Official: How’s the New Community Site Working for You?
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Two things that would make the forums much more useful to me:
- The ability to mark all posts read in a single click.
- The ability to see only unread posts
My standard approach to the several forums I visit is to first produce a list of all unread posts. I then scan through the list and read the posts I find useful. When I am done with this process, I then mark all posts read before closing the forum.
—Solly
Joseph F. Sollenberger, Jr.
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Yep. That's also a pain, if you're not logged in (my watch, etc). Strangely, some thread-list views have a page-chooser, and some don't. Just trying to imagine Vanilla and the customization, why the lack of consistency across the forum.
I also don't understand landing in the middle of no-where in a thread. Helicoptering in.
Just now, when I clicked on 'Quote' for your post, I landed 5 or 6 posts back. Scroll, scroll, scroll down to the input box. I'm not sure FL uses their software.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Just now, when I clicked on 'Quote' for your post, I landed 5 or 6 posts back. Scroll, scroll, scroll down to the input box. I'm not sure FL uses their software.
I cannot reproduce this myself. When I click 'Quote' I am taken to the comment box, just below the most recent response in the thread. I'll continue to investigate, @DMB.
I'll also add that you come across any thread-list views that do not have a page-chooser, I'd like to know about it! Any conversations at length will require pagination.
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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Regarding the quote-button > landing spot, you're right … sometimes ok, sometimes random. Kind of casino-like.
I mistated 'thread-list' sort of. I meant 'threads' that are lengthy (30 pages?) and a page-go'er at the bottom … not the top. First page of thread, for some reason, there's none (at the top).
But that brings up 'thread-list' … just now, I went to the second-page of 'Recent Posts' and couldn't get back to the first page (Safari back-arrow grey'd out). I assume you're hand-coding these one by one? It's not easy to describe where in the navigation, one is at, or how I got here.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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I see pagination no matter where I am in a conversation. Am I misunderstanding you, @DMB?
The following is an example …
Page one of a lengthy thread, and the page selector is at the top of the list of comments (just below the OP post itself)
Page 33 of the same lengthy thread, and the page selector is at the top of the list of comments.
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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But that brings up 'thread-list' … just now, I went to the second-page of 'Recent Posts' and couldn't get back to the first page (Safari back-arrow grey'd out). I assume you're hand-coding these one by one? It's not easy to describe where in the navigation, one is at, or how I got here.
Another great observation, @DMB. The "Next Page" button actually moves the list, and the browser does not respond. The pagination on All Recent Posts as well as the "back button" itself is only at the bottom of the list. I can look into that.
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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@Jason Stone (Logos) If I make my browser 150%, the community page fills the screen, at 100% the left and right 25% of the screen roughly is pure white space. I wish the community page would resize for the screen resolution. my screen resolution is 1920 x 1080
Logos 10 Pentecostal & Charismatic Gold | Windows 11| Several iPads | iPhone 15Max
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OK, but you're really working hard to make the app inconvenient,
- I wouldn't look for the page-chooser under the first post (which can be lengthy). Would you? I'm guessing you're trying for more white space (visual attractiveness), at a cost of easy-to-use. That sounds sarcastic; not intended.
- Regarding your above reply (thread-list, go-back), again, you're building in unusual and hard to use … I guess for the next few years. I'd think most people just hit the browser's previous page button (earlier discussed). Vs scroll-scroll-scroll to the bottom, to get the page-chooser. I'm generally somewhere in the middle.
Added: I just quoted Adam's post (result below). When I hit the 'Quote' button, it popped down below. Then it popped up to Adam's post … requiring scrolling back down to the text box.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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This would be my thought as well. I used to come to the Forums daily, got to "posts not read" and look at those that interested me and it took a few minutes. I can't get that view now, and getting all posts in the bell thing doesn't dismiss them once read, so now I come here a couple of times a week and get lost in the "recently commented" view, so it has at least cured me of my forum addiction that had lasted for about ten years. Whilst I value the easier use on mobile, I really dislike the chaotic ordering of posts without easy categorisation. For me the vital thing is to make a post disappear once I've read the latest contribution, which was so easy on the old format, but impossible on the new platform.
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Yep. As I'm typing right now, the screen is bright-white except for some text above me. I could go spelunking with the Logos forum to do a full-cave view!
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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JASON: I see the blue dot at the bell thing, so I hit its discussion. This brings me to the first typed line of the new-to-me post.
BUT, is this the right post? Now I have to mouse up 1/3'' to see the avatar; I wish to match the bell's avatar with the post's avatar to know I am in the right place. To do that, I have to mouse up.
On 6 of 7 bell-waiting discussions, the above happened.
On the 7th, the New Forums showed me the writer's avatar, so I needed no mouse move.
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@Adam Sudduth, it sounds as though you're implying that the "Quicklinks" and "New Post" button (the two items in the right sidebar) are not helpful to you while at the discussion level. Would it be more helpful and convenient to have the discussions run the full width of your browser window? If so, that's insightful!
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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I wouldn't look for the page-chooser under the first post (which can be lengthy). Would you? I'm guessing you're trying for more white space (visual attractiveness), at a cost of easy-to-use. That sounds sarcastic; not intended.
Pagination under the original post is the default setting. We’re exploring options to change it, but future thread updates might make that unnecessary.
Regarding your above reply (thread-list, go-back), again, you're building in unusual and hard to use … I guess for the next few years. I'd think most people just hit the browser's previous page button (earlier discussed). Vs scroll-scroll-scroll to the bottom, to get the page-chooser. I'm generally somewhere in the middle.
Great feedback. I agree that if a community member did desire to go back to the previous list of discussions, they would either look at the top of the list (if that's where they were) or select the back button on their browser. I will make a note about this as well.
