Contact List MOD Feedback

[MissNev]

Just wanted to say that I think Spanky looks quite handy with his power tool! Please come see me at The Liver's End (we may even try to put you to work).

I like the Contact list, but I'm still trying to figure it out. See, didn't drift too much.

[gregori]

My personaly idea is that the add buddy one is a little banal/derivative. (dang, I shoulda softened that; the d-word is so mean.) And I do like that crossing out the "blah blah blah" a lot. "disallow contact" that I selected is basic and gets the job done.

Now corrected for transparency, as well as size. (I oversized them by 50%, oops! It's a good thing I'm not getting paid for this!)

Anyway - as fgar as 'derivative' is concerned, I can't disagree. But the idea behind icons is that they should be easily understandable without labels. THAT criteria is far more important than it being 'cool.' (Though 'cool' or 'fun' is always good, too.)

G.

[spanky]

Your suggestions and criticism warmly welcomed.

There are also the opposite of these icons that will need to be made.

I really like the X over the @ symbol one, but it's hard to tell it's an Q. Maybe the X in the upper right (like the plus in the Add Buddy icon)?

I will get a URL to the existing icons:







Also, a big hand to Gregori for working on this!

~Spanky

[theCryptofishist]

Yes Grigori. Even I know that it's easier to be a kibbutzer than to put oneself out there. Thank you.

[spanky]

Gregori:

please keep in mind these icons also need to denote the *action* off adding and removing from the type of list (buddy, ignore, disallow)

maybe for disallow, the hand (like the "don't walk" hand)?

I think we should try to stick with the + and - in the corner for add & remove. Just my $1.50.

~Spanky

You might not be getting paid, but you might be repaid...

[gregori]

Yes Grigori. Even I know that it's easier to be a kibbutzer than to put oneself out there. Thank you.

I don't take the criticism personally, so have at it! Without someone telling you how *they* think you did something wrong, it's hard to learn and grow.
(They try to teach this at good art schools, but some people never get it, and always go away crying...)


Spanky: Aha! I wasn't thinking in terms of Add to list / delete from list, but I can (almost) see it. (I don't think you'd need a delete 'ignore' icon, since once they're ignored, you'd never see them again, unless you did it from the 'Contact management' page?)
I too, though of a 'talk to the hand' icon, but it looked like a wave, not a 'shaddup' icon.
Maybe I should make the hand icon red (ala 'don't walk') instead of white, and that'd help! Hehehe...

Anyway - I'm running late for my annual review (and raise?) so I've gotta run!

G

[theCryptofishist]

Oh, Gregori, I know about feedback. I try and couch it in positive ways, because if I raise your hackles you won't open yourself to allowing you to learn. The problem is that I'm something of a card, and sometimes I forget that everyone on the board might not know that I overstate things as a form of humor. Then I hurt feelings, no one learns and there's a bad feeling on the board. So when it's someone I don't know very well, I try and be clear what's going on. (And look like a dork for overexplaining,)

[gregori]

(...) about feedback. I try and couch it in positive ways, (...)

<thread drift=5>
hehehe... Speaking of feedback - here's a direct quote from my annual review:
"When completed, his illustrations and graphic artwork are very good." (Emphasis mine...)
The whole thing basically said I do great work, but am a little unpredictable regarding scheduling... ::sigh::
Can't argue with that...

Oh well - they knew I was a flake when they hired me... (hehehe...)
They love me, but wish I would show up before 11 am {See NOTE 1} and be more like a 'suit' I guess. {See NOTE 2}

I still think (hope) I'll get a raise, though... It's a great company, and I LOVE my job!

{NOTE 1} :: It doesn't matter that I stay 'till midnight, and nobody sees me come out of my little cave of an office all day...
{NOTE 2} :: The 'NASA' suit I wear to work every day doesn't count. I ride a motorcycle, and walk from the parking lot to my office wearing all my gear, including the fully wired helmet with tunes going...

