ResetEra Tech Thread (Report Bugs Here)

[Capricorn]

Yup, I think the most logical place (on desktop at least) would be before the author/last reply text.

After putting on my designer hat and thinking on it some more, I think the big issue is that with the exception of avatars, the main thread listing is almost entirely text based while the background color/inverted text of the design makes it look like a button that stands out completely from the rest of the design. Quick hack to show what I mean:

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This is absolute perfection.

I understand why tags may be a good idea, but the current way to display them is far from ideal. I find tags to be more of a power user feature, that won't be necessarily used for the majority of the userbase every day, so while I'm not against them I think they should be as subtle as possible, and definitely not be in front of every thread that has one of them.

 

[Kapryov]

Is this where we go to complain about tags?

If they're here to stay, then please redesign them. They look bad on desktop too. Tone down the colour, give them their own column or shift them too the right.
Also consider letting people hide them, like with avatars.

 

[Gush]

yeah the tags look awful, especially on mobile. cool idea, but it could use some work to be less obnoxious

But also want to talk about the scrolling issue. While the site loads its IMPOSSIBLE to click anything on Android as the scroll position changes while loading, you never click what you want.

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this too

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Having a thread go on for a day without any official communication, only to have mods step in and say nothing more than "you're all done talking about this" is pretty damn shitty.

 

[Deleted member 925]

The tags are terrible. Everyone in the few Era Discords I'm in hate them.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

I did a quick and dirty edit, what do people think of this?

I got rid of the useless user avatar column and moved the tags there. It looks pretty perfect and even tidier to me than before without those multicolored avatars. Would work the same on mobile too.

 

[Sax]

lol @ locking threads bringing this up in Etc. Only positive feedback allowed in our visible spaces please! As has always been the case ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

btw they're still awful.

 

[Naga]

I did a quick and dirty edit, what do people think of this?

I got rid of the useless user avatar column and moved the tags there. It looks pretty perfect and even tidier to me than before without those multicolored avatars. Would work the same on mobile too.

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Doesn't change the fact it would still appear first on mobile, which is the major issue on this platform.

 

[Disclaimer]

Reminder that people can block the tags (at least on desktop) by manually adding this filter to your AdBlock:

www.resetera.com##.js-trendingThreadItem.structItem--thread.structItem > .structItem-cell--main.structItem-cell > .structItem-title > .labelLink

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Doesn't change the fact it would still appear first on mobile, which is the major issue on this platform.

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Right, but this design change would work the same on mobile. The avatar column is the first thing you see there. You place the tags there instead of avatars and none of the readability is inturrupted like it is now as well as less cluttered looking, which is most people's issue with the feature, no?

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

lol @ locking threads bringing this up in Etc. Only positive feedback allowed in our visible spaces please! As has always been the case ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

btw they're still awful.

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I think they locked them because the staff pretty much gets the picture when it comes to feedback and are working on changes, ie the thread has run its course. What else would dogpiling the same complaints over and over accomplish?

 

[giant_frying_pan]

I think they locked them because the staff pretty much gets the picture when it comes to feedback and are working on changes, ie the thread has run its course. What else would dogpiling the same complaints over and over accomplish?

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'The thread has run its course' is a longstanding ERA euphemism.

If it meant that feedback has been received and acknowledged with changes forthcoming, then why not say so?

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

If it meant that feedback has been received and acknowledged with changes forthcoming, then why not say so?

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I can agree with this, but I got the impression from B-Dub's posts that it's obviously implied that they have been listening and are working on it. But for sure a threadmark or pinned post would be ideal.

 

[Dan L]

Locking the thread was a really Shitty move with no actual comment. These tags are horrible. Yes I could edit the CSS with a third party tool to remove them but would really prefer for an option on the site itself.

They hurt readability. They are not aligned vertically with the text. They change justification on the titles due to varying size and not every thread having them.

They just look bad and solve no problem, and only hurt the UX

 

[Oldmario]

has anyone else noticed that the ignore feature seems to have broken sometime in the last 2 weeks? i'm 7 away from the limit yet it says i have hit the limit, i've scanned the list for banned/deleted users and there's none of them so i have no idea what's happening unless mods/admins nuked someone from oblivion and it hid them in the list

 

[Orb]

I'm pretty baffled at how this is being handled. Discussion about this new, unannounced feature that not a lot of people seem to like, or at least don't like the implementation of, is shoved into a "tech thread" in the announcements forum that almost no one visits.

