have to jump through hoops to see all the comments at once. Maybe we can all focus our request for change on that topic, because it seems like that shouldn't be too hard to achieve.

What I want to know is why certain people get to have icons of different colors. I don't want to be grey if everyone else is going to be festive!!

ejaydee said...

Click on your name, and then choose Edit Profile.

steenbeck said...

Ha, the A-Zee is unreadable!! I'm no longer going to feel guilty about nominating songs that already made the list.

treefrogdemon said...

To make it even worse, when you click 'post' (which I've just done, to see what would happen), the whole loading process has to start all over again.

maddy costa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mnemonic said...

My absence this week will be because I won't get home from Bon Iver until 12:30 and I'm getting up at 6:00 to pack and go to End of the Road, so don't take it personally.

For the future, it depends very much on what happens with the quality of the blog. If it becomes like YouTube, as May1366 has so eloquently pastiched, I may just give up in despair.

Anonymous said...

It was fixed so they broke it .. but they do have a letters page and a complaints procedure as detailed below ... Sheevawn could be in for an emailbashing from disgusted of Tunbridge Spills.

How to contact the Guardian's readers' editor

It is the policy of the Guardian to correct significant errors as soon as possible and the paper has appointed a Readers' Editor to deal with questions and complaints from readers. The Guardian also has an Ombudsman to represent the interests of readers where the Readers Editor is unable to resolve a problem to the satisfaction of all parties.

Please quote the date of the article you have read. Readers may contact the office of the readers' editor by telephoning +44 (0)20 7713 4736 between 11am and 5pm Monday to Friday excluding UK public holidays.

Email: reader@guardian.co.uk
Fax: 020 7239 9997.

Siobhain Butterworth
The Guardian
119 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3ER

Abahachi said...

That was quick... Don't bother looking at Wikipedia, my edit has disappeared already. They're watching us, I tell you...

Mnemonic said...

I've just read their entire Wiki entry and wondered what you were talking about.

Post it here, Abahachi!

Anonymous said...

I really HATE the changes they made to RR.

I don't like CiF and the other Guardian blogs because of those changes and I rarely read them or post on them anymore because I don't like the layout etc.

I will have to bite the bullet for RR though - I need my weekly fix of happy musical geekiness.

CaroleBristol

Abahachi said...

It was, I thought, an entirely factual description of RR, noting that it is one of the most popular parts of the Culture pages and that it has spawned a community off-shoot and its own jargon; however, the redesign of the webpages had led to discontent among prominet members of the RR community. Or words to that effect.

Apparently it was deleted on the grounds that it had cited a non-authoritative fan blog, i.e. the Spill. Now, I would have thought that citing the Spill as evidence for the existence of the Spill was a reasonable procedure, but what do I know, and I can't be bothered to get into a lengthy argument with the wikipedia people.

nilpferd said...

Let's wait and see how it works/doesn't work, and then tell the techies what's wrong with it. The structure does seem to be more aimed at the casual user, but don't forget we can (and have) all influenced the blog with our comments, and trolls can be reported- I've had the odd one removed recently here and there, it's quite a satisfying feeling ;-). There was a big influx of people at the change from Dorian to Maddy, and I think the blog if anything has been enriched by that. I doubt that a structural change will really have that much effect on the content long-term.

Mnemonic said...

If it doesn't improve but we all go on using it, they've won. They won't have any motivation to make any changes. I agree, go on using it for the time being but we should also go on complaining to the official person, if that's Siobham Braithwaite, every week as well. There's no point whinging this week and then accepting shit thereafter. I refuse to be distracted by a coloured avatar.

ejaydee said...

But look how shiny!

ejaydee said...

In all seriousness, I feel stuck. If it wasn't for RR, I would be gone, period.(I think that's a pleonasm)
The thing is, I know they're not going to change it, and I'm angry that they ask us our opinion as if they cared, and even angrier that I was fooled into thinking it mattered the last time there was unanimous outcry against a simple thing like a left-hand column.
Unfortunately, I can't leave RR like this, so like a cheated spouse still in love, I'll stay. I'm sure there's a better metaphor, because it's not RR that cheated on me, more its mother. Yes that's it, the mother-in-law has been horrible to me, and her behaviour's becoming worse and worse.
Maybe one day I'll tell the wife (RR), it's me or your mother (GU). I think I took this too far.

