Topic: Future wishlist

Sometime MUCH later, once the hubbub of the site switch has died down a bit, a few small things I've noticed so far that I'd love to see implemented:

For uploaded content on our personal home page:
1. I'd like to see the genre of new uploads listed. And if it's a novel, having the chapter number of the upload listed would be most helpful too. As it is right now, I'm not sure what kind of project I'm clicking into and when I do go look-see, it takes me to chapter one by default--not the newest content. 

2. Would like an option between viewing uploaded content as a LIST, or as COVERS. The covers are cool and it's nice to see them, but at the same time they take up so much room on the page. If it's a particularly busy upload day, I may miss content if I don't remember to use the arrow navigation. I also like being able to see new content at a glance. In the very least, you should consider scaling the cover sizes down for listings. We'll see the full size cover once we click into them anyway.

3. I know selling books is a priority, but having that connections shelving segment take up a whole third of my home screen, without the option of minimizing it to make room for things I DO want to see regularly, is troublesome. It's also a bit redundant because there is already a smaller shelf listing on the right side of the same page (View Shelved books).

General stuff

1. I'd like the log in section of the site to have a remember me, or keep me logged in option. If there is one, I missed it and did have to log in again when I closed my browser by mistake.

2. We need better connections control. Connections shouldn't automatically equate to reciprocal relationships at all times. I don't want my making a connection to automatically populate my personal home page with their content unless I choose for that to happen.

3. We should be able to utilize the messaging system for connections AND non-connections. There are people I would like to communicate with privately who may not be someone I would have a reciprocal "connection" with. And by the way, I learned that we cannot message non connections the hard way when I opened it up and typed in the name of a recipient--but because I didn't have a connection with them, it defaulted that message and sent it to the last connected person I messaged with because they had a check mark next to their name. Awkward!

4. Why are recommended Shelving of books only pertaining to books for sale? I'd like to display my recommendations for books I LOVE reading on this site that may or may not yet be for sale.

5. Email notifications need to have Reviews added as an option. As the number one priority around here, it SHOULD be one of the notification options. I was lucky enough to receive 3 reviews today and wasn't notified via personal email for any of them.

6. Speaking of email, our public profile should have a 'contact author' option. Quickees are one thing, but if they aren't connected to me they can't do as instructed and send me a private message.

That's all I have for today. I'm sure as things get ironed out, some of these issues may disappear or be tweaked--but I wanted to give you a snapshot of the areas I had the most trouble with today. Thanks, Sol!

Quote Post 1

Re: Future wishlist

Sol, I agree with Linda about scaling down the size of the covers and making a read and review list like the one we had on the old site. I used that list a lot in finding the newest works of the authors that reviewed me.
dags:)

Quote Post 2

Re: Future wishlist

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions. We'll look them over carefully. There are a few comments I have for a few of them.

3. We should be able to utilize the messaging system for connections AND non-connections. There are people I would like to communicate with privately who may not be someone I would have a reciprocal "connection" with. And by the way, I learned that we cannot message non connections the hard way when I opened it up and typed in the name of a recipient--but because I didn't have a connection with them, it defaulted that message and sent it to the last connected person I messaged with because they had a check mark next to their name. Awkward!

You can always send someone a Quickee on their profile page. You can do that with anyone regardless if you are connected or not.

4. Why are recommended Shelving of books only pertaining to books for sale? I'd like to display my recommendations for books I LOVE reading on this site that may or may not yet be for sale.

You can do this. Just click the Shelfit button on any content on the site and it will be added to your first shelf.

5. Email notifications need to have Reviews added as an option. As the number one priority around here, it SHOULD be one of the notification options. I was lucky enough to receive 3 reviews today and wasn't notified via personal email for any of them.

This is coming shortly.

6. Speaking of email, our public profile should have a 'contact author' option. Quickees are one thing, but if they aren't connected to me they can't do as instructed and send me a private message.

So, just so I understand this properly, you want anyone to be able to come onto the site and message you?

Sol, I agree with Linda about scaling down the size of the covers and making a read and review list like the one we had on the old site. I used that list a lot in finding the newest works of the authors that reviewed me.
dags:)

Have you gone to the Read tab on the top menu? This shows lists of content available to read. Is that what you are looking for?

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Re: Future wishlist

I fully agree with Linda and Dags. Also, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it would be nice if I went to my profile page and immediately saw any new reviews I had (as on the old site).

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Re: Future wishlist

I fully agree with Linda and Dags. Also, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it would be nice if I went to my profile page and immediately saw any new reviews I had (as on the old site).

Your homepage alerts you whenever you have new reviews. You can click through and it will show you the new ones. It's a change but you do receive info when you have a new review, a new Quickee, a new private message, etc. We'll also be sending email alerts shortly when you have received a new review.

