Like I said, now just hover over the button with the arrow on it (next to the last post time) to see the last post title and author.

Oh I see now how it works. The arrow will jump to the post. Nice change :) :)

And you did all that complaining for nothing :)

As sharky said, there is no reason for it to be anything more than enough room to post a quick reply (which it certainly is as I'm having no problem typing this out here). Remember, if you're going to do anything fancy such as quoting someone else or using code tags, you'd use the advanced reply anyways.

I dunno, but the previous box was fine with me. It was useful for pasting in bits of information, and you didn't have to go into Advanced Mode very often. The ads above the quick reply box didn't bother me (mainly because I use an ad blocker), but regardless of that, it's also nice to be able to read your entire post without scrolling as I'm doing here.

Also, consider the fact that many users don't happen to be lucky enough to have broadband internet, and such a click as an "advanced reply" could take ages for them when it only takes us a few seconds.

And you did all that complaining for nothing :)

Just proves you can teach old dogs new tricks afterall :mrgreen:

You can't compare the extra download time it takes to do an Advanced Reply every so often when you have a complex post to make with the extra download time being saved by one less banner advertisement on every single thread pageload.

I agree that this quick-reply is too small. And the background is now:

Please wrap code in code-block and inline code-block.

Here is php code: echo "Hello
Here is c code: printf("Foo\n");
Here is echo "code";

Please restore the larger box...

In a previous thread, I received a lot of criticism about having two rectangle ads below the thread listing, in addition to complaints that you had to scroll past the ads in order to type in the quick reply box. After a lot of effort, I have finally found a way to address those concerns. And now you guys are saying it's still not good enough. You can see how I feel as if no matter what I do, I am still going to get praise from some and criticism from others ... so all I can do is listen to everything I hear and do what I personally feel is best.

After a lot of effort, I have finally found a way to address those concerns. And now you guys are saying it's still not good enough.

  1. Damned it you do, damned it you don't.
  2. It's your site, your efforts (well, others too), your finances.
  3. We can merely tell you our points of view. Whether or not that means anything, see [1] and [2].
  1. Ads generate revenue, ads drive people away -- decreasing revenue.
  2. We like what we see or we don't. Which bears on whether we stay or go.
  3. We can only tell you what we like/dislike. But beyond that (whether we get what we want... see [1] and [2]).

> Ads generate revenue, ads drive people away -- decreasing revenue.
So that would lead you to believe that I would not receive criticism for removing one of the ads, wouldn't it?

Depends. I enjoyed a number of ads during the Super Bowl. If the eyeballs seeing it like, it's a plus; it the eyeballs turn in disgust, it's not.

More ads, more likelihood of disgusted eyeballs.

I think I'm going to go with the damned if I do, damned if I don't route. :)

I think I'm going to go with the damned if I do, damned if I don't route. :)

No hard feelings, but I've assumed that for quite some time. ;)

[edit]BTW, didja ever make any sort of inquiry with SlickEdit or other editor folks?

Let's see. You've tried

  • Thread listing
  • Ads
  • Quick Box

Now we have

  • Thread listing
  • Quick Box + Ads

Maybe

  • Thread listing
  • Quick Box
  • Ads

might work -- it helps our usability, and keeps your ads.

It seems that you feel the ads must be mixed into the middle of the forum content. If that's a requirement, then my idea can't work.

Yes, unfortunately, ads after all the content is just silly because no one will see them. You stop scrolling when the page content stops.

what I see in the C/C++ board is about 3 inches of white space between the quick edit box and the ad strip on the right side of the page. This board (DaniWeb Community) does not have an ad strip on the right so there is about 4 1/2 inches of white space. Why not just widen the quick edit box to fill up some of that unused space?

I applaud the effort to move the Quick Reply closer to the thread. The interstitial ads and distance between the thread and the reply box were very irritating. However, the stunted Quick Reply box annoys me more.

It's fine for dashing off quick, thoughtless messages, but for those who actually think about what they post, and like to re-read and edit as they go to check for typos, errors, and clarity of expression, it's a non-starter. One is essentially forced to click an extra button. For those users, it won't spur more posts: "I can either shoehorn a message in here, or click Advanced Reply... oh, forget it".

For those who block ads, the space next to the Quick Reply appears as empty whitespace, which makes the Quick Reply seem even smaller still, plus it screams "it should fill this space"! However, I understand that you really can't cater to users who block your ads.

I believe this is another quanity vs. quality decision: while it may trigger more impulse posts, it presents a barrier to larger, more meaningful posts.