Abahachi said...

With apologies to Dr Hook:

Guardian Unlimited said
Readers Recommend's busy
The comments take ages to load
Guardian Unlimited said
Our advertisers like it
So now we'll just reap what we sowed
Guardian Unlimited said
You've a bright shiny avatar now
If you don't like it, just hit the road
And the Firefox sidebar said
Waiting for dms-system.com
For the next ten minutes...

Please, please, pointy-headed techies
I just want to post a recommendation
Even though it'll take me a while
Please, please, Guardian Unlimited
I just want to tell Maddy goodbye...

Abahachi said...

P.S. People can be reported and removed?? Toffeeboy, I'm really, really sorry about last week...

nilpferd said...

Ejay- no, no-- um, with you there.. so, what's the 'Spill, then? secret love child?
Aba- well, not removed, exactly- at least, I don't think so.. although that prat who laid into Steenbeck a couple of weeks back on the Tarantino thread hasn't been seen of since.. OMG!! THEY KILLED HIM!! I'm such a bad person..

ShivSidecar said...

Tatanka, I'm all for direct action... but (writing as a regular reader of the Reader's Editor column) Siobhain Butterworth only seems to deal with the content of the hard-copy Guardian and its associated blogs, not the format - the Message not the Medium, to mangle McLuhan. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/series/opendoor for examples...

...of course, a deluge of complaints might attract attention anyhow...

steenbeck said...

Nilpferd!! I just went back to check--I thought nobody had responded to what I said because I hesitated too long to comment, and the blog was pretty much over by the time I did. I never even read what he/she said! Thanks, though, I feel safer swimming through shark-infested guardian waters. (and I stand by my comment)

It is frustrating wading through a tangle of google ads to get to the comments, and it's frustrating to realize that for me to threaten the Guardian with losing my business would mean nothing at all--I'm too far away to buy the paper.

Surely, though, with the combined wit and general numbers of people in the RR stable we can come up with some kind of protest they'll have to pay attention to?

snadfrod said...

Boy am I delighted to get in from work and find a revolutionary spirit fermenting, I was worried it would be only me...

Like others have said already, I will be there tonight at midnight, for as long as it takes to get annoyed. Which probably won't be long. I accept, however, that we need to give it a week or two to bed in, but also I usually know when I am hating change just because I am feeling reactionary as opposed to when I am hating change because I instinctively know it is for the worse. This is, I think, for the worse sadly.

Maddy - I know it ain't your fault and I promise not to be peevish, but I fear it won't be pleasant. Especially if DsD has some cider in him...

It will be painfully slow, terribly disconnected and rather repetitive. Most of all, though, I resent the google ads. They strike me as a tacit ackowledgement by GU that Comment is no longer really Free. We are users, customers, and are to be targeted as such. They cannot be escaped and I think that that is both wrong and distasteful. I hope, like others, that I wont just feel like jacking it in, but we owe it some time to see how it plays.

Maybe, though, we could ALL just nominate Ode To Billy Joe, repeatedly and without cease? How would that suit?

ToffeeBoy said...

Something must be done - the comments in this thread are all the evidence we need that this community and the blog that spawned us all (don't worry, I won't do an ej and try to elaborate on that image) are well worth fighting for.

I think I've come down on the 'suck it and see' side of the fence but I agree wholeheartedly with all those who fear that our beautiful toy is being taken apart (Ed. - please stop it with the clumsy metaphors) when there was nothing wrong with it in the first place.

@ abahachi - I'm miming along to the Dr Hook pastiche and loving every minute - genius!

@ dsd - I love the way you switched from cricket to threats of urban terrorism in the blink of an eye.

@ all the rest of you wonderful people - what ever happens, please keep your erudite, entertaining, amusing, eye-opening, jaw-dropping, fascinating, illuminating and, above all, witty comments coming.

nilpferd said...

