<![CDATA[Comments on: Defining a Dashboard and Upcoming Lessons!]]> here. To join the general discussion group on ChinesePod, just click here.]]> 2010-04-17 18:00:00 <![CDATA[By: bodawei]]> The main problem ChinesePod faces right now is how to restore communication!  (Ironic for a language learning site.)  I am reminded of the Bible story about the Tower of Babel where God caused the people to speak in mutually incomprehensible languages (I hope I remember correctly.) There are now at least a dozen separate places on this site discussing the new Dashboard.    

]]> The main problem ChinesePod faces right now is how to restore communication!  (Ironic for a language learning site.)  I am reminded of the Bible story about the Tower of Babel where God caused the people to speak in mutually incomprehensible languages (I hope I remember correctly.) There are now at least a dozen separate places on this site discussing the new Dashboard.    

]]> <![CDATA[By: jamestheron]]> @bodawei, BabelPod was once an effort by the CPod folks to help locate language exchange partners.  BablePod.com still redirects back here.

All things considered, I like the new layout.  I haven't had a chance to figure out how it all works now, but will give it some time for the dust to settle a bit.

]]> @bodawei, BabelPod was once an effort by the CPod folks to help locate language exchange partners.  BablePod.com still redirects back here.

All things considered, I like the new layout.  I haven't had a chance to figure out how it all works now, but will give it some time for the dust to settle a bit.

]]> <![CDATA[By: shi3ke4li4]]> The dashboard, like most new concepts, are an adjustment from the familiar.  I, also, like the new layout. Cpod thank you for the improvement.

]]> The dashboard, like most new concepts, are an adjustment from the familiar.  I, also, like the new layout. Cpod thank you for the improvement.

]]> <![CDATA[By: chanelle77]]> tech team fyi :-) : I'm subscribed to this channel but the lesson does not appear in my dashboard and have to manually bookmark it.

]]> tech team fyi :-) : I'm subscribed to this channel but the lesson does not appear in my dashboard and have to manually bookmark it.

]]> <![CDATA[By: suxiaoya]]> Thanks everyone for your feedback, suggestions and patience.

Chanelle77 - the tech team are working hard to smooth out all bugs, so I will make sure this gets relayed to them. Out of interest, when you choose to view the News & Features Group, what is visible on the list when you choose "newest"?

]]> Thanks everyone for your feedback, suggestions and patience.

Chanelle77 - the tech team are working hard to smooth out all bugs, so I will make sure this gets relayed to them. Out of interest, when you choose to view the News & Features Group, what is visible on the list when you choose "newest"?

]]> <![CDATA[By: chanelle77]]> Hi Suxiaoya,, not sure of I understand you correctly :-), but the lesson was visible when I went to the N&F channel and it was displayed on top of the list. I did not have to choose a different "view" to see it displayed. Because of the subscription to this channel, I expected it to appear in my dashboard.

]]> Hi Suxiaoya,, not sure of I understand you correctly :-), but the lesson was visible when I went to the N&F channel and it was displayed on top of the list. I did not have to choose a different "view" to see it displayed. Because of the subscription to this channel, I expected it to appear in my dashboard.

]]> <![CDATA[By: chrka]]> I didn't get this lesson by subscription at first, so I added it manually. Later it showed up as a subscribed lesson in the dashboard as well (ie. I had two instances of the lesson in the dashboard lesson list). Marking it as studied removed both instances, though.

]]> I didn't get this lesson by subscription at first, so I added it manually. Later it showed up as a subscribed lesson in the dashboard as well (ie. I had two instances of the lesson in the dashboard lesson list). Marking it as studied removed both instances, though.

]]> <![CDATA[By: frank09]]> what a dreadful interview. unbearable

]]> what a dreadful interview. unbearable

]]> <![CDATA[By: ancalagon]]> I don't want to be 'one of those guys' -- I really don't. But for me this latest change is a serious regression. The 'home' page of a week ago was simple, efficient and attractive. The 'dashboard' takes a step back in each category. I'm sure it's improved something or other, but hell if I can figure out what that something might be.

A modest proposal: Have five tabs at the top of the page (instead of the current four) -- both a 'home tab' (taking users to the simplistic home page of old) and a 'dashboard tab'.

Really this smacks of change for the sake of change. And that is ALWAYS a bad move.

Best,

M.

]]> I don't want to be 'one of those guys' -- I really don't. But for me this latest change is a serious regression. The 'home' page of a week ago was simple, efficient and attractive. The 'dashboard' takes a step back in each category. I'm sure it's improved something or other, but hell if I can figure out what that something might be.

A modest proposal: Have five tabs at the top of the page (instead of the current four) -- both a 'home tab' (taking users to the simplistic home page of old) and a 'dashboard tab'.

Really this smacks of change for the sake of change. And that is ALWAYS a bad move.