From a technical perspective I agree that people should have the ability to turn tags off. They are unsightly and often redundant. In their current form with so few of them, they're really not that useful. If we don't get the ability to turn them off, I think the visual implementation needs to be revisited. I've seen a lot of examples people whipped up in a few minutes that are better than what is in place now.

 

[Damien1990]

Yup, I think the most logical place (on desktop at least) would be before the author/last reply text.

After putting on my designer hat and thinking on it some more, I think the big issue is that with the exception of avatars, the main thread listing is almost entirely text based while the background color/inverted text of the design makes it look like a button that stands out completely from the rest of the design. Quick hack to show what I mean:

Click to shrink...

That looks better. Another site I use has them in the form of Material Design Icons in place of where avatars are but that site doesn't use avatars so isn't a big deal.

 

[CitizenVectron]

I am also here to say that tags need to be optional. For now I am simply blocking them using uBlock:

www.resetera.com##.js-trendingThreadItem.structItem--thread.structItem > .structItem-cell--main.structItem-cell > .structItem-title > .labelLink

 

[Noodle]

Mod Team Please Communicate! Re: Tags

You just changed the look and feel of ResetEra without any announcement. Of course people want to talk about it and give feedback. Why do you close those threads? Why can't we turn off the tags?

www.resetera.com

Jesus Christ, you could at least add a message about how the process is still ongoing and that you'll respond when you're ready rather than blanking people. Which outcome do you think is going to result in less threads like that?

 

[Fanto]

I came to the announcements section after seeing all the other threads get locked with no explanations, because I figured surely they must have finally put together an official announcement thread that introduced the feature and explained to everyone how it functions and how to use it on the forum.

Turns out that we're actually talking about it in a thread about a site update from over a year ago?

This has been a pretty embarrassing showing for the staff here tbh. I would say that it only reflects poorly on those involved with the decision to make this change and not alert the community about it, but considering there is absolutely no transparency on that front from the viewpoint of a normal member of the forum, it just reflects poorly on the whole team.

The entire rollout of this feature has made you look unprepared and incompetent in my opinion. Just a mess.

In the future, if you plan to update the site with something that changes the way it looks and gives users more functionality, you should create a thread in this section of the forum that explains how to use the feature, with some screenshots, and some gifs. Make the case for why you added it if you aren't going to discuss it with the community at all beforehand. And finally, make one of those banners at the top of the site that directs people to come to that thread to read about, discuss, and give feedback on the new feature.

These all seem like obvious no-brainer ideas to me, so I am honestly baffled as to why none of this happened.

 

[Fuzzy]

Mod Team Please Communicate! Re: Tags

You just changed the look and feel of ResetEra without any announcement. Of course people want to talk about it and give feedback. Why do you close those threads? Why can't we turn off the tags?

www.resetera.com

Jesus Christ, you could at least add a message about how the process is still ongoing and that you'll respond when you're ready rather than blanking people. Which outcome do you think is going to result in less threads like that?

Click to shrink...

It's the way this board has always worked and then they'll apologize and promise to be more open in the future and then do the same thing again.

EDIT: Just look at this thread as an example, bugs and problems were posted for over a month and were ignore until I tagged an Admin and then a bunch was solved right away. The thread then went back to being ignored.

But hey, at least the OP of the NBA thread doesn't repeat at the top of every page anymore.

 

[totofogo]

I think they locked them because the staff pretty much gets the picture when it comes to feedback and are working on changes, ie the thread has run its course. What else would dogpiling the same complaints over and over accomplish?

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There are users logging on today for the first time since tags were released who will have no idea what's going on unless they dig into this thread. Also, a thread like that would be a perfect place for users to keep an eye on for updates from the Mods.

It's truly baffling how this is being handled. Even if the feature was well-received by the community... where's the announcement? The explanations of how to use it? The background on why they made this change? I'm just going to hope that the silence is due to mods convening and trying to come forward with one unified message.

EDIT: this is even how "ignore" was handled mere months ago... why the change when this is a much larger impact feature?

New Feature: Ignore Threads from the Thread List

You asked for it and the wizards in the depths of the ResetEra technical department have finally delivered: you can now ignore a thread without going into that thread! If you'd like to unignore a thread, it's as simple as going into your settings, the "ignoring" tab on the side of the page...

www.resetera.com

 

[ClearMetal]

It's the way this board has always worked and then they'll apologize and promise to be more open in the future and then do the same thing again.