Steenbeck- you didn't miss anything. I forget the exact words, but suffice it to say that seldom has the "offensive? Report this comment" button been so justly wielded.. the POWER!!
(stares at claw-like hands, gets weird, faraway look in eyes, hyperventilates, laughs maniacally, etc)

ShivSidecar said...

One place to leave comments is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/insideguardian/2008/aug/19/blogsrelaunch?showallcomments=true - credit to Amber M for some responses which show signs of sympathy and empathy.

I don't know whether Maddy has been kicking and punching, but the A-Z has been resequenced as a proper list.

Tomorrow we go over the top. I don't start til mid-morning, so good luck to you bold midnighters.

.... said...

It's truly awful. Much respect to Maddy for keeping her finger on the pulse and not dissing her colleagues. That's just not done. I have little hope that we can change this. Once you change a whole platform, you can't really do an about turn. I still nurse fond hopes that maybe we can at least get the page as one long page put right. Otherwise, as Maddy knows, the Ctrl F function is no longer of any practical use. Maddy, if you can get at least one thing put right (and there you have a powerful, logistical argument) then it would surely be that. Forza and see you all tomorrow if I have got over my ire at people needlessly screwing up something which worked very nicely thank you. FP

saneshane said...

hey ya shiv
Tried to add a comment to go with yours.. but even though I'm registered and signed in it just goes to 'My Details'

It is giving a sense of impending doom..

oh well.. it would have been the two of us in Alices' Restaurant..(!)

.... said...

And Blimpy - rest assured that the Spill design is great. No overhauls needed IMHO. I like the way you change the graphic at the top from time to time, though.

Anonymous said...

Hi, Meg here, from guardian.co.uk. I've been posting explanations about some of the issues raised in this thread over on the inside guardian.co.uk blog, which is a good place to leave comments, complaints, suggestions and ideas about any of the community and interactive features on the guardian site.

In the meantime, you may be slightly interested to discover that we've already changed some aspects of the redesign - the five "recent comments" have gone from the main blog post page, and we're doing other bits of investigation and work to improve other areas.

Keep the feedback coming, though - it's very helpful. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

...you might also be happy to learn that I'm not in charge of technology there: I managed to stuff up the URL in my name in the last comment. The correct URL for the inside guardian blog is: http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/insideguardian

Sorry!

DarceysDad said...

First of all, thanks Meg. I know that I for one am bound to lose my temper, and if you're still checking in, this is my pre-emptive explanation!

My anger is mainly at the Murdochian "Sod you lot, we're getting rich. Either get steamrollered or leave" attitude that the responses up to approx 1300hrs today were displaying.

I'm further saddened - but not surprised - by the fact that Maddy's comments here have disappeared (& I only got to read the first one).

I think Snadfrod's "Ode To Billie Jo" idea has merit à la "Trotsky" on University Challenge way back when ... !

I have realised that such changes DO need to bed in, and so in the interest of cutting our virtual hosts some slack, and standing steadfast with my friends, I will try to ignore the wails (from my overworked mouse) and gnashing of teeth (mine, waiting for endless reloads), and I will briefly* join in. When it becomes too much effort to wade through the Google-ad-swamp, I'm off to bed.

*Starting work at 0645 again, so I wasn't going to be up long tonight anyway.

Multiple PSs -

@ Blimpy: I'm very sorry, my friend, but I must ask you to shelve any thoughts of a 'Spill re-jig ... straws & camels' backs, don't ya reckon?

@ Abahachi: 1. More genius lyrical twisting - respec'!
2. We're on Wiki? Must look later ...

@ May1366: your youtube comment is EXACTLY what I'm afraid of. If I see it, and it survives, cockroach-like, being stamped on by the Moderator, I'm leaving.

@ Snadfrod: Cider? Christ, I want a drink, but I can't 'cause I'm driving in under 7 hours time.

Anonymous said...

Nilpferd, the 'Spill's our raunchy mistress.

Blimpy said...

hallo, blimpy here - thought i should just clear some stuff up....