Best,

M.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bodawei]]> I like Amanda's idea of keeping a notebook - I started one on 3 October 2006 and now I have a number of notebooks that are combination text book, dictionary, travelogue and autograph book. I still use them a lot, writing down the names of people I meet, new expressions etc. Often I get other people to write in my book - and they enjoy flipping through what other people have written.

]]> I like Amanda's idea of keeping a notebook - I started one on 3 October 2006 and now I have a number of notebooks that are combination text book, dictionary, travelogue and autograph book. I still use them a lot, writing down the names of people I meet, new expressions etc. Often I get other people to write in my book - and they enjoy flipping through what other people have written.

]]> <![CDATA[By: m8r7egy501]]> Oh, Sarah's accent is so British, I like that!

It's a pity that ChinesePod selects a Guided teacher for you. I would subscribe if could select my Guided teacher myself. The interviews are a good help, until now I would choose Gloria ;-)

]]> Oh, Sarah's accent is so British, I like that!

It's a pity that ChinesePod selects a Guided teacher for you. I would subscribe if could select my Guided teacher myself. The interviews are a good help, until now I would choose Gloria ;-)

]]> <![CDATA[By: karlacanuck]]> I'm afraid this lurker needs to come out of the woodwork regarding the new dashboard.  Not sure if other 'guided' subscription members are having this problem, but I can't find any of my assigned lessons anywhere on this dashboard (if I select 'assigned', nothing appears) and the discussion thread I was keeping up with my teacher is gone - nothing, nada, zilch.  I could always dig into my emails to find my syllabus, but I certainly hope that there is a way to restore my lesson list to the dashboard itself.

]]> I'm afraid this lurker needs to come out of the woodwork regarding the new dashboard.  Not sure if other 'guided' subscription members are having this problem, but I can't find any of my assigned lessons anywhere on this dashboard (if I select 'assigned', nothing appears) and the discussion thread I was keeping up with my teacher is gone - nothing, nada, zilch.  I could always dig into my emails to find my syllabus, but I certainly hope that there is a way to restore my lesson list to the dashboard itself.

]]> <![CDATA[By: fred2]]> What has happened to my podcast feed to iTunes?   It used to be really easy. Now it does not seem to update.

I realize that every roll out of a software has its problems. There are, however, objective measures of a good web site.  One is the "3 click rule."  Briefly, if you cannot find what you want in 3 mouse clicks, it is not designed for user friendliness.   There is also the old adage, "If is ain't broken, don't fix it!"

Two really useful fixes would be getting the CPOD interface to work with wlcpod and making it easier for the entire lesson to be portable on the iPod and Android platfoms.

I don't mind leaning new software or how to navigate a web site.  I prefer to concentrate on learning Chines. 

Sorry if this is a rant.

]]> What has happened to my podcast feed to iTunes?   It used to be really easy. Now it does not seem to update.

I realize that every roll out of a software has its problems. There are, however, objective measures of a good web site.  One is the "3 click rule."  Briefly, if you cannot find what you want in 3 mouse clicks, it is not designed for user friendliness.   There is also the old adage, "If is ain't broken, don't fix it!"

Two really useful fixes would be getting the CPOD interface to work with wlcpod and making it easier for the entire lesson to be portable on the iPod and Android platfoms.

I don't mind leaning new software or how to navigate a web site.  I prefer to concentrate on learning Chines. 

Sorry if this is a rant.

]]> <![CDATA[By: tiaopidepi]]> Agreed. I don't much care about having to click all over the place to find lessons but having the feeds disappear is really, really bad. I'm an Intermediate student, but I like to listen to Elementary (to make me feel smart) and UpperInt (which I kinda get). Heck, I even listen to the Advanced and Media on the theory that hearing clearly spoken Chinese can't hurt anything. My feed this week only has Intermediate. I've had to rejoin all the groups to restore my feed.

Once the CPod API becomes real I'm writing my own app to manage my CPod experience. I appreciate innovation, but not for innovation's sake.

]]> Agreed. I don't much care about having to click all over the place to find lessons but having the feeds disappear is really, really bad. I'm an Intermediate student, but I like to listen to Elementary (to make me feel smart) and UpperInt (which I kinda get). Heck, I even listen to the Advanced and Media on the theory that hearing clearly spoken Chinese can't hurt anything. My feed this week only has Intermediate. I've had to rejoin all the groups to restore my feed.

Once the CPod API becomes real I'm writing my own app to manage my CPod experience. I appreciate innovation, but not for innovation's sake.

]]> <![CDATA[By: matthewg]]> I'm having the same problem.... Can't find my past discussion thread with my teacher. As I've got dozens of pages of past Q&A with her this was a valuable archive. Is anyone else having this problem?

]]> I'm having the same problem.... Can't find my past discussion thread with my teacher. As I've got dozens of pages of past Q&A with her this was a valuable archive. Is anyone else having this problem?