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Yup. Same shit every time. "We promise to do better (no we won't)."

 

[Aaron D.]

+1 for an option to turn these tags off

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Same.

I certainly appreciate that staff continually work to update site features, but on rare occasions customization of those new features is a legitimate request.

 

[Saturday]

I'm more or less ambivalent about the actual result, but whoof I'm surprised the issue with tags are being compounded as they are because people are using it as a springboard to equate the issue around tags to the point of "ERA never listens" which isn't a nuanced topic at times

But people have a point when they're doing that so

 

[Imran]

I get the feeling that if the "announcement" thread was entirely people falling over themselves praising the feature, it would not have had to run its course.

 

[Pedro]

They had more than enough time to make a post about the feature, explaining how it works and giving examples, but it's easier to not say anything and assume people will like the change, and lock any discussion that criticizes it.

The staff changed and changes, but something that's always been consistent is how inept they are at communicating their decisions to the users, and promising to do better next time (only to not do it).

 

[kiguel182]

Is this where the tag feedback is given?

They are an eyesore and make the website harder to read. They should at least be optional.

Also, doing this without any form of communication is really shitty and closing threads about it sucks.

 

[Unknown Unknown]

Tags look terrible, like vomit from the accursed.
The way this was handled makes it seem like those involved with this change don't like criticism of this new 'feature'.

 

[totofogo]

Another one bites the dust. This time it was in Gaming though, so I understand. Still no lock message however.

Why was this thread locked without even a mod response?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mod-team-please-communicate-re-tags.259341/ This one. I feel like mod communication needs to improve, not just shutting down any criticism. Being open and transparent helps create a better community, which I feel was more present at the beginning of ResetEra...

www.resetera.com

 

[1upmuffin]

Another one bites the dust. This time it was in Gaming though, so I understand. Still no lock message however.

Why was this thread locked without even a mod response?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mod-team-please-communicate-re-tags.259341/ This one. I feel like mod communication needs to improve, not just shutting down any criticism. Being open and transparent helps create a better community, which I feel was more present at the beginning of ResetEra...

www.resetera.com

Click to shrink...

Yup, a thread about another thread not receiving a mod response, receives no mod response.

 

[Weebos]

Can the title of this thread be updated to remove the date?

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

I think tags are a great idea that make a forum like this easier to navigate. There are so many threads that some sort of organization makes things better. It's also the kind of website change that most people will hate because it's different and within a few months be so used to they forgot it was ever different before.

That said, mods are handling criticism terribly. People clearly want to talk about this, so locking every thread about it without providing one specifically for it is a really tacky move. It seems like a lot of people here have issues with mod communication over site changes, thread locks, and bans. They don't HAVE to talk to people about these things, but they would be much better mods and have a much better reputation if they did. Even if they didn't ever change their decisions, communication is more or less required for a positive dynamic.

Though as someone who was part of multiple different website's staff back when forums were actually a thing, and who hangs out on reddit sometimes these days, I've definitely seen my fair share of moderators whose ""power"" has gone to their head. Hopefully that doesn't happen here.

 

[Tambini]

Didn't we have a drama like this when they changed the hangout forums without asking the forum then had to go back on it when everyone hated it

 

[Deleted member 23212]

Didn't we have a drama like this when they changed the hangout forums without asking the forum then had to go back on it when everyone hated it

Click to shrink...

Wow, I actually forgot about that!

 

[Fuzzy]

I think tags are a great idea that make a forum like this easier to navigate. There are so many threads that some sort of organization makes things better. It's also the kind of website change that most people will hate because it's different and within a few months be so used to they forgot it was ever different before.

That said, mods are handling criticism terribly. People clearly want to talk about this, so locking every thread about it without providing one specifically for it is a really tacky move. It seems like a lot of people here have issues with mod communication over site changes, thread locks, and bans. They don't HAVE to talk to people about these things, but they would be much better mods and have a much better reputation if they did. Even if they didn't ever change their decisions, communication is more or less required for a positive dynamic.

Though as someone who was part of multiple different website's staff back when forums were actually a thing, and who hangs out on reddit sometimes these days, I've definitely seen my fair share of moderators whose ""power"" has gone to their head. Hopefully that doesn't happen here.

