Note on Lesson Comments
John
April 15, 2010 at 07:28 AM posted in General DiscussionDear ChinesePod Users:
The final step of the dashboard/groups switchover is to optimize the database queries. Displaying the latest lesson comments is an intensive operation, so we have delayed the display of the newest lesson comments on the Community page and the dashboard page. For the time being, you will see new user posts, but not new lessons comments on these two pages (even though they are there, and you can post new ones).
Thank you for your patience as we restore full functionality; we are doing this as a precaution to minimize downtime and reduce risk of our server crashing.
Thanks!
John
April 17, 2010 at 04:43 AM
Hmmm, that's an interesting idea, and a nice compromise. I'll have to talk to the team about when we're back in the office on Monday.
go_manly
April 16, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Actually, could this be a possible solution to the threading problem :
In any thread, there are usually only a couple of subthreads active at one time. How about, on the conversations page, for each main thread, we have an entry for:
1. The most recent main (white) entry. (ie. the entry at the bottom of the page), or the most recent comment in reply to that thread.
2. The most recent entry in reply to each other subthread (but only if the subthread HAS replies).
That is, there could be more than one entry on the Conversations page for each main thread. But, as these entries would still be chronological, old subthreads would still disappear into oblivion as they do now, while current subthreads would stay near the top.
bababardwan
April 16, 2010 at 11:38 AM
Just a meaningless observation I thought I'd make [sorry if it's already been noted].On the conversations page it shows this thread has 38 comments [it'll obviously be 39 comments after I post this].But the top of the thread shows 13 [obviously 14 after I post this].Clearly the 13[ 14] refers to the number of posts in this thread without counting any in the subthreads.I s'pose that's a good thing [to have both counts] ,esp for someone like paul who wants to know more if there's a new post in a thread and not a new subthread post.
bababardwan
April 16, 2010 at 12:33 PM
well it went from 13 to 14 as predicted.But sorry,I get your point now. No ,I haven't checked the other threads, and you are right,it might have made similar count errors on them. My only interest at the moment with the comment count is ,if one is on the community page,a rise in the count of comments is one of the main indicators of a new comment. Beyond that I personally don't care.As that count is different [its counting all the subthreads] and I haven't spotted an error there,it seems to be working to that end. But yeah, I'm sure CPod will iron out those little bugs in the end and feedback is necessary to point them out.
go_manly
April 16, 2010 at 12:26 PM
I'm wondering if that might be a fluke. Have you checked the count on other threads? Anyway, whatever is happening, its something else for CPod to fix.
bababardwan
April 16, 2010 at 12:22 PM
go_manly,
sorry for missing the point.
it is not just counting the number of threads
...sorry mate, I'm not sure what you're getting at. If it's not just counting the number of threads then what is it doing? I would have thought the zero count in the thread you refer to is just an error of some kind ,and that in the thread I refer to it got it right.
go_manly
April 16, 2010 at 12:05 PM
baba, that wasn't the point of my post! The zero count suggests that it is not just counting the number of threads.
bababardwan
April 16, 2010 at 12:01 PM
sorry mate, I missed that one.Not trying to steal your thunder [and particularly not in the counting department...you can retain your "Count" crown ]
go_manly
April 16, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Actually, I noted earlier that the thread where I couldn't find my own comment (mark's thread about characters, which is quite large), showed a comment count of zero.
light487
April 15, 2010 at 11:55 PM
My biggest complaint about the new look is the conversations section. Those icons need to be fixed pronto as it is a visual clue on which conversations I am interested in. Also, I can't seem to find conversations I know I have been involved in, which have received updates from other users. I can only access them easily by going to the lesson or group directly..
chanelle77
April 15, 2010 at 10:34 PM
fyi: I tried the "show oldest" and "show newest" buttons and the display order of lessons stays the same (newest below, oldest on top). Is this the way to show the newest lesson on top or am I missing something?
Still have to get used a little to the new dashboard but I like the compact view so far! And nice to have lessons and comments in one place, saves a window / click.
Sorry for the double post, but posted this in the wrong group :-)
xiao_liang
April 15, 2010 at 09:38 PM
I guess I'll just post new bugs I find here as I find them :-) As well as the tuition groups not being private any more (as noted in the hate... thread), the lesson order on the dashboard is messed up. The "show newest" function doesn't actually show the newest lessons at all, just what appears to be a random selection from the most recent.
xiao_liang
April 15, 2010 at 06:12 PM
Hmn. All tucked up in bed :-) I guess we're stuck with it broken overnight. Hopefully it's just temporary data loss, not permanent.
go_manly
April 15, 2010 at 02:58 PM
Why do the lessons on the Home Page only show ONE Lesson MP3 download icon?
