JaxPad Forum Topic - Big Change Coming

Babbage C. Cheetah

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:54:16 -0000

Radioactive Chicken said: Just a quick question but what happened to the Cheetah in the Artspots logo? It looks funny the way the logo has been cropped like that now the spacing is all wrong (and kinda boring IMO). Perhaps not a big deal in the grand scale of things but it's bugging me. ;o)

I know, it was a tough decision! This was done to give more "real-estate" to the artwork on the pages. Seurat at 125px looked alright. At 75px high, he's getting pretty tiny and almost unrecognizable. :)

Babbage C. Cheetah

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:52:53 -0000

SpiritWolf77 said:
Babbage C. Cheetah said: LJ (and other blogs) conveniently adds tags to their RSS feed for categories you assign to a post. So yes, it is possible to only show entries that fit certain tags. :) This is something that can be done, and shall be.
That would work just fine for me! I'm meticulous about tagging my LJ entries so if I had a way to only have specifically tagged entries show up, that'd work great!

This is now in place. Go into Settings, then personal, and you should see a field under your blog link for adding categories/tags, comma separated, for entries you want to pick out and display. For example, if you just want the entries with the tags "art" and/or "commissions" to show up, just type "art, commissions" and only entries that have those tags on them will be shown in your gallery journal.

SaiTenyo

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:13:55 -0000

Babbage C. Cheetah said: LJ (and other blogs) conveniently adds tags to their RSS feed for categories you assign to a post. So yes, it is possible to only show entries that fit certain tags. :) This is something that can be done, and shall be.

That would work just fine for me! I'm meticulous about tagging my LJ entries so if I had a way to only have specifically tagged entries show up, that'd work great!

Radioactive Chicken

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:00:16 -0000

Just a quick question but what happened to the Cheetah in the Artspots logo? It looks funny the way the logo has been cropped like that now the spacing is all wrong (and kinda boring IMO). Perhaps not a big deal in the grand scale of things but it's bugging me. ;o)

Babbage C. Cheetah

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 05:55:57 -0000

SpiritWolf77 said:Ahh, so it's a feed then instead of on-site journal? Or can you do on-site journal entries too? I like having a link to my LJ on my page but don't necessarily want all my LJ entries showing up on my gallery page. I would love to be able to write specific art/commissions related entries in an on-site journal to have them displayed on my page though. Like...I ramble about stuff in my LJ such as health or fandoms, and if people want to read they can always click the link and do so...but on my gallery page I want to talk about things related to my art and leave all the other random entries out.

I am avoiding on-site journals for a couple reasons. One, it is more work when we should be focusing on art-related things. :) Two, there are so many other journaling/blogging packages/sites that do the job so well. LiveJournal, Wordpress, Blogger, etc. or if you want to set up your own, GreyMatter or Movable Type. We could never hope to accomplish the elegance in which they do journaling. Also, a lot of artists who post to journals on one site end up posting the same things to multiple sites (and art galleries) just to announce something like a commission. So, why duplicate effort? That's one of our mottos. :) However, there is a solution that Klawzie brilliantly came up with.

Klawzie said: I wonder if there's a way to have your LJ RSS feed only show posts Tagged with a specific tag? Like, one could make a tag called, "JaxPad" or "ArtSpots" or "art" or whatever they want to tag their posts they want to show up in their gallery - and the RSS feed would only track those posts?

LJ (and other blogs) conveniently adds tags to their RSS feed for categories you assign to a post. So yes, it is possible to only show entries that fit certain tags. :) This is something that can be done, and shall be.

Babbage C. Cheetah

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 05:19:35 -0000

Chrysocome said: I think I found another bug, I'm running the latest Firefox. Some commission todo pages that have lots of writing overlaps some background writing.

Oops! That will be fixed with tonight's code update.

artkitty said: Wow, you guys are fixing stuff up fast! :D I have one more forum-related request: If a thread is more than one page long, the page numbers are displayed as links next to the thread title in the forum. If that's too hard, then linking the 'new post' text to the last post in the thread would work almost as well. Also, I think you could promote premium membership on the 'about' or 'faq' pages. It's pretty hidden if it's only in 'settings'.

We do try to fix 'broken windows' as fast as we can. :) Geek content ahead. But that's what I'm here for, no? Regarding the forums/page numbers. The reason we haven't included them thus far in the list views is because they increase to the clutter of the page. However! What you ask for is already there, in multiple forms. First, if you are in the main Forum list, clicking on the time of the post (e.g. "2 hours ago") will take you to the end of the post that is featured. The "New Posts" is just to alert that there are new posts, even in multiple topics, in the group, without turning the whole row green. A graphical representation might be better, I'll investigate that when there's more time. :) Inside a group, when you see topics, again clicking on the time posted will take you to the last post made in that topic. Also, if the number of posts is over your current per-page preference (i.e. 30 posts and your per-page is set to 20), you will see "last" next to the topic, which will also take you to the last page. (Unless you are set to view Newest First, in which case the most recent is at the front anyway.) This is slightly atypical, I will admit, but we are keeping eyes on trends of newer forum software vs. older designs. (To geek out, things like Vanilla (New, now with less features!) and Beast.)