]]> <![CDATA[By: matthewg]]> I just found the counseling sessions. It's not intuitive. However, if you click on Community, and then Groups, then, at the bottom of the page you will see a class with your user name that has your historical conversations with your teacher.

]]> I just found the counseling sessions. It's not intuitive. However, if you click on Community, and then Groups, then, at the bottom of the page you will see a class with your user name that has your historical conversations with your teacher.

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiao_liang]]> I am still getting inappropriate level discussions (advanced, upper-intermediate...) on my dashboard, I'm not subscribed to these groups. Not relevant, not user friendly, I know the tech team are working hard, but when will the bugs be fixed please?

Not even one mention or apology for the mess we've put up with in this news? Heh... cultural differences I guess? I really don't like complaining, but this is a bit rude, you know :-(

]]> I am still getting inappropriate level discussions (advanced, upper-intermediate...) on my dashboard, I'm not subscribed to these groups. Not relevant, not user friendly, I know the tech team are working hard, but when will the bugs be fixed please?

Not even one mention or apology for the mess we've put up with in this news? Heh... cultural differences I guess? I really don't like complaining, but this is a bit rude, you know :-(

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiao_liang]]> Oh, and I'm still getting people's private guided conversations showing up in my conversation list on the dashboard, even though I can't read them beyond the two lines that are previewed.

]]> Oh, and I'm still getting people's private guided conversations showing up in my conversation list on the dashboard, even though I can't read them beyond the two lines that are previewed.

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiao_liang]]> Oh, and I'm not getting any new lessons in my news feed. Like this news and features, which didn't show up at all.

]]> Oh, and I'm not getting any new lessons in my news feed. Like this news and features, which didn't show up at all.

]]> <![CDATA[By: karlacanuck]]> Thanks matthewg - good sleuth work on your part! I found it - however, my historical conversations are nowhere to be found. All I see if a very recent comment from my teacher which reads 'previous conversations'. I assume they need to manually copy and paste the previous material over - in my case, it looks like they haven't gotten to it yet. I suppose this is still a work in progress....

]]> Thanks matthewg - good sleuth work on your part! I found it - however, my historical conversations are nowhere to be found. All I see if a very recent comment from my teacher which reads 'previous conversations'. I assume they need to manually copy and paste the previous material over - in my case, it looks like they haven't gotten to it yet. I suppose this is still a work in progress....

]]> <![CDATA[By: srock222]]> Ditto- Nothing ever shows up on my home page "srock222" dashboard... even when I manually bookmark things. I have to either go to "Manage Lessons", or click the drop-down to go to "All Groups" to see anything. It's very annoying, but I have hope you guys will get this fixed soon.

]]> Ditto- Nothing ever shows up on my home page "srock222" dashboard... even when I manually bookmark things. I have to either go to "Manage Lessons", or click the drop-down to go to "All Groups" to see anything. It's very annoying, but I have hope you guys will get this fixed soon.

]]> <![CDATA[By: DocRaccoon]]>

I don't want to be critically reactive to change and the dashboard seems to me a feature which one can choose to use or not to.

But what I wonder why my iTunes podcast feed is not updating with the new lessons. Is it something that I need to do? I have put a new RSS feed URL into my iTunes window but the latest lesson which is available is the nuts intermediate lesson.

Grateful for any advice on this. Is it only a temporary issue? have the most recent lessons (eg the diaper lesson) listed yet to be made available by podcast?

Thanks!

]]>

I don't want to be critically reactive to change and the dashboard seems to me a feature which one can choose to use or not to.

But what I wonder why my iTunes podcast feed is not updating with the new lessons. Is it something that I need to do? I have put a new RSS feed URL into my iTunes window but the latest lesson which is available is the nuts intermediate lesson.

Grateful for any advice on this. Is it only a temporary issue? have the most recent lessons (eg the diaper lesson) listed yet to be made available by podcast?

Thanks!

]]> <![CDATA[By: John]]> The iTunes feed update issue was temporary and should be resolved now. You should not have to make any changes in iTunes to continue to receive your lessons.

]]> The iTunes feed update issue was temporary and should be resolved now. You should not have to make any changes in iTunes to continue to receive your lessons.

]]> <![CDATA[By: aiyuguang]]> I have the same problem. Any Fixes???

]]> I have the same problem. Any Fixes???

]]> <![CDATA[By: catherinem]]> Have you checked the groups page (on the right-hand side) to make sure you are a member of this group ("news and features"). If not, by clicking "join this group" on the show's group page, you will automatically receive new shows on your dashboard starting with this coming Sunday's show.

]]> Have you checked the groups page (on the right-hand side) to make sure you are a member of this group ("news and features"). If not, by clicking "join this group" on the show's group page, you will automatically receive new shows on your dashboard starting with this coming Sunday's show.

]]>