Also, is there any way NOT to show these lessons. I use the Lesson page to look at lessons, and I'd like to have only conversations on the home page.
bababardwan
April 16, 2010 at 02:35 AM
..looks like it's the CD quality download [and not the radio quality download].Maybe they thought it would be too cluttered to have everything.You can still click on the lesson on the home page to be taken to the lesson where the radio quality lesson is downloadable in the usual fashion.Given that we couldn't download anything from the home page before it's still an improvement [though I usually only download radio quality myself...perhaps I should download CD quality for those higher level transcripts for the sections where they're speaking rapidly and just can't quite catch everything.Not too optimistic it'll make a difference though...I think I just have to train my ears better]
I think you can not show the lesson by unsubscribing to every level.Don't know of any other way.
go_manly
April 15, 2010 at 02:07 PM
Falling asleep at the keyboard. Have you just been watching Flash Forward too?
bababardwan
April 15, 2010 at 02:41 PM
oh,hang on.I thought it rang a bell...I know the one you're talking about now.I did see part of the premiere which seemed ok,but never got to watch any more and that seems like a few months ago now.Sounds like I haven't missed a "must see"
go_manly
April 15, 2010 at 02:22 PM
Not really. The whole world fell asleep for about 2 minutes, causing car crashes and the like. I don't think I'll be watching the next installment.
bababardwan
April 15, 2010 at 02:12 PM
no mate....I was only watching big bang theory before.Never seen Flash Forward...is it good?
go_manly
April 15, 2010 at 11:08 AM
A suggestion:
Create a new group called Language Exchange.
Display it prominently on the home page in 汉字.
Then, of course, we will all leave that group switched off.
go_manly
April 15, 2010 at 10:10 AM
John
Just found one issue. I've just gone into the thread by 'mark', called 'Character Points Reprised'. He made a comment there a day or two ago, and I replied to it yesterday. But when I clicked on the thread, neither comment was anywhere to be seen. The last comment on the page was on March 17.
Clearly our new comments are on page 2, but there is no longer a page selector visible.
Further, the number of comments in the thread is shown to be zero.
zhenlijiang
April 16, 2010 at 11:01 AM
Baba has told me how to re-activate this post myself with all the comments intact. Thanks again Baba!
zhenlijiang
April 15, 2010 at 03:42 PM
Please also help recover this post of mine as soon as possible. It was not in any group, just a General Discussion post titled "You're a 10 yr old Chinese boy. What do you like?" made 4 days ago. I want to respond to people who have commented there.
The only way I can see now to even find it is by going to Posts, but none of the comments made there are showing up.
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/7148
Thank you.
xiao_liang
April 15, 2010 at 11:19 AM
I've also noticed some responses are missing on conversations... hopefully a temporary state?
zhenlijiang
April 15, 2010 at 11:10 AM
Sorry about that Bob, I deleted my last comment because I went to that thread myself and saw the problem you describe, it's not anything you're doing wrong here.
I'm also unable to get to a post I made some days ago, a General Discussions post. The only way I can see it now is from Posts, but none of the comments people have made on it appear. I'd really like to respond to a couple of them, and also add to it--hoping this gets sorted out very soon!
go_manly
April 15, 2010 at 11:04 AM
Strange. I copied and pasted your link, but I still can't see my comment. As I said, the last comment on the page is dated March 17. What am I doing wrong?
John
April 15, 2010 at 10:14 AM
go_manly,
Hmmm, that is definitely strange. So it was a general user post, not a group post? All "general user posts" should be found in the "General Discussion" group. We'll look into this.
zhenlijiang
April 15, 2010 at 09:23 AM
Could you please give us the option, in the Conversations page, to actually show "All Conversations" (because that's what we think the Conversations page is for now), not just All My Groups or All Replies to Me?
I think it's a good thing for us each to be able to sort out what discussions we want to look at and maybe participate in. But then I would like, on our dashboard, to be able to delete or hide any individual conversation from the page. This is because General Discussions are just so numerous, and there are both many I am interested in, and many I don't care about--besides a lot of junk and spam that goes up there. Those become bigger eyesores when they're in your "Home" page as opposed to the "public" Conversations page.