Click to shrink...

As a feature to let people sort threads: A
As an implementation in how it looks: C
As communication to the site for the feature and responding to feedback: F

 

[criteriondog]

I think tags are a great idea that make a forum like this easier to navigate. There are so many threads that some sort of organization makes things better. It's also the kind of website change that most people will hate because it's different and within a few months be so used to they forgot it was ever different before.

That said, mods are handling criticism terribly. People clearly want to talk about this, so locking every thread about it without providing one specifically for it is a really tacky move. It seems like a lot of people here have issues with mod communication over site changes, thread locks, and bans. They don't HAVE to talk to people about these things, but they would be much better mods and have a much better reputation if they did. Even if they didn't ever change their decisions, communication is more or less required for a positive dynamic.

Though as someone who was part of multiple different website's staff back when forums were actually a thing, and who hangs out on reddit sometimes these days, I've definitely seen my fair share of moderators whose ""power"" has gone to their head. Hopefully that doesn't happen here.

Click to shrink...

This. Thank you. Recently it just seems like the whole transparency (that I recall Era used as one it's starting points) has over time began to vanish more and more. Being able to openly discuss new features and give fair criticism would be nice.

As for the second bold, I recall that actually happened on the old place, and they even admitted to it?

 

[Komo]

Cerium Hecht

Can you guys comment on this? What why and which mods are locking threads without responses since I assumed transparency was the reason for this sites creation. Especially for a site changing features why are updates being pushed without telling anyone?

What else was changed in this update? Leaving the community out in the cold like this multiple times is how you lose trust very quickly. Especially when you silence people trying to talk about it.

Just make a https://www.resetera.com/changelog/ a real change log and post every update there please?

This. Thank you. Recently it just seems like the whole transparency (that I recall Era used as one it's starting points) has over time began to vanish more and more. Being able to openly discuss new features and give fair criticism would be nice.

As for the second bold, I recall that actually happened on the old place, and they even admitted to it?

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I mean it wasn't there to begin with.

 

[totofogo]

Didn't we have a drama like this when they changed the hangout forums without asking the forum then had to go back on it when everyone hated it

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I forgot about that! What was done exactly, making hangouts a sub-forum of the main forums?

 

[Arex]

just coming here to report a bug. The tags, I can't remove them.

 

[Deleted member 18407]

I don't mind the idea of the tags but they really have that "Graphic design is my passion" feeling to their implementation. They're just awful to look at and cause the whole thread list to be cluttered and harder to read. I wish I could turn them off until they're changed to something more reasonable.

 

[Deleted member 18021]

As someone that's done the forum thing for too much of her life, remember that talking to people is generally a good thing, and will go a long way towards mitigating some of the backlash in situations like this. Obviously, you can't please everyone when implementing changes like this, but it really wasn't a good idea to implement something like this without at least having an official thread explaining it and yourselves ready to go before going live. hijacking a response thread doesn't count for this, no

Something along the lines of "Hey, we want to try this new feature, so we're going to be trialing it for <timespan>. Our reasoning and vision for it is... After the trial period is over, we'll evaluate if it's a good fit for this community, but we're willing to listen to specific feedback regarding the implementation in this thread until then" would have been a good start. Honestly, I imagine most of the community would be amenable to the idea of a tag system, but the way it was sold, combined with the poor execution at launch, probably ended up poisoning the well for many.

Ideally, I probably would have run it by the community well before hitting the button as well, if only to get more of an idea of the tags and style of UX the community would want ahead of time.

 

[Camjo-Z]

OK so let me get this straight:

- A polarizing new feature got suddenly added with no feedback from the community
- Said feature was not announced beforehand nor is there a way to disable it without scripts
- The only thread to discuss it in was confusingly titled "the f is this" even though mods could have easily changed the title at any time
- The thread was then locked because "it ran its course" despite getting no definitive staff communication on how the issue would be handled
- Any threads questioning this decision were instantly locked and people now have to use another random improperly marked thread to talk about it

Does the staff really not see how ridiculous this whole thing looks? Just give people a simple definitive statement on the matter in a clearly marked thread and let them discuss it.

