Peter_W.'s rant on the new site

Okay, I really hate to poo-poo on something that Chopin the webmaster obviously put so much work and time into, but I'm primarily doing this with the fact in mind that he wants this site to be professional, functional, and a pleasant user experience. It's a reflection on his work and brainchild that there are SO many issues both functional and cosmetic. It doesn't look professional at all when perusing this forum to see so many issues everywhere one turns. I personally would much prefer the previous site where everything WORKED well and looked okay. About the only thing I like about the new layout is the sleek look of the skin. But the layout glitches alone kill what little appreciation I have for that.

The bugs:

There are still a crud-ton of bugs that haven't been taken care of. Many of them are a result of switching from the old format to the new while still retaining many of the functions of the old. Apparently multimovement works still cannot be uploaded, editting an uploaded work causes problems, there's still no way of editting one's avatar, 'restore' sized browsers still don't get the website placed in the proper place to be able to see it all, some links do funky things, the switch from each upload getting its own page to being an extention of one's profile page has caused a huge amount of bugs in the uploads and on profile navigation, the "view users who have listened to this piece" link still links to a page of white text on white background... seriously, how many bugs must there be before starting over becomes the only option that will actually take care of the problems?? Right now it's like a scavenger hunt for every clear piece of sand on a beach.

The interface:

it stinks. The home page (note: not the index page) looks horrible. The post 'feed' is cumbersome and confusing and apparently you can post onto restricted areas by it. And profile pages look horrible for the same reason (not to mention the bugs on the profile pages). The "recent uploads" list was an AWESOME feature that has all but vanished. It's a huge pain to simply find an upload by a specific person anymore. The profile pages have far too many tabs and links that are named the same thing (info, music, etc) but go to different areas.

To forgo loss of interest because of wordiness, I'll go ahead and leave it at that. Really, the whole idea of changing to this new format was for a better site. It ain't. It makes me wonder if it is really worth it to continue tackling the avalanche of issues for the sole sake of this new layout.

Thank you for reading.

Kindest regards.

-Peter

^ IAWTP 110%

If you want a professional site, make it a professional site. The people/community have nothing to do with it until the site is flawless (or close enough that we don't notice it's not).

^ IAWTP 110%

If you want a professional site, make it a professional site. The people/community have nothing to do with it until the site is flawless (or close enough that we don't notice it's not).

Huh? Websites are always a work in progress, and while progress on the site has been slow (too few qualified volunteer programmers? financial limitations?), there has certainly been change resulting from community input. Now I know there are many challenges with running a site, but I do agree with Peter. After a summer hiatus I expected more change than I see. Profiles are still broken. Many buttons don't work. These are huge. I miss recent uploads as well (although you can view an upload timeline on the music page). Why isn't the page you are on highlighted in the header tabs? Why isn't advanced search carried through all pages? If we have advanced search is there really need for a Browse tab (unless Browse does what the current home page does)? The home page needs to go further or the home page needs to be changed to the forum. I don't see any good reason to visit the current home page because Recently Added Topics and recent posts can be viewed in the forum. I doubt many people go to the home page to check out Newest Members. The network is still separate from the forum, and I thought the goal was to merge them, at least from a visual and navigational standpoint.

I've been taking a hiatus too since I've gotten a life at college, and I really have had high hopes for the new changes. I have been expecting a lot out of the updates and bug fixes and chopin has been promising a lot and I honestly haven't seen much change at all. It's still as messy as it was when it first launched, the bugs just found more nooks and crannies to infiltrate. And honestly the design aside from the forum skin is horrid (and why isn't the forum skin horrid? because it is just colourized version of a professionally-made hunk of code.) The rest of this site needs a professional treatment and it just hasn't been getting it. I'm sorry, but ur doin it rong. If it's the financial problems, then fine - wait it out, THEN deal with it... but so far it's just been one little disjunct bit made after another and then changed over and all kind of shenanigans ... and I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore. Why do you think I haven't been trying to be on here more? It still needs work, and it needs more work than I can just point out and say "fix this." like I used to.

A lot of the issues you mention are being worked on currently. The biggest problem is the speed of the network, it's very slow. I'm hoping we can try and speed up the site which should increase the user experience. Can you tell me what makes the feeds confusing? The purpose of the feeds are to increase visibility, and we are going to make good use of the feed when we introduce Record Hall. If Record Hall brings in profits, I can use those profits to continue fixing the site, which I plan on doing.