Thanks for listening, and all your hard work. I am quite hopeful about these new developments.
xiao_liang
April 15, 2010 at 02:13 PM
The option to "show all conversations" is absolutely vital please.
bababardwan
April 15, 2010 at 01:08 PM
changye,
If you read the start of this thread John has pointed out that the latest comment will not be displayed on the community pages for now as that was quite intensive and it ran the risk of crashing the system during the implementation. I took that to mean that this is just a temporary thing and the latest comments will probably appear again on the community page in the next few days [is my guess ].
changye
April 15, 2010 at 12:44 PM
On the community pages, every thread shows a few lines from its original comment now, but not from the newest comment anymore. Is this also one of the "improvements"? Or is that some kind of a bad joke/glitch?
changye
April 15, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Hi zhenlijiang
I have a bad feeling. My hunch tells me that the number of comments would further decrease after the "improvement". FYI, the English counterpart of the chengyu “矫枉过正” should be "the cure is worse than the disease" or something.
Considering the current number of comments, I think there is no need for breaking discussions into small groups. As you say, we definitely need the option to show all the conversations. Is that really going to disappear after the change?
I just can't believe it!
xiaophil
April 15, 2010 at 11:03 AM
I thought of this problem too.
I can understand the theory behind limiting what we see in order to increase conversation activity, but I, like Zhen, would like the option to see everything if I want to.
go_manly
April 15, 2010 at 10:39 AM
John. A question relating to user groups.
I think most groups grow in size after users notice interesting contributions to the group on the Conversations Page.
How will this work in the future. (When a new group is added) we won't see those contributions, because we will not have had the opportunity to add that group. The only way we will know these groups exist is if we go searching for them.
If a group was started today, for example, don't you think it would take considerably more time to grow than if it had started 12 months ago?
zhenlijiang
April 15, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Changye, I think the changes will bring more focus to the discussions and probably get us users to think a bit more (?) before, be a bit more deliberate, when we start new posts. That's good, right?
Also, being able to see Replies to Me will prove quite useful--because for instance * (いただいたお電話ですみませんが！) I replied to you in the UI Piano Class lesson, guess you haven't seen?
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/piano-class#comment-158407
zhenlijiang
April 15, 2010 at 10:28 AM
I do understand that John. That's why I wonder if we can't just have the option, to show All Conversations that are out there, if we want. The default setting can remain as is.
John
April 15, 2010 at 10:21 AM
zhenlijiang,
The idea of breaking discussions into smaller groups is one that sprang out of a discussion called "Improving the ChinesePod Community Section." It's also consistent with the research out there on online communities.
The key concept is that when communities are smaller, more people participate, because the content of the discussions is more likely to be relevant to each individual member. In theory, dividing the conversation should result in more overall discussion, by a greater number of users. As this happens, following all discussion will become more and more impractical. ChinesePod is still growing, but the proportion of users that participate in discussions is shrinking. The new groups organization is designed to help with this issue.
changye
April 15, 2010 at 10:02 AM
HI zhenlijiang
I don't know at all what is going on here now, and what "improvement" we will get. I just hope they are not going to “矫枉过正”.
xiao_liang
April 15, 2010 at 09:08 AM
Love the new dashboard! Much more sensible way to display lessons and conversations on one page. Thumbs up so far :)
John
April 15, 2010 at 09:12 AM
Great to hear! (It's so convenient to see all "Replies to Me" right there, isn't it?)
As I said before, lesson comments will be back soon, and everything will be much more 热闹 again. :)
xiaophil
April 15, 2010 at 07:48 AM
Ahhh, I just saw the notice that you guys will be working on this until 4:30. I guess I will wait and save further judgment until you guys say it is all done.
John
April 15, 2010 at 07:50 AM
Yes, we're still making adjustments now.
Still, full lesson comment display will take a bit longer to restore. Rest assured our team is hard at work on it!
go_manly
April 16, 2010 at 01:08 PMIt seems that the Conversations page is now showing lesson threads. But while the lesson threads DO show the most recent comment, the non-lesson thread are still showing the first comment.
Anyway, I never used to use the home page - I alternated between the Conversations page and the Lessons page. Once this issue is fixed up, things will be almost back to normal for me. The only issue for me will will then be how to add all groups.
Oh yes ... and threading ...