Blue Links

Continue to strive for excellence you mean, right? ;-)

Right. ;)

“Tweaking?" Does that carry the same "high-on-meth" connotation in English that it does in American?

Oh I did not know of such a connotation with "tweaking".

OK thanks for taking note John. I guess you mean, if enough people see it as a problem ...

HI John

I have weak eyes and hate to see a bright display screen, so my screen brightness is always very low, which makes subdued-blue links even more unnoticeable. And this is the reason I don't like this change. I have a question. Are there any users who complain that the link color is too deep?

John, as a representative of the older generation here (the eyes aren't as good as the used to be) - this change makes life on the site just that little bit harder.

But I for one have noticed a commitment to improving the aesthetic of the site - and I will allow some credit for that (most people would be unfairly preoccupied with language learning). It is a pity that there have not been more runs put on the aesthetics board.

But there is a fundamental question - why this tweaking with things not raised as problems? When more important things remain unfixed? It is still difficult to find and promote Groups - putting Groups in the news doesn't fix this problem.

Well said bodawei.

My god, how long is it since the smashboard was introduced, and yet so little has been done to redress the squeezing out of user groups. (To be honest I again and again feel that the CPod 'powers that be' would like to see them die off.)

How else to explain why making new posts in user groups is now an almighty pain in the ass? When you want to make a post, this is what you see

Notice the total absence of user-friendly clickable buttons to add links, images, formatting, etc. Just to keep posting half-way decent additions to the groups I started, I have had to become almost an expert in HTML. New posts I make look like a mass of HTML code before I ever get to hit the 'post' button, and even then they seldom look the way I hoped.

Compare the image above with this one for general replies to posts

Notice how different they are? Now why in hell cannot they both be the same? Stupid question of course, people ask such questions all the damn time, but they never get answers and changes are never made, just the same old same old week after goddamn week.

But hey, let's get the colour of links just the right shade of blue, OK guys? Now that's important.

Thanks for your input, tal_. We are in fact working to standardize the publish a post and post a comment functions. I asked for user feedback last week regarding our mock-ups. We're going to have buttons for the options you mentioned (in addition to bold and italics, we'll have things like font color and lists as well) so users don't have to add the html themselves. If you have any questions about this, just let us know!

OK then, how about some feedback on the issue bodawei referred to? It's sure nice of you to start featuring groups on N&F, and for those who have put effort into creating them given some recognition and praise. But sorry, I still cannot believe this system where new users have almost no idea (imho) what's going on with groups, (unless they notice or can be bothered to browse the list and join some.)

I only just discovered that new poddies are not even automatically subscribed to the General Discussion group, (a friend of mine signed up last week and I was astonished when he told me this.) Thus, posts like this intended to attract new members are still only being seen by the usual crowd on that board.

Even your own recently founded group for Discussing and Appreciating the CPod Bugs and Technical Glitches, (sorry I don't have a link to hand) is now all but invisible except to the few diehard moaners who joined it, 对不对？Or was that the plan?

(I've taken to making my links large chunks, or bolding when I can without too much trouble; am obsessed now with making them noticeable)

I created a trial account a little while ago to see what I would be seeing, and found that I only automatically get added to 1) my stated academic level Group and 2) the News and Features Group. In the Conversations page I see those conversations + all lesson level conversations. I too was surprised (dismayed) when I understood that we weren't all automatically added to General Discussion. But at least that "usual crowd" is by far the largest. Just don't really get how new users will know to join it though.

Tal, I just publish my post now when I want to do any formatting with color, or add images, etc.. Just publish a blank post or whatever. Then immediately go in to edit it, because then you not only have all those tools at your disposal as you've pointed out above, you're also allowed to Save as Draft. Can't bother with any more than the most basic HTML stuff.

Thanks zhen, you make some good points. Most of my moaning above related to making a new post in a user group. Even if you make a blank post (which I hate doing) and then go back and edit, you still have to use lots of HTML if you want it to look right. Actually I don't mind learning a little HTML, but the question remains, why should anyone be expected to??

see, when i reply there is no html menu for me to use. so how can I include a link wheN REPLYING TO SOMEONE?

DON,T YOU GET IT? WE ARE FRUSTRATED WITH HOW THE COMMUNITY SYSTEM HAS CHANGED INTO? WHO IS THE BRAIN CHILD BEHIND THIS MESS?

Thanks for your input fordbronco. Maybe a teensy bit harsh. :) Actually I think there are a lot of initiatives that are well-meaning - but you raise the history of the organization which I find interesting. Obviously ChinesePod has changed over the years in various ways (a big success story in many ways.) But yesterday I found the 'Radicals Show' and was surprised to see about 200 comments in a few days [mostly slamming the efforts] - in many respects it reminded me of the events in the past couple of months. But in those days John Pasden (in particular) was very conciliatory and engaged in the discussion productively. And almost immediately. My personal experience is that in recent history there is more spin. Now there is a valuable brand to protect the tone of the organisation has changed. You could call it commercial reality.

But commercial or not, the reality is that ChinesePod is a much better learning site now than it was then. It just becomes increasingly difficult to keep the customers happy. :)