As far as uploads, I plan on taking away all space limitations, and we will get the multi movement bug fixed right away.

And to address recent uploads, you should make use of our directory. You can sort by today, this week, this month, etc. I can certainly bring back the old "recent uploads" and perhaps place it on another page.

The Browse function is quite different from advanced search. Advanced search searches forum content, but the browse focuses on users music by various criteria.

A lot of the issues you mention are being worked on currently. The biggest problem is the speed of the network, it's very slow. I'm hoping we can try and speed up the site which should increase the user experience. Can you tell me what makes the feeds confusing? The purpose of the feeds are to increase visibility, and we are going to make good use of the feed when we introduce Record Hall. If Record Hall brings in profits, I can use those profits to continue fixing the site, which I plan on doing.

As far as uploads, I plan on taking away all space limitations, and we will get the multi movement bug fixed right away.

And to address recent uploads, you should make use of our directory. You can sort by today, this week, this month, etc. I can certainly bring back the old "recent uploads" and perhaps place it on another page.

The Browse function is quite different from advanced search. Advanced search searches forum content, but the browse focuses on users music by various criteria.

I can appreciate the speed problems of the forum.

The feeds are confusing because I have no idea what I'm looking at. The feed shows the original post, I think, and then the last several posts which were the object of the feed to begin with. It'd be much more sensible for the feed to show ONLY the action that occured ("xxxxxcomposer replied to yyyycomposer's thread, yaddayadda[/urlthing]") not a rundown of the OP and several posts. Any more than one post by a friend and it just clutters the feed.

Speaking of clutter, the issue of the advanced search versus the browse tab is a perfect example. They are essentially the same function. Why are there two separate access items to two extremely similiar functions, namely searching this website? And why are there so many tabs in the profile? Not only are there a ton at the top, each one drops down a ton onto the left, many of which have duplicate names with the tabs on top.

There are seriously so many issues, many of them simply cosmetic. It's just making the site ugly. Really the only way to get them all is for a COMPLETE sweep of the entire site!

And I'm still bummed about the loss of the really nice features like the Recent Uploads page being the first thing I see.

The home feed shows you all activity from your friends, and friend's connections. The profile page shows all activity made by you. The Browse and Advanced Search are quite different, you really don't see the difference? Browse searches composers and their music, whereas the advanced search will search forum threads based on criteria, it's just IPB's built in search.

The set of tabs in a profile: We have the binder (where a user can bookmark events on the forum, or feed), the activity tab, the info tab (personal info goes here, and other forum attributes such as searching posts, or seeing if a user is online), the auction tab (which admittedly is useless right now, and will be replaced with a jobs tab), a music tab (where a user can categorize all his music), and an edit profile tab (privacy options, and more). I feel most of these tabs are quite self explanatory.

As for redoing the site from scratch, this is not a viable solution to the minor problems you are reporting. Most of these problems are cosmetic. The biggest problem I see is the speed of the network, and I will work my best to try and get this part of the site quicker to load. Cosmetic problems are being addressed as we speak.

The home feed shows you all activity from your friends, and friend's connections. The profile page shows all activity made by you.

Right, but the actually displayed items are too big. Ergo clutter.

A one-line description and link should suffice. Or a SNIPPIT of the post item. It's simply waay too much information.

The Browse and Advanced Search are quite different, you really don't see the difference? Browse searches composers and their music, whereas the advanced search will search forum threads based on criteria, it's just IPB's built in search.

I personally don't have a deal with it, no. I brought it up as an example because someone else mentioned it.

But since we're talking about it, why is there both a "music" and a "browse" tab? THOSE are the same thing, ie looking through the music of this website. The browse tool stuff (not another link, the fields) should be on the Music page, perhaps on the side.

Let's rundown the top of the page, left to right:

you've got a picture which links to the board index. The picture is nice, but I don't feel that is intuitive nor is it necessary to have it link the forum. You've got the "Young Composers" font which looks okay and is linked to the forum index. THAT is okay, it makes sense that the written graphic would be a link. You've got a picture of the avatar, followed by "Signed in as XXXXX" with "Sign Out" underneath. That looks pretty ugly, though I don't really have a solution for you. It looks like it's just slapped on there because of the two different fonts and three (picture, text, link) different alignments for one item. That thing needs to be incorporated into the heading, not floating around.