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Re: Future wishlist

Sol thanks for addressing some of the points.

<So, just so I understand this properly, you want anyone to be able to come onto the site and message you?>  I want any registered writing member to have the ability to contact me, yes. Otherwise, a quickee will suffice.

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Re: Future wishlist

I agree with Linda on having the option to toggle between covers and lists.  I'm still getting use to the new format so maybe I haven't found this option yet. There was a column listing how many views a chapter received. If it's been removed, I would like it back in. It was a good gauge of the traffic. Typically I found that only 10% of the views became reviews.

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Re: Future wishlist

There was a column listing how many views a chapter received. If it's been removed, I would like it back in. It was a good gauge of the traffic. Typically I found that only 10% of the views became reviews.


On your portfolio page there is a tab called stats. This gives you visits, reviews, etc for all of your content. Note that we didn't import view stats from the old site.

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Re: Future wishlist

I haven't figured out what connections are for except letting someone send me private mail.  On that basis, I should connect with as many people as possible, in which case I'll have everyone on the site in my  connect list.
In which case, why have the connections?

Oh, I guess I could send a private message in a connection request, asking the recipient to deny the request.  But that doesn't seem like how it was meant to work.

Quote Post 9

Re: Future wishlist

Adding to my original list:

1. An easier way to keep track of reading/reviewing progress on other peoples work. The check mark thing, I thought was ingenious! Until I realized that it has no function whatsoever since it bounces around anytime you do, or when you submit a review. I know we can go look at our review list, or do what we've always done and read the last chapter you *thought* you reviewed, but having that process finally streamlined would be such a HUGE blessing and boon. It would negate the necessity of keeping a running tally on my desk, or having to spend the first 10 minutes each time I sit down to review...trying to figure out where I left off. When you're reviewing 5+ novels at a time (like most of us are), having a time saving feature like this would be a gigantic benefit.

Quote Post 10

11 Reply by njc

Re: Future wishlist

Not a wish, an attaboy! for putting the regular review panel next to a scrolling copy of the text of the work.

Quote Post 11

Re: Future wishlist

Sol, thanks for showing me where I can find author's content. I still think the pictures are too large, but I guess I'll get used to it.

dags smile

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13 Reply by njc

Re: Future wishlist

Please allow an ESC to take down an overlay, instead of requiring the user to mouse over to that tiny X.  Keying is faster than mousing for such things.  If there's something that might be lost--say text entered--then a confirmation is appropriate.  Again, being able to use an arrow key ( [No] => [Yes] ) and a quick newline would make the operation faster and easier.

Quote Post 13

14 Reply by njc

Re: Future wishlist

Not quite a bug, but I don't know what to make of it.  When I read a review, I get a list of the author's connections.  Since these are the people with whom the author can exchange private messaages, isn't some of the message privacy peeled away?

This is another display that I'm not interested in, done in pictures that take far more space than needed.  But if you need to put something there, wouldn't a list of the author's (public) groups make more sense?

I'm a fanatic on screen space.  It's the way my computer and your website communicate with me, and it's a finite resource.

Images have another cost.  If I'm running on battery in a place where I'm relying on a slow wi-fi connection, they slow the page load considerably.

Quote Post 14

15 Reply by njc (edited by njc 2014-11-15 20:17:31)

Re: Future wishlist

When someone is considering creating a group, that someone will probably want to look over all the existing groups to see if one of them might be the right place to go instead.  But the site only shows six groups per page, and there are already three pages.  The more pages this someone has to flip through, the greater the likelihood that someone's patience will run out.  And even the most diligent someone will stand a greater chance of missing a page, or missing something as pages keep flipping up.

Moreover, if a someone is trying to find the most appropriate group, that person might stumble on one first and stop looking.

Whatever advantage that groups may have is lost if people can't find the right one and end up creating duplicates.

If you look at, say, Digikey.com, Mouser.com, or Newark.com, when they put up a multipage list of parts they allow you to select a few to display together.  This would be a lot of work and I wouldn't ask for it, but the need is reduced or obviated if the someone can see everything on one page, or a few pages at most.  (Sort on most used in the last 30 days?)  These vendors don't do this for theory.  They do it get and keep customers.  (And I can ask for 250 items on one page, or everything in a single download.)

Quote Post 15

Re: Future wishlist

What njc is bringing up is one of my largest critiques of this site in a general sense--on the user side, everything is TOO BIG. Get as big and fancy as you like on the public side, but it's just wasted space that causes a ton of extra searching/clicking on the user side. Lists and/or much smaller images would be so much more convenient to navigate.

