Rambling conversation

Wednesday, 15 December 2004

I would like the thank H-seventy-nine and Giuli812 who took the time to offer their constructive criticism of the upgrade's interface. I wanted to respond to some of their major points in this post. (Read the post below this one if you haven't already.)

It was pointed out that, in certain respects, the new interface shares elements of Blogger's interface, as well as other community sites around the web. This is true, but it is true in the same way that different word processors, image editors, forum sites and portals resemble each other. Certain standards emerge when they work well, spread across the net and are more widely adopted. It is in this spirit that we decided to adopt a tab-based navigation, for instance, which may be found on many sites and has proven to be an easy-to-use navigation device.

H-seventy-nine, you'll be happy to know that the editor is currently being redesigned, will be (finally) available not only in IE on Windows, but also on Mozilla and Firefox on all major operating systems. You can directly add tables in this editor.

We have already implemented the Recent Comments menu because you cannot see comments from the main post page without clicking through. Recent Posts seems a little redundant, since you can read the recent posts directly on the page.

Now, Giuli812... :-) First of all, I am the one who designed the look and feel of the "original" mo'time, so (1) I am very fond of it and (2) I will miss it, too. I had a big hand in this redesign, too, but the CSS (the code that controls the fonts and graphics) was developed for our sister site in Italian, from which the 'blueness' derives, and was rather time-consuming to develop. Since it is, by most opinions, a nice-looking layout, we decided to launch mo'time3 with this look and feel rather than delay it just to "mo'time-it" a bit more. I did love the white blue and orange quite a bit...so who knows?

Having said that, however, the beauty of using CSS to design is that I can morph the elements as we go along to increase the mo'timiness of the site as we go along. This is a living project. Change is part of the deal. I would like to play a bit with the color scheme some more, but the priorities I have for now are to write the new manual and explain the features better.

The feeling of being alone that you mentioned is more of a concern for me and I agree with you. Paradoxically, there are now MANY new features to allow you to see who is actually online, to view other blogs, to contact other members and to create and read profiles. And there will be more developments in this direction.

I think we will be able to adjust the layout of the updated list and tweak things here and there to get back that "live" feeling from the home page. In the meanwhile, I would encourage you to explore (or bookmark) the "Members Logged-in" link on the right-side menu of the Control Center and tried and true recently updated menu.

On the subject of the Contol Center, take the time to get used to it, and you will find that it makes more sense than the divided controls we had before: the right side menu of the home page and the blog editor with no access to the home page controls.

I guess I'll stop here...I think I've covered most of your points. I enjoy having this dialog with you because it reminds me of how personal our relationships with mo'time are. That's what I love about this place and members like all of you. So, thanks from me (and the crew) to you.

posted by: howard at 00:12 | link | comments (17) |

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Comments:

#1 15 December 2004 - 00:45

i guess you'll have to add the counter to your list. it's not counting anymore on many sites.

jenius

#2 15 December 2004 - 00:52

yep. the counter problem is one we're aware of and working on.

howard

#3 15 December 2004 - 07:37

i checked out some new templates and found the recent comments section already. I am liking it. :) Thanks and am looking forward too with the new editor.

Some other notes Howard, hope you dont mind. I notice that the link in recent comment to the commenter does not actually point to the comment itself (at least in my template) though I notice that templates like the one used here works fine. So I was wondering how can this issue be solved? Should the link point to the commenter's blog instead?

PS. Howard, just so you know, you're the type of janitor people would like to have. Very accomodating. :)

H-seventy-nine

#4 15 December 2004 - 08:06

The reason that the recent comments links don't work on your blog is that you need to also implement the same-page commenting style, and you're still using the pop-up comment box. Doing so, however, requires changing all the comment tags (as in the new templates) and paying attention to the CSS styles to format them with the font colors, backgrounds and sizes that fit with your template... a nice mini-project for all your spare time! I think the link should point to the comment of that person because that is why you are there in the first place -- to read a comment by a person you are interested in .... then, once in the comments you see the little house icon and click through to the person's blog, no?

howard

#5 15 December 2004 - 08:39

thanks, Howard. :)

Giuli812

#6 15 December 2004 - 13:41

yeah, you have a point in there howard. ok will get that nice little project started.

Anonymous

#7 15 December 2004 - 16:53

I like the upgrade very much! Some good features added and still easy to navigate.

Jackal

#8 16 December 2004 - 10:00

this is like having a house renovated!

crysalis

#9 16 December 2004 - 19:57

when can we expect some new templates with the new interfaces?

PD Sorry for my english, I´m from Spain

jmora

#10 16 December 2004 - 21:44

your english is great! anyway, the new templates are available right now...

go to your blog editor, click on the 'Template' tab, click 'New' and choose any template you see. They have the new features built-in.

I see that you have customized your main template, so you should experiment with the new templates in a test blog to play around with it until you get it right. have fun.

howard

#11 18 December 2004 - 03:37

I always forgot to suggest this feature til I read his blog. Pls consider Save A Draft in the future. :)

H-seventy-nine

#12 18 December 2004 - 05:49

Don't know if this is something you'll consider, but I like it how "latest" comments are listed on the very top of the same page where the post and comments are shown. Maybe, that should be an optional feature similar to how motime users have the option to list "newest/recent stories" on top or bottom... thanks and I have been playing around with my blog and it's looking pretty good so far. =P

jenius

#13 18 December 2004 - 06:02

H79, yes, save as draft is on the list, but since it requires extra disc-storage space, we're figuring out the best way to implement it and whether it can be part of the always-free service. One of these days we'll add a premium service and for a small charge you will get some disc space for photos and drafts as well as news feeds and other more advanced features...

jenius, I see what you're saying... I'll think about that. I wonder how many people would want the recent comments in reverse order and for what reason. One thing we are trying not to do is to get into "feature overload". As it is, the Control Center is filling up with options and can be confusing, especially to the "average" motimer (if such an animal exists!).

howard

#14 19 December 2004 - 00:58

I like the new site, although I will miss the old one. Although, I am a little bummed out that I was so close to having 10,000 visitors and now i'm starting over!! lol

ugapeach04

#15 19 December 2004 - 21:25

Same here, same here. On the counter issue, we are almost positive that your numbers will be coming back!

howard

#16 22 December 2004 - 11:02

hello from Spain again
when will we be able to use firefox to post in motime?
will you launch more templates in the future?
what about the rss, will we have to pay for it? I´ve tried to use blogstreet to syndicete, but it doesn´t seems to work
I know that there are to much questions and that my english is not as well as i´d like. Sorry and thanks

jmora

#17 22 December 2004 - 14:58

ola.

Yes, we will release a Mozilla/Firefox compatible post editor soon... A mini-version will also work in the comments!!!

Yes, we will launch more templates, AND all users are invited to design their own and contribute them to the library. Hello out there designers...

Yes, there will be RSS and ATOM feeds and, yes, those you will have to pay for. Although I cannot tell you the exact price, it will not be that much, and will probably include other cool stuff like photo posting and mobile blogging.

You never need to apologize for asking questions!

;-)

howard

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