Then you have a "?" linking to Help, a speech bubble linking to notifications (or the homepage is you don't have any. WHAT? I'm sorry that makes no sense), and a friends request page which actually links to the notifications where the friend requests are. HUH? Those buttons need to find their set purposes and stick with them consistently, and the language (is a "notification" a friend request or something else?) must also be consistent.

Then you have an Account drop down menu. Fabulous! You've got a link to the profile, settings, messenger. Those are good. Then you have a link to managing friends and ignored users. I don't think it's necessary to have a link to ignored users there: it's more intuitive to go ahead and let it be understood that that will be found by following the "my settings" link. It's not like users routinely look at list of posters they want to ignore. Also what this drop-down menu is missing is a "Logout" link.

On the lower half of the heading, you've got Home, Music, Profile (another one? That makes three...oh well), Browse (Music again. Don't think it's necessary, incorporate it into the Music page), Forum, Help, and a search bar. That all looks good, except I'm looking at a Help tab...and then I look two inches to the right and see a "?" which links to Help also. That just looks sloppy to me. You've gone out of your way to show me how to get help twice in two different ways in the same three square inches of website.

The set of tabs in a profile: We have the binder (where a user can bookmark events on the forum, or feed), the activity tab, the info tab (personal info goes here, and other forum attributes such as searching posts, or seeing if a user is online), the auction tab (which admittedly is useless right now, and will be replaced with a jobs tab), a music tab (where a user can categorize all his music), and an edit profile tab (privacy options, and more). I feel most of these tabs are quite self explanatory.

Truth. But the tabs don't do anything except bring up another set of tabs.

I'll do a rundown of what I feel looks (for lack of a better word} stupid about the home and profile pages when the site is running a bit faster. It's a pain right now.

As for redoing the site from scratch, this is not a viable solution to the minor problems you are reporting.

I'm not computer programmer, but isn't fixing thousands of minor bugs (I'm sure it's in the thousands from this site's beginning) and numerous major ones the recipe for inefficient code?

Most of these problems are cosmetic. The biggest problem I see is the speed of the network, and I will work my best to try and get this part of the site quicker to load. Cosmetic problems are being addressed as we speak.

I can appreciate that.

Just to comment on this one:

I'm not computer programmer, but isn't fixing thousands of minor bugs (I'm sure it's in the thousands from this site's beginning) and numerous major ones the recipe for inefficient code?

Absolutely. Major bugs = bad code. And programmers that don't bother to fix them before releasing the code = bad programmers, big time.

There aren't any MAJOR bugs with the site right now. There were a few in the Beta, but that's hardly openning the site for general use.

Right, but the actually displayed items are too big. Ergo clutter.

A one-line description and link should suffice. Or a SNIPPIT of the post item. It's simply waay too much information.

I like the way it's currently displayed personally. I like that I can sit and view all the activity of my friends in one place as opposed to having to constantly view new content just to see things. I also like that now you can pin threads that you post in so you stay abreast of them yourself. I'm not sure you've used it much - you should try it in depth a little bit and see if you like it, I know I do.

I personally don't have a deal with it, no. I brought it up as an example because someone else mentioned it.

But since we're talking about it, why is there both a "music" and a "browse" tab? THOSE are the same thing, ie looking through the music of this website. The browse tool stuff (not another link, the fields) should be on the Music page, perhaps on the side.

Again, I think this is a subjective issue really. I love that I can just search solely for music. Before, if I wanted to find a piece by a particular composer, I had to sift through ALL the topics and posts of that composer. This way, we only have to sift through that composers music - it's much more refined I think. Have you used the search features much?

Let's rundown the top of the page, left to right: you've got a picture which links to the board index. The picture is nice, but I don't feel that is intuitive nor is it necessary to have it link the forum. You've got the "Young Composers" font which looks okay and is linked to the forum index. THAT is okay, it makes sense that the written graphic would be a link. You've got a picture of the avatar, followed by "Signed in as XXXXX" with "Sign Out" underneath. That looks pretty ugly, though I don't really have a solution for you. It looks like it's just slapped on there because of the two different fonts and three (picture, text, link) different alignments for one item. That thing needs to be incorporated into the heading, not floating around.

I never noticed that each of those links to a different place. :blink: Now that you've mentioned it, I guess it is odd - but that's more of an aesthetical issue your bringing up - not really related to poor programing or anything else - just poor aesthetic attention.