1. it wasn't me that suggested the redesign. i have repeatedly voted "no" in the poll in the sidebar.

2. i'm NOT in charge of this blog. EVERYONE IS. i have repeatedly offered all other spillers admin rights, which would mean that they can do as they please to the blog. Delectable Steenbeck has been the only person brave enough to grasp the nettle thus far.

3. If RR on the mothership ain't working, it's pretty obvious to me that we have the same facility here, in a lovely user friendly interface.

4. I've been in the pub since approx 16:57hrs today, so please discount any posts from me from this time onwards.

xxxxxxxxlove YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOxxxxxx

DarceysDad said...

Blimpy, you jammy b45t@rd! Love you too.

Tim (Kalyr) said...

Five past, and the blog hasn't appeared :(

steenbeck said...

This would be a BAD week for RR not to go up on time. Can anyone find it?

DarceysDad said...

Hmmpf!

Same old GU, obviously that horrid-looking new haircut hasn't made them any sharper at clocking in on time!

Anyone found it yet?

DarceysDad said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
snadfrod said...

Hmmm. Not yet. Give it an hour or two to take the sting out?...

Blimpy - legend. Precision timing of drinking is always to be admired. But if you want to run RR then you have to get your topic in QUICK!!!

Now about this admin thing...

Love you too, of course.

ToffeeBoy said...

Ha! Revenge! Sweet...

steenbeck said...

Blimpy, it is your blog, own it, and it's a beautiful thing, loved by many.

cauliflower said...

always late at the party...

I spent fruitless hours complaining about new blog stuff months ago, but it happened anyway. I remember pointing out that RRers wouldn't be able to Ctrl-F if there wasn't an all-on-one-page facility, but if it crashes your machine, it's no more use than a bucket.

I hate the Cluedo figures too... do they think we're all 6 years old? I wouldn't patronise a 5 year old with daft pix - and they only take up space, so I can't scan the pages easily anymore... Grr.

I wonder if I'm becoming the old fogey I always promised myself an early death to avoid?

Thanks for keeping the Spill flame alive everyone.

May1366 said...

OK, benefit of the doubt time -

I like that I can see the rest of the posts while typing a new comment; that saves some of the time wasted clicking through to "see all comments on one page".

Bold, italics etc - yep, can't complain too much about that. Fact is, I only used Bold because the layout is squinty so it's harder to make nominations stand out.

Hate the Ads but whatcha gonna do?

Really don't like the font. It's simply less readable than what we had before. But, you know, let them roll out the focus group results to disprove what the eye strains to see.

Here Comes Bod symbol next to the name can respectfully be shoved up the avatar of whoever thought that was a good idea. As cauliflower says, we are not six year olds. Moreover, this is not Facebook.

BUT I can still see everyone's comments on one page (eventually) and can Ctrl+F any possible nominations so it's not as if they paved over the centre circle and bricked up the goal.

BUT won't the discussion lose coherence because not everyone is viewing the comments in the same way - and won't the people put off by that be the target casual users, rather than the people who are committed enough to do this every week and therefore to work round or attempt to resolve major irritants?

Anonymous said...

Could have been worse. My main problem is with the page load & re-load for the comments. As the number of posts starts climbing, it's going to get worse. Can't post over there from the shoePhone anymore *sob*, having to beat the teens away from the PC. Anyone without an up-to-date computer & fast internet connection is probably screwed.

They have done a poor job of "stress" & "user" testing before rolling the beast out, but, unfortunately, that's pretty typical of a lot of IT projects.

"In short, our overarching aim is never to curtail conversation, but to create and maintain a pleasant and welcoming environment for everyone."

Falling short, rather, I think.

Anonymous said...

Loving the "post removed by author". That has become the new WTF??? It means a heartfelt, somehow alcohol fuelled outpouring of bile that you look at and think "Noooooooooo"!!

Anonymous said...

Well, I suppose it could be worse... maybe. I haven't posted on CiF since the format changed there, but I'm really reluctant to abandon RR, which is solely reponsible for keeping me halfway sane on Fridays.