I know some of what we're asking for, or saying is a case of needing to adjust. But tons of extra clicking around, or having pages navigate you somewhere you don't want to be (reviews, messages) has nothing to do with adjustment and everything to do with extra work.

Quote Post 16

17 Reply by njc

Re: Future wishlist

What about allowing a writer to go into arrears up to, say 100 words (2% of the 5,000) on an edit only?  The balance would have to be cleared before the next post or edit.  I'm sure this would require some careful design thought, if only to find all the broken assumptions, but it would help in situations like this.

If the 'previous max' rule is still in effect, it would help to let the writer see both the word total and the previous max, both when and before editing, whether you allow arrears or not.

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18 Reply by njc

Re: Future wishlist

On a forum article, the REPORT and DELETE buttons are near the EDIT and QUOTE buttons.  On a mobile, it's easy to hit the'negative' button when you want a 'positive' button.

Would it make sense to move the REPORT and DELETE buttons to the other side of the column?

Quote Post 18

Re: Future wishlist

Future wishlist addition

Please consider upping the word limit in the IL review box. The summary box at the bottom is best for just that--summarizing the overall reading experience. But because those inline box limitations are so tight, I find myself having to use the bottom box to do all the clarifying of the inline comments--which sort of defeats the IN-LINE purpose, doesn't it?

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Re: Future wishlist

A lot of good ideas here. One of the things I detest and get really frustrated with is noodling out a new interface. I've been to places I can't seem to get back to, and I click on things not sure what will happen, or I end up someplace that baffles me. I think you will need to do this eventually anyway--that is: some sort of tutorial or help. I don't care how you do it: building it into the interface with roll-over pop-ups or a series of cataloged screen shots that have roll-over pop-ups.

It would help me immensely to see how the site is mapped by function. It would help me immensely to get definition of a lot of these features. and it's really important to use definitions that explain WHEN to use a feature, and WHY to use a feature. A good example is we now have four types of reviews. What are they used for? When do we use one type over another? Where do they show up and does it make a difference--who can access them< Public, connected writers, group members... there are so many combinations whirling around my head I can't sort everything out into some logical hierarchy.

The first thing I want to do when I come to MY PAGE is: See if my stuff has been reviewed, see if I need to respond to a review or a message, and check on the writers I am following to see if I need to review something--the rest is fluffy and just gets in my way of the stuff I need to carry out. There are features here that are quite intuitive--the menus at the top work well for me, but going two or three clicks past them can get me lost. I am still trying to find the group where someone, or perhaps it was automatic when I joined a links for "Ernie's Feedback," or something like that. amy  s. and C.Lee left messages there, I replied, but can't find my way back.  It could be erased for all I know.  I know a lot of this will go away when this beta gets more mature. I've bee on computers for a long time--Since DOS 2.1--but still there are times when I can be awfully dense-- like now I think.

All things considered, the new site is really bitchen' and I think it's a winner-- a great look, and well, the "feel" part is still coming for me.

Thanks for a great job, and I think I can find my way back here in case you feel you need to reply.

Ernie

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Re: Future wishlist

Ernie.  Top of the menu bar is 'Groups'.  Choose the option of 'My groups'.  Go to Medieval fantasy and Magic.  Your link is a dropdown menu as you scroll down under 'Ernie's thread'. 

FYI, you can go to the logo of TNBW and click there to go to your homepage. 

Come back to the fold, my young apprentice...  :-) 

A

Quote Post 21

Re: Future wishlist

A lot of good ideas here. One of the things I detest and get really frustrated with is noodling out a new interface. I've been to places I can't seem to get back to, and I click on things not sure what will happen, or I end up someplace that baffles me. I think you will need to do this eventually anyway--that is: some sort of tutorial or help. I don't care how you do it: building it into the interface with roll-over pop-ups or a series of cataloged screen shots that have roll-over pop-ups.

Check out the Help section and some of the videos we've put together. They may help.

http://www.thenextbigwriter.com/member/video-help-guide

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23 Reply by njc

Re: Future wishlist

I'm a writer and a reader.  A well-structured and well-indexed manual is far better for me than a video.  With a video I have to keep my attention glued until it comes to what I need.  Then my attention is fatigued and what I need goes by too fast.

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Re: Future wishlist

I like to stay organized so with the old site I would copy and paste my reviews in OneNote. I would categorize them by work  and reviewer for later reference. The new site makes it harder and in places prohibits this process. I love the in-line reviews but they're impractical for my old method. So a feature I'd like to see, is the ability organize the reviews we give and receive. Icons are nice for the latest but a list is more informative when you get into the hundreds.

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Re: Future wishlist

Apparently, everyone is already ahead of me.

One more suggestion: on the "Read Menu" add a link to "Site tutorials" where you keep the videos. this would help the new folks and the dense ones like me.

Ernie

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