</thread drift>

I'll be working on some more icon ideas later tonight - stay tuned...

[regynalonglank]

i'm digging this whole buddy list moment...i'm havin' meself a buddy list blast over here. it's like a buddy list party up in me head...woo hoo!

thanks spanky!

(hee, i've always wanted to say that ;D )

[theCryptofishist]

Just imagine the competitive horror if numbers of buddies were posted as part of the Memberlist stats.

[regynalonglank]

LOL! sort of a backwards plonk, a knolp if you will...and i think you will!

[theCryptofishist]

Just another high school popularity contest. . .

[theCryptofishist]

It's going to take a bit of deleating those automatic messages for a while until we're caught up buddywise. Those inboxes are somewhat small.

[gregori]

Just another high school popularity contest. . .

Yeah - maybe that's why I'm not anyone's buddy list! ::hehehe::

In HS, you have a 'choice' of hanging with the popular crowd, or hanging out with your real friends. They chose me, 'cause I was *way* more fun than the popular kids...
And the funniest thing is that even 20 years later, they still remember me at that school...
(And they still remember some of the things I did, though they don't necessarily connect the two!)

G.

[Taz]

There was some brief discussion of new 'contact management' icons - since I had a few minutes free thi morning, I submit the following for your amusement.

Add Buddy


Ignore


I find this idea totally entertaining. Despite the icon that burners are totally open minded ,there are those that would simply freak out if they chance to glimpse at a thought contrary to theirs. This would play well with them. For me I'd simply scroll past the part.

Disallow Contact


This would totally be worthwhile. If someone wanted to make an unsubstantiated attack upon somebody else and be shielded from the victims rebuttals, not only would that demonstrate their malicious intent but it clearly indicate they have no solid grounds to speak from in the first place. Good suggestion.
Your suggestions and criticism warmly welcomed.

Grins,
G

[regynalonglank]

Ack!

Dear Spanky,

not like you don't already have enough to do, but i just deleted all my messages by mistake like a total moron...is there any way to get them back? if not i promise i won't cry...

marked messages, marked messages - what a dope!

mistakenly yours,

Kelly

[geekster]

It's going to take a bit of deleating those automatic messages for a while until we're caught up buddywise. Those inboxes are somewhat small.

Yeah, a bigger inbox would be nice.

[theCryptofishist]

I'm not bold enough to ask for one. When you think of hte 1000s of members, setting aside that much memory . . .

Well, that 's my take anyway.

[Tancorix]

IMHO, larger inboxes = more server space needed on already multi-tasking servers. I'm happy with the inbox space we have...I'm forced to go in and do some spring cleaning now and then. Do I really need that old message from DVD Burner from 2 years ago? No, I don't think so. And so it's gone and I have gobs of space now.

[bullD]

I call foul, I call foul!!!

cheap shot within new eplaya space...

Tancorix, go to the corner for your five minute penalty...

[Ranger Genius]

I didn't see any attack in that.

Is it possible to make it so that the automatic messages don't count against our inboxes, and then are automatically deleted after, say a week (once they've been read)?

[theCryptofishist]

I didn't see any attack in that.

When I look at bullD's bigass avatar grin, I think he meant it toungue in cheek. 'Course, I'm delusional sometimes. . .

[bullD]

oh sheesh, toungue in cheek indeed, sorry if perceived otherwise...

[Tancorix]

BullD, there's no problem. You made me laugh though.

[Bob]

Re: "Contact List MOD Feedback" and interface changes in general:

A common criticism has been that the eplaya phpbb interface was too busy, esp. compared to the old WebX eplaya. IMO Britton did a fair job on the banner and the basic look, given that AFAIK it's difficult to radically modify the off-the-shelf phpbb interface, but lacking a really kick-ass interface designer, I wish we had the choice of turning off unnecessary graphics and elaborate color schemes at the server side to better facilitate concentrating on user contributions to discussions.