I knew we were in trouble today when I saw a "comment removed by moderator" on RR for the first time ever... though I'm guessing those were the sort of complaints that have since appeared here on the Spill.

I'm happy to complain to the relevant authorities, but I'm afraid I agree with those who think nobody will take a blind bit of notice of us...

Mnemonic said...

Frankly, it has already improved since my first sighting of it. They've got rid of those last five comments and we do now go straight to all comments in chronological order.

Next request: previously, if I hit "Refresh" it would take the page to precisely where I'd left it and I could carry on reading from where I'd left off; now it seems to go straight to the end and I have to trawl back to find what I've missed in the meantime. Can this go back to the old system? We can't even search on the comment number now (which was another option before).

nilpferd said...

EJ- I was afraid you'd say that..
And in fairness to Blimpy, I started the 'Spill redesign thing.. although I didn't put the survey up on the sidebar.. and who withdrew their vote? I thought there were 2 for a redesign sometime yesterday.. COME ON!! OWN UP!!
(Inquisition style bullying begins on 'Spill; its the thin end of the wedge, people)

nilpferd said...

I should add I was only joking about the redesign.. (wipes rotten tomatos off shirt and storms off in a huff. Or a minute and a huff, to quote Groucho).

nilpferd said...

There have been comments removed on RR before I think, and there was a time JAP got into some brawls, but most of those who can't stand him have either left or just give the RR silent raspberry, as one does when something annoys..

Mnemonic said...

I switched my vote after I saw what can happen when a good thing gets redesigned.

On comments being removed, I had an incredibly abusive one removed once, though not on the music blog. On the whole, though, I prefer it when they get dealt with by other bloggers.

nilpferd said...

I had one removed once which had too much German in it.. it was all FP's fault..

Mnemonic said...

Just to clarify, I had someone else's abusive comment removed. My reply, and several other posters' replies, were removed at the same time. The original poster turned out to be a covert BNP supporter who'd already been banned from the GU site but had rejoined under another alias.

tarxien said...

I can't even find a link for the Comments. Totally lost.

treefrogdemon said...

Where did Maddy's comments go?

I agree with most people above, that it's not nearly as bad as I expected. There seem to be a lot of new people on, too.

ejaydee said...

It looks like Maddy deleted the post herself, but it should still be in the emails, if you receive them.

goneforeign said...

Am I the only one missing the numbers allocated to each post? I found them extremely handy, I'd make a note of names and numbers to go back and reference or later play youtubes.

ejaydee said...

Nope, the numbers are gone, you're going to have to write down time and date.

nilpferd said...

Good point with the numbers, I also miss not being able to "Ctl. F" user names, sometimes you know someone has posted something but can't remember when. I can Ctl. the main text body only if I "select all" beforehand. Anyone have a better method?

nilpferd said...

..although wierdly, the Ctl.F works with everything on the normal page, just not on the "view all comments" page, so perhaps they'll get that sorted shortly..

Anonymous said...

Guilty as charged, Nilpferd. Still, got to keep the Cherman end up, so to speak....

Shoegazer said...

I'm guilty too, all I would suggest is removing the quizes at the bottom of the page, that have been here longer than me, & free up some more space on the page for posts. Hate to see a good post fall off the page before we've all had a chance to beat it to death.

But given the havoc on Mothership, full agreement with DsD - Leave well alone for now.

ToffeeBoy said...

@ blimpy (or anyone else who's klevver) - how do I set it up to receive all the messages as emails?

Blimpy said...

@toffeeboy; blogger allows ten email addresses to be emailed with comments as they come in.

so, unless someone wants to relinquish their spot, i'm not sure we can do much.

unless there's a way of me forwarding all the emails that come into my overspill address from my mailbox?

ToffeeBoy said...

@ blimpy - thanks - I thought I was missing something but I'm happy to leave everything as it is.

Shoegazer said...

Would like to recommend "Until the Morning Comes" by Tindersticks on the mothership, but on the mobile I can't get past the barber shop sign that appears when it tries & fails to load recent comments. If someone could post it for me that would be cool?