Klawzie

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:55:06 -0000

I wonder if there's a way to have your LJ RSS feed only show posts Tagged with a specific tag? Like, one could make a tag called, "JaxPad" or "ArtSpots" or "art" or whatever they want to tag their posts they want to show up in their gallery - and the RSS feed would only track those posts? I tried linking directly to a Tag, and that doesn't appear to work, but is that because it's not set up for it here or is it something that RSS can't do at all? (It doesn't matter to me either way, I've linked to my art-related LJ rather than my personal LJ.)

Wulffrith

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:23:33 -0000

I actually really like the new layout. It has a really clean feel to it and I personally don't mind the nav tabs being on the left. I also really like the big text...I don't know why but I do.

Scraffic

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 06:53:12 -0000

Before: http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7515/beforebj3.jpg After: http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/5230/afterad4.jpg Here's what I edited. #forumAdds { float: right; text-align: left; line-height: 2em; width: 15em; padding-left: 20px; margin-right: -20px; }

SaiTenyo

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:19:58 -0000

Babbage C. Cheetah said: Regarding the journal.. once we get time to document some of this stuff, we will. :) Right now, if you put in a blog URL, the system will go and look at that page, grab the RSS link from it and save that, and from then on your journal will appear on your page. When doing the migration, we had the system go out and grab what feeds it could, and sometimes they didn't take for whatever reason. Maybe a page was slow to load? All I did with your account was go into it, click save without changing anything, and it picked up the RSS link. You now have your LJ journal in your gallery that you should see when going there.

Ahh, so it's a feed then instead of on-site journal? Or can you do on-site journal entries too? I like having a link to my LJ on my page but don't necessarily want all my LJ entries showing up on my gallery page. I would love to be able to write specific art/commissions related entries in an on-site journal to have them displayed on my page though. Like...I ramble about stuff in my LJ such as health or fandoms, and if people want to read they can always click the link and do so...but on my gallery page I want to talk about things related to my art and leave all the other random entries out.

k

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:01:43 -0000

Wow, you guys are fixing stuff up fast! :D I have one more forum-related request: If a thread is more than one page long, the page numbers are displayed as links next to the thread title in the forum. If that's too hard, then linking the 'new post' text to the last post in the thread would work almost as well. Also, I think you could promote premium membership on the 'about' or 'faq' pages. It's pretty hidden if it's only in 'settings'.

Chrysocome

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 01:20:55 -0000

Neat, thanks Babbage. It's great that input is being heard and considered. Wow, Fetch Folders? These are awesome! XD I think I found another bug, I'm running the latest Firefox. Some commission todo pages that have lots of writing overlaps some background writing. Eg Kitsumi and Foxfeather: http://kitsumi.jaxpad.com/commission/todo http://foxfeather.jaxpad.com/commission/todo

Feather Dancer

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:19:18 -0000

http://www.artspots.com/forum/topic/446?fi=34 < it has bugged out on me three times now coming to this topic but when I c/ped with this tab open, it worked fine. Can't say I quite understand that one :)

Babbage C. Cheetah

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 21:45:17 -0000

Karu Dragon said: Will you still consider my previous mention of adding of MSN to the list? Also it seems if I try and use the email notif link to get to a thread, I get the brillant You found a bug! page.

A column for MSN link exists in users, always has, just isn't in the UI, so I can add it, yes. Regarding the bug, what was the exact URL you went to? I cannot seem to reproduce it. I click on the link to the forum, and it works. :P I also could not find any error emails that were to this topic.

Feather Dancer

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:10:41 -0000

Will you still consider my previous mention of adding of MSN to the list? Also it seems if I try and use the email notif link to get to a thread, I get the brillant You found a bug! page.

Babbage C. Cheetah

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:58:46 -0000

Chrysocome said: Oh I am digging the new look galleries, they look fantastic. That journal feed is really neat. Except it's somewhat a private journal where I babble a lot, so everyone has to put up with it. That said, it gives it more of a community feel, instead of just being a gallery with and no essence of the artist, only their art. It's a lot friendlier. I know this was mentioned before, but would you consider having a little comments area on the user page? Sometimes I find I want to comment on artist's work as a whole but don't for fear of completely spamming each image in their gallery with the same "I love your colouring" or whatever. I also like seeing what my gallery looks like to others, but that is a personal preference. Chryso! The buttons are on the LEFT! :P