Then you have a "?" linking to Help, a speech bubble linking to notifications (or the homepage is you don't have any. WHAT? I'm sorry that makes no sense), and a friends request page which actually links to the notifications where the friend requests are. HUH? Those buttons need to find their set purposes and stick with them consistently, and the language (is a "notification" a friend request or something else?) must also be consistent.

I agree, the notifications and friend requests need to be set to direct to the same place regardless if you have either or! A notification would be if someone comments on your watched threads or a friend uploads a work to the forum. A friend request would be if someone requests to be your friend. Now, I do have a comment for you Mike on this one: How in the world do you request friends on here? I've tried looking for this myself - I can't find it!

Then you have an Account drop down menu. Fabulous! You've got a link to the profile, settings, messenger. Those are good. Then you have a link to managing friends and ignored users. I don't think it's necessary to have a link to ignored users there: it's more intuitive to go ahead and let it be understood that that will be found by following the "my settings" link. It's not like users routinely look at list of posters they want to ignore. Also what this drop-down menu is missing is a "Logout" link.

Actually, I disagree, I think all the links in the drop down menu are essential and highly intuitive. I use the ignored users and manage friends one a lot - as well as a of staff only tools in the various options in the drop down as well. The ignore option is only if you have a user on ignore. I also disagree on having the logout option there - if it were, I probably wouldn't ever use it. I think we should clean up the way the log out looks underneath the signed in as text. It's more accessible there - and makes logical sense.

On the lower half of the heading, you've got Home, Music, Profile (another one? That makes three...oh well), Browse (Music again. Don't think it's necessary, incorporate it into the Music page), Forum, Help, and a search bar. That all looks good, except I'm looking at a Help tab...and then I look two inches to the right and see a "?" which links to Help also. That just looks sloppy to me. You've gone out of your way to show me how to get help twice in two different ways in the same three square inches of website.

I agree, the Help tab and the ? button are kind of redundant. Perhaps we can just do away with the Help tab itself. I think most users on here are intelligent enough to just click the obvious ? button if they need help or assistance. Also, I would lobby for a much easier to understand Help FAQ as opposed to the rather illogical Wiki Portal. I wonder how many actually view the Wiki Portal, and of those, how many actually find it helpful? Perhaps we can gather the opinion of the members on the forum on this query.

Truth. But the tabs don't do anything except bring up another set of tabs. I'll do a rundown of what I feel looks (for lack of a better word} stupid about the home and profile pages when the site is running a bit faster. It's a pain right now.

I'm not sure it's as confusing or redundant as your making it out to be. I think a lot of it stems from the fact that you've not familiarized yourself with the tabs at all - nor are you accustomed to them. It took me a good month to get used to them myself - and trust me, they work smoothly after you familiarize yourself with how they look. Perhaps, as an idea, we can hide the tabs now that aren't functional (such as Auction) and maybe combine tabs that are somewhat redundant to make it more easier to access. I would also lobby for changing tab names (Binder to Watched Threads, for example).

I'm not computer programmer, but isn't fixing thousands of minor bugs (I'm sure it's in the thousands from this site's beginning) and numerous major ones the recipe for inefficient code?

I don't think this is a very fair assessment really. I mean, yes there are bugs on the forum. But thousands? Nor have there been 'numerous' major ones. We've had about 3 major bugs since the new site switched and i'd say probably about 30 - 40 minor bugs (most of which deal with site aesthetics.) Other sites, with far more money allocated for development, have far more than what we're experiencing. I'm not trying to downplay the comments of those on here dissatisfied with the forum at all, I do think though that a lot of members on the forum here tend to think that the site was pieced together by preschoolers. Yes, the development team that Mike contracted could've done better BUT given his budget, I don't think we got that bad of a site here. I think patience is in order really - this isn't a public corporation running the forum but a private individual with limited financial means. He can't just create a million dollar forum over night - bug free and aesthetically pleasing.

That said, I've been to many of the other forums similar in scope to this one - and this one, by far, has the best look, layout, AND community. I think that says something in and of itself.

I can't deny that this is one of the most impressive forums I've ever seen, I simply criticize because I want to see it go farther (and get easier for us to use).

After experimenting more with Advanced Search and Browse, I don't have such a problem with them being separate. They could be combined to make things more concise, but people wouldn't intuitively turn to the search feature to browse music so I see why they're distinct. I still hope Advanced Search will be carried through all pages.