Thank you @DMB
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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Beside that, I understand that is part of the whole "page" but in the community page, everything is centered and from the top of the page with the Logos "logo" and Community over to to the circle with my image is about 60-75% of the screen. I would like for those to be extended to the edges. there is extra white space under where the Quicklinks portion is at the top of the scrolling page. The text of the forum (comments and such) is generally just about 50% of the entire landscape of the screen.
i screenshot the page for visual effects of this reply before the picture
Logos 10 Pentecostal & Charismatic Gold | Windows 11| Several iPads | iPhone 15Max
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Well, @Adam Sudduth, I totally get how too much white space can feel overwhelming, and what you showed me is a whole different experience compared to how I use my browser (on a 32-inch monitor, my browser rarely fills the entire screen). I’ve been asking users what they mean by so much blinding white space, and it seems like you’ve just given me the perfect explanation. This might be it!
Here's my own browser experience for context:
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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Great news, @DMB — we've narrowed down that hop-and-a-skip quote issue.
It looks like this is only happening when quoting a comment that also has a quote within it. I've had no issue when quoting a "normal" comment, without a quote inside it. We're looking into getting that issue resolved! Thank you once again.
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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It is far worse than what we had.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
This describes me also. I look at a few of the recent posts and give up. My time is limited and the old format was easier to see what was new and then enabled me to mark "all read."
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Yes. I like how a competitor site does it. I can drop in, quickly see what is new, look at what I what I want, and then mark it all read so I can start fresh with the next visit.
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It just happened again … but in your message there's no quote … but a @DMB. Is that the bad boy?
BTW There's 4 DMBs (which I guess is ok, though whether someone selects the correct DMB is a guess). But now, there's little pictures, and quite obviously there's 2 of me-DMBs. I'm betting when you loaded the old software, you picked up multiple eMails for the same person (vs assigning the last used).
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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I guess everyone is different, but I'm thinking the old software's 'much better' related to efficiency:
- A glance at a list of 30 posts (or so) quickly identified what might need reading (or moving on to Bible study). The new software, depending on the device) displays maybe 4 or 5 (less on my iPhone). Other than scrolling and squinting, there's not much else one can do.
- The new forum style exacerbates the problem with lots of white space, so that squinting is a must, to see who's chatting (a recent addition and a big thank you).
- And then the handling of already read, etc. Personally I never manage that way, but many (most?) do.
Now, on the plus side, on small devices (eg iPhone and my watch), the new app is easier to scan down, given that's the ballgame.
I really doubt FL (and Jason as representative) is going to be able to get much more efficient, beyond reducing white space and scrollings, plus already-reads.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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DMB: "I guess everyone is different, but I'm thinking the old software's 'much better' related to efficiency…"
I strongly agree with that. It also just works better - I seem purely incapable of using the new quote function to do anything other than copy an entire post, which makes it very difficult to clearly indicate what part of a post you're responding to.
DMB: "Now, on the plus side, on small devices (eg iPhone and my watch), the new app is easier to scan down, given that's the ballgame."
That could be. I may be atypical, but I can't remember the last time I looked at the forums on my phone - and the idea of trying to engage with them on a watch is inconceivable to me. I sincerely hope FaithLife isn't dumbing down the forums to make them "watch friendly."
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@EastTN I agree watches are a tiny (tiny) market share. But the old forum on iphones was a periodic complaint, resolved with the new app. Giving credit.
However (!) the new app on iphones has no quick links (and no adverts about hot sales).
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Fair enough - we should give credit where it's due. But on balance, I'm still underwhelmed.
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However (!) the new app on iphones has no quick links (and no adverts about hot sales).
Sidebars (e.g., the area where widgets like quick links and advertisements live) are typically disabled or relocated to the bottom of the page for mobile instances. The latter is the case for our forums, @DMB.
It just happened again … but in your message there's no quote … but a @DMB. Is that the bad boy?
While that is inconsistent with what we are experiencing, we do have a team on this! We'll report back when we have a resolution, @DMB.
Additionally, we can resolve the multiple instances of your name if you'd like for us to. Please email community@logos.com from your preferred email.
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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Thank you for sharing, @EastTN.
I strongly agree with that. It also just works better - I seem purely incapable of using the new quote function to do anything other than copy an entire post, which makes it very difficult to clearly indicate what part of a post you're responding to.
The rich text editor feature can help community members to distinguish text as quotes, as I have done here.
That could be. I may be atypical, but I can't remember the last time I looked at the forums on my phone - and the idea of trying to engage with them on a watch is inconceivable to me. I sincerely hope FaithLife isn't dumbing down the forums to make them "watch friendly."
Logos is certainly not building our forums to be watch-friendly, but we're happy to hear that it's working for our members.
Sr. Community Manager at Logos.
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@Jason Stone (Logos) Jason, thank you for taking the time to respond - I very much appreciate that. I'm glad to hear that there's a way to selectively quote posts. Part of my frustration is that you just mentioned a feature ("rich text editor") that I wasn't aware of - and it's not for lack of looking. For me, at least, the interface simply isn't intutive. My suggestion would be that you make the functions users are likely to perform most often both obvious and easy to access. (For someone with copyediting experience, a pilcrow suggests a paragraph break, not "look here for text formatting options.")
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ETN: Now I know what the gizmo is called. I always knew it was a para break, but not its name.
JASON: Little video on how to use this would be cool. I note that an URL to the video will not, much later, take me to the video. I need to write down the pathway; I keep a notebook for these type of things. Ex: I need go to A > choose D > choose P > see the video. Then I can find the method to review.
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