Anyhow -- just as I'd rather not see the dysfunctional family of graphic Emoticons glaring from the screen on the "Post a Reply" page, I'd also rather not see graphic icons used for any of the current or future mods. Frankly, I'd rather that all the contact list mod actions were relegated to users' Contact Management pages instead of the discussion pages. IMO the only graphical flags that make sense would be for flagging admins and moderators.

Arguments:

- redundant because it duplicates features on the Contact Management page
- multiply redundant when many of the same users' posts appear in the thread
- too busy graphically
- too much unnecessary ALT text when graphics are disabled in the browser
- ALT text is too wordy, yet doesn't explain in as much detail as the Management FAQ
- inconsistent because most other commands are in text
- has the appearance of a user/user rating system
- would prefer text eg "Add Buddy/Ignore/Disallow" rather than graphic buttons, or nothing

Re: "Contact Management":

- instead of "Add a User to this List?", the bold title over the form box should be contextual, eg "Ignore User:" or "Add Buddy:"
- the "Are you sure you wish to make those changes?" message seems ridiculous if it doesn't show the changes being confirmed
- the final message "Information / __ List Updated" has no back-link

While I appreciate how urgent the techies and many users think these features are, I don't plan on using them, and would prefer not to see the commands for them sprinkled all over the discussion pages.

[Bob]

I'd also like not to be listed as any other user's "Buddy". Please enable something that disallows this globally. I can appreciate the utility of a Buddy list for some users as explained and implied by the Management FAQ, but I don't design my eplaya experience around checking when certain other users are logged in.

[bullD]

oh, and here I thought you were just reaching out, you know, maybe a fellow Marinite kind of thing, he he he. request followed through to your preference.

[Tancorix]

This is one of those me too posts but the buddy list reminds me of the old high school cliques that I despised so much. I can see the value of having a buddy list for MSN, Yahoo, or AOL with millions of users out there. But on a board with a little over 8000 users is it really worth the time and trouble to have it? The most this board has had online at one time is 127...surely one can find their friends in that small of a group.

[bullD]

all good. where one person finds it not to their liking or, dare I say, beneath them, others find it usefull, like for instance, when wanting to send a pm, just go to the buddy list and there you have it, a much easier process than looking through the member list for your buddy.

[Last Real Burner]

Spanky, I personally don't see this as a inprovement over what was already in place. You could just as easily have left what was already there until you had completed the testing on the "real" site you say will be ready in a week. You have forced the community to seek their digital intercourse elsewhere and now you have everybody ikissing your ass and blowing smoke up you're ass about the great job you're doing. I see you have made the communinty into your'e geeked warped" sense of what it should be rather than the natural collective that it should be. Yes we had to put up with a few asshats, but they were readily ignored by those who choose to. Again I acept you're apologies for having closed down the eplaya with "No" notice, which from the standpoint of the facts that you have told us aready, was totally unnessary and then to replace it with this aborted piece of fecal matter is inexcusable. All of the valuable information that the other site had for necomers and the problems and soulutions it contained are now lost to new users who now will have less of a clue in 4 months in the middle of the desert , at burningman. If you think for one second that the Bmorg spindly little Newbie info package can answer the plethora of complex qustions a majority of the people have you are sadly mistaken. Not only did we lose all that valuable reference material, that took months and months of painstaking work and posting to assemble you effectivavly ran all the people who whould have to rebuild the aforementioned database has been scatered to the digital winds. I realize it must be some big kick for you to have all this geeky talk about Phpbs or someother such nonsense but we are a scant few months until the event and you have singlehandly decimated one of the fundemental bases for information and pools of resources that existed, and for what? a plonk button and a fucking buddy list? There was a community here Sir, and I hope for the event's sake, and my friends who are here and those that are not that it reestablishes itself if not here somewhere else, somewhere a little more burner friendly. Good luck Spanky on you're job well done.

you're bestest pal,
The Rabbi Dali Rick