P.S. Blog entries now have a horizontal scroll - your column widths need to be fine-tuned to prevent that.

You can see how I feel as if no matter what I do, I am still going to get praise from some and criticism from others ... so all I can do is listen to everything I hear and do what I personally feel is best.

You really can't please anyone. Getting everyone to agree to a single point is as such an ideal situation. Do what you feel best as you have always done.

I am going to run a test on the Quick Reply box. It is my hypothesis that moving the Quick Reply box will create a big surge in the number of posts. If it does, I will consider my test successful. If the average amount of postings per user stays relatively the same or drops, I will consider my test a failure and go back to the old way.

What do you mean by blog entries having a horizontal scroll??

When I view some of the blog entries, there is a horizontal scrollbar at the bottom. That screen is a bit crowded... could the tag-cloud column be thinner to make the blog entry correspondingly bigger?

Dani, I wouldn't measure success merely by quantity of posts. The blog competition, this change - all designed to get more people more active, but you have to be concerned about the signal-to-noise ratio as well.

Can you link me to an example? Thanks!

Dani, I wouldn't measure success merely by quantity of posts. The blog competition, this change - all designed to get more people more active, but you have to be concerned about the signal-to-noise ratio as well.

That's why I'll win :) No, seriously, I thought about that after I posted. I dunno ... still inclined to keep it for awhile. Even in this thread there are some people who think it's great and some people who aren't crazy about it. I can't please everyone but my goal is that after all of the changes sitewide are done, the vast majority can count more things they like than things they don't.

As I said, I applaud the effort, just don't like the result. Regarding the wide blog, it was due to an exceptionally long word, a rare occurence and a horizontal scroll is the proper way to handle that.

Do what you feel best as you have always done.

Agreed with ~S.O.S.~ ;)

Yes, unfortunately, ads after all the content is just silly because no one will see them. You stop scrolling when the page content stops.

Possibly true, but to be honest, I don't see them anyway. As tgeer alluded to, it's noise and I would ignore it. The only ads I really see are those obnoxious ones that flash and scroll. I don't read them, I just notice and cuss them out (and usually scroll them out of the window).

But my browser has never displayed the ads by the QR box anyway so, like AD, before I had a large gap above, now I have empty space next to the box.

I am going to run a test on the Quick Reply box. It is my hypothesis that moving the Quick Reply box will create a big surge in the number of posts.

Testing is good! And since you can undo anything that doesn't work for the site, try as many iterations as possible over time.

Can you link me to an example? Thanks!

Ick. This is about the third variation of it I've seen today. They all make that entry look horrible.

Agreed with ~S.O.S.~

Heh, you really missed the sarcasm in my post.....:confused:

Ick.

Or maybe move it out of Blogs? To Tutorials, perhaps? (Can't think of where it might better belong.)

I didn't realize at the time I posted it that Blogs would someday not be a place for code.

And maybe this one too.

[edit]Nah, my inner pessimist tells me that it'll only be a matter of time until something I've relied on being there when I post will be absent later.

I'll just do like I've seen a couple others do and simply link to the printable version because the regular pages are way to cluttered to convey the information intended easily. I get confused looking for information on stuff I've written sometimes.

[edit]Aw, crap. It's already in the Tutorials and Snippets too.

This once was readable. Thanks.


::shakes head::

[opinion=mine]Ya know, I think you're turning what were once Daniweb's formerly best features (at least to me) into unusable crap. (Attachment added for posterity.)[/opinion]

I fail to see what's wrong with the blog entries. And as for the code snippet ... the little description area was never intended for code. I simply moved the hex dump into the code area.

http://www.daniweb.com/code/snippet488.html

It wasn't code.

That one would look better if you simply deleted it.

I am going to run a test on the Quick Reply box. It is my hypothesis that moving the Quick Reply box will create a big surge in the number of posts. If it does, I will consider my test successful. If the average amount of postings per user stays relatively the same or drops, I will consider my test a failure and go back to the old way.

What do you mean by blog entries having a horizontal scroll??

On testing the Quick Reply box and its feasability: Do you have a way of directly monitoring how posts are made, say, via viewing logs or are you basing the results on a significant increase of overall posts? Just curious.

I have been using the Quick Reply box a lot in the last day, at least for short replies; I do not know if it is because of the format design\placement change of it on the page or if it is because it has been brought to my attention and high-lighted within the last 24-hours. Either way, I like it (and I like it how it is now in comparison to before placed beneath ads.

Thanks,
Matty

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