 

[Disclaimer]

OK so let me get this straight:

- A polarizing new feature got suddenly added with no feedback from the community
- Said feature was not announced beforehand nor is there a way to disable it without scripts
- The only thread to discuss it in was confusingly titled "the f is this" even though mods could have easily changed the title at any time
- The thread was then locked because "it ran its course" despite getting no definitive staff communication on how the issue would be handled
- Any threads questioning this decision were instantly locked and people now have to use another random improperly marked thread to talk about it

Does the staff really not see how ridiculous this whole thing looks? Just give people a simple definitive statement on the matter in a clearly marked thread and let them discuss it.

Click to shrink...

Par for the course for them, sadly. Always promise change and transparency, never deliver any of it. It's seriously baffling that after as many boiling overs as we've had here with regard to staff conduct and communication, nothing has gotten substantially better, and the same mistakes are still being made.

I understand y'all are volunteers with real jobs and families, but your errors in communication and policy are utterly unforced, and as a non-staff member, one gets the impression that dialogue about it isn't acceptable -- from the rampant lockings, to the zero communication, tothe bannings for polite questioning of certain moderation calls unless/until it becomes an unignorable riot.

With regard to tags specifically, from a basic procedure standpoint:

• Why did they need to be implemented now, rather than when a solution had been devised to render them optional -- thus getting ahead of any potential negative feedback?
• Why was a thread not created announcing and explaining the feature, and communicating openness to feedback?
• Why was the immediate thread polling users' feedback about the tags locked with a flippant "seriously?" by an admin?
  • If it was locked because the poll was expected to be overwhelmingly negative -- then that begs the question, again, of why this was pushed out so hastily and haphazardly, with no options.
  • If it was locked because we didn't need to have multiple threads on the subject, well, this isn't a consistent stance. There was a similar poll about themes back when they were implemented.
• Why was feedback relegated to a thread titled "The f is this?", rather than anything remotely official? Why was that thread's title not changed to something official if it was the relegated discussion point?
• In a staff as large as yours, why is the default response to controversy always utter radio silence, all the while y'all are posting elsewhere -- obviously having been ordered not to discuss anything publicly.

This is not transparency, nor how a forum ostensibly run by and for its diverse userbase should be run. "Ostensibly" because, sorry, but one gets the clear and consistent impression that the staff reside in a closed door ivory tower, and they aren't beholden to their own rules.

 

[dimelo]

Someone in the original thread predicted that they would begin to lock all threads discussing the tags and here we are lmao

Do better mods this shit is embarrassing.

 

[Ashdroid]

But also want to talk about the scrolling issue. While the site loads its IMPOSSIBLE to click anything on Android as the scroll position changes while loading, you never click what you want.

Click to shrink...

Same on desktop. Everything shifts down a couple times as the ads load in, and I misclick every single time. I'd love if there was a fixed space for ads so everything wouldn't shift.

 

[Imran]

In a staff as large as yours, why is the default response to controversy always utter radio silence, all the while y'all are posting elsewhere -- obviously having been ordered not to discuss anything publicly.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I think one of the major problems here is the overwhelming feeling of being treated like children for disagreeing with a mod staff that knows better.

From a community management perspective, let me tell you, once a staff starts drinking in that perspective, it doesn't reverse easily.

 

[alr1ght]

OK so let me get this straight:

- A polarizing new feature got suddenly added with no feedback from the community
- Said feature was not announced beforehand nor is there a way to disable it without scripts
- The only thread to discuss it in was confusingly titled "the f is this" even though mods could have easily changed the title at any time
- The thread was then locked because "it ran its course" despite getting no definitive staff communication on how the issue would be handled
- Any threads questioning this decision were instantly locked and people now have to use another random improperly marked thread to talk about it

Does the staff really not see how ridiculous this whole thing looks? Just give people a simple definitive statement on the matter in a clearly marked thread and let them discuss it.

Click to shrink...

This has happened many times before. Any type of transparency is non-existent. Seeing them act this way with how this forum started in the first place is ridiculous.

 

[Maolfunction]

Treating a forum where you're fostering a community like it's a github project where you roll out new features regularly without considering feedback from the community is a poor way to run a successful forum that people like coming to.

There needs to be constant two way communication otherwise relatively minor things like tags become huge issues.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

There needs to be constant two way communication otherwise relatively minor things like tags become huge issues.

Click to shrink...

This is what is blowing my mind. This is really not a big deal. But, locking threads because you don't like people complaining about it, while also communicating nothing, makes it into a bigger deal. Like, how the fuck ya'll handling such a minor thing so badly!?