Heh! Thank you, that was the goal, to try to create more community feel without looking like (or becoming like) a Devi... er.. MySpace sort of deal. :) We'll see what develops in the coming week or so, as people look at the new site and see what could be added or changed. The biggest problem so far to 'shout outs' or such as they're called is how to do it without cluttering a gallery page. Our philosophy is that if you want to tell an artist about their work as a whole, mention it in a comment on a favorite piece, or IM/email them and start a conversation. :) Shout outs are inherently one-way. Hopefully we will get some chat facilities set up. I know one of our developers has been toying with a Jabber set up similar to LJ's, but whether or not we go forward with it depends on how we can integrate it into the site without it becoming obscure or lost. A lot of this update was to bring some elements that were obscure more out into the open. Did you know that I still hear people say things like, "Wow, Fetch Folders? These are awesome! When did you add those?" And if anyone reading this doesn't know what a Fetch Folder is, I suggest playing with them. They're like a smart folder, but for art on this site. :) And this is to say nothing of some of the undocumented 'geek' features that exist. I think there might be enough now for an advanced tab or as someone suggested, a 'Geek' link in the footer. But now I am just getting into a tangent. :)

Babbage C. Cheetah

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:49:52 -0000

Kitsumi said: I can't say I like the tabs on the left either, mostly because they're so far to the left. If they were in the middle, that to me would flow a bit better. At the moment they're competing with the Artspots logo, and I'm still drawn to the odd blank area to the right. I do like the sub-tabs however, are there any plans in the future for the sub-tabs to be a permanent feature, instead of being hidden until home is clicked? It'd make things more consistent for one and just easier to navigate.

Hm, I will see how they look in the center. The trouble is, in the center, if/when we add more tabs, they are more likely to bump into the search box. Not that this is a problem, they'll just shift under, but it's a very minor concern. :) I'll still do some tests. The sub tabs are 'permanent' in the sense that they'll be there from here on out, but they change depending on what main tab you are under. Click on Home, then click on Library, and you'll see what I mean.

Babbage C. Cheetah

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:40:55 -0000

SpiritWolf77 said:Oh also...two questions about gallery changes. 1-How do I get the nifty stuff (watching, favorites, journals, etc.) that I'm seeing on some artists' galleries (like Thorn's) to display on mine? I can't find the settings to change that.

They do display on yours, just not when you're viewing your own gallery. We figured (perhaps inappropriately) that when an artist works on their gallery page, they don't want to see the watched artists and favorites because they want to work on their gallery, and because they see their favorites and watched artists (in better detail) on the pages dedicated to them. If you look at your page while logged out (or from another computer/browser), you'll see the favorites and such. Regarding the journal.. once we get time to document some of this stuff, we will. :) Right now, if you put in a blog URL, the system will go and look at that page, grab the RSS link from it and save that, and from then on your journal will appear on your page. When doing the migration, we had the system go out and grab what feeds it could, and sometimes they didn't take for whatever reason. Maybe a page was slow to load? All I did with your account was go into it, click save without changing anything, and it picked up the RSS link. You now have your LJ journal in your gallery that you should see when going there.

2-The "show portfolio" button (unless I'm misunderstanding the function) doesn't seem to be working properly. I clicked it when I was on earlier, and my portfolio showed up, but going to my page again now, the setting seems to have reset. Is that a browsing thing where you have the option of temporarily viewing it when you go to someone's gallery, or is it a on/off setting (as I thought it was) that's supposed to allow you to choose whether or not other people see your portfolio when they go to your page?

The show/hide portfolio is just so an artist can check on it, and edit images in it. The portfolio is no longer displayed in a gallery page, because a fair number of people got confused by it and wondered why it was duplicating images in the galleries below. But, when browsing the artist pages, in general or for commissions, the portfolio images are still what's shown. That is something we want to make more elegant, just need to think about it some more. It might be better to leave them there, as if someone goes right to your gallery, they'll see it first. I'm still open to opinions on how to best deal with it.

Babbage C. Cheetah

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 08:21:13 -0000

SpiritWolf77 said: Also, I think this is the text Karu was referring to. I've included a penny for size reference. My monitor resolution is set to 1680 x 1050.

That actually is the correct size that I see on my screen too, in a couple different browsers, and is intentional. :) It was an idea we stole from Wordpress, actually. At first when I saw it there, I too was like, "OMG that's huge!" It was a shock. But after using it for a bit I was like, "Huh, this is very comforting and nice. Very instantly readable." So I am going to wait a few days before making any decisions on changing the form sizes. I might be inclined to make them a little smaller, but not too much. I'm nearsighted too, as can be seen. :) I agree with what you and others have said about the forums, and there is some work to be done there still and I am going to take what people said into mind. The trick is using the space, but also keeping messages readable. I'm sure some graphic designers will recognize the rule of 66 characters across for easier reading, so that is what the width is based on. But I suppose if someone wants to narrow the text, they can just narrow their browser window. :) I am also noticing that quotes get a bit muddled in the rest of the text, so I want to fix that too.

Kitsumi

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 07:48:28 -0000

I can't say I like the tabs on the left either, mostly because they're so far to the left. If they were in the middle, that to me would flow a bit better. At the moment they're competing with the Artspots logo, and I'm still drawn to the odd blank area to the right. I do like the sub-tabs however, are there any plans in the future for the sub-tabs to be a permanent feature, instead of being hidden until home is clicked? It'd make things more consistent for one and just easier to navigate.