Chopin, are there any planned changes for the home page? "The home page needs to go further or the home page needs to be changed to the forum. I don't see any good reason to visit the current home page because Recently Added Topics and recent posts can be viewed in the forum. I doubt many people go to the home page to check out Newest Members."

Profiles... I haven't been able to change my birthday since the new system was first implemented, and clicking on the calendar doesn't do a thing. The order that I put lists in rarely stays (for example, Favorite T.V. Shows: Sex and the City, Xena Warrior Princess becomes Xena, Sex) and capitalization doesn't always hold (when I put "Finale" in for Software/Sequencers I get "finale," unless I add a number after it, like "Finale 2010"). When I edit my profile the privacy options don't seem to stick either, at least visually (for example, if I change the privacy option of Books to Friends then go back in my profile to edit it again, the privacy option will be on Public rather than on Friends).

And if you click on Upload Composition while in an upload forum, you are taken to a feed page and not actually given the option of uploading a work.

I like the way it's currently displayed personally. I like that I can sit and view all the activity of my friends in one place as opposed to having to constantly view new content just to see things. I also like that now you can pin threads that you post in so you stay abreast of them yourself. I'm not sure you've used it much - you should try it in depth a little bit and see if you like it, I know I do.

In other forums, that's called a control panel. But I do see what you are saying and see the value in it, I'll experiment with pinning threads.

I do wish it wasn't the first thing that popped up when I click "profile" though, particularly other people's. And it really has no business being visible by others. In my mind that function is separate and distinct from a user profile. The visible profile should be informative and concise.

Again, I think this is a subjective issue really. I love that I can just search solely for music. Before, if I wanted to find a piece by a particular composer, I had to sift through ALL the topics and posts of that composer. This way, we only have to sift through that composers music - it's much more refined I think. Have you used the search features much?

True. But it makes the most sense to incorporate the "browse's" search function to the music page. We want navigation to be intuitive and without redundancies.

"tabs"

I think my main issue with the tabs is where the group is placed. It seems silly for the tabs to be at the top and for the internal tabs, ie the actual navigational tools, to appear way over on the left.

Gotta go,still will be back with details in a bit. I'm struggling here posting from my iPod. :P

In other forums, that's called a control panel. But I do see what you are saying and see the value in it, I'll experiment with pinning threads.

I do wish it wasn't the first thing that popped up when I click "profile" though, particularly other people's. And it really has no business being visible by others. In my mind that function is separate and distinct from a user profile. The visible profile should be informative and concise.

I'm not sure what your clicking when you say 'profile' when I want to view a person's profile, I just click there name. This is what I see when I do that (I chose the Peter W, Black Orpheus, and James H. from this thread). When I view there profile, if they are my friend then I can see there Activity by clicking the Activity tab. If they have anything binded, and I'm a friend, then I can view there Binded content. There Info is, as you see in these pictures, the default view when I view there profile. Now when I click my OWN profile it takes me to the Activity tab on my profile page as the default - where I can view the activity of my friends. Much the same way as Facebook does when I log in. I'm not sure we can hide the tabs from Guests or non-friended members, that would be a good thing to bring up if you so desire.

True. But it makes the most sense to incorporate the "browse's" search function to the music page. We want navigation to be intuitive and without redundancies.

We could just have a Search tab. When clicked it could give you an option to search music or search members. Perhaps that would make more sense.

"tabs"

I think my main issue with the tabs is where the group is placed. It seems silly for the tabs to be at the top and for the internal tabs, ie the actual navigational tools, to appear way over on the left.

I can see your point. I do think that the tabs at top are good - perhaps we could have more continuity between those and the tabs on the profile? I don't know. It's really hard to say. I mean the forum space is distinctly different (for obvious 'threaded' reasons) from that of the network space.

Perhaps, as an idea, we can hide the tabs now that aren't functional (such as Auction) and maybe combine tabs that are somewhat redundant to make it more easier to access. I would also lobby for changing tab names (Binder to Watched Threads, for example).

Ya.

I don't think this is a very fair assessment really. I mean, yes there are bugs on the forum. But thousands?

Of minor ones, I would not be surprised if they numbered well into the hundreds. There are still many, and it seems that there are many that HAVE been fixed to a small extent, but only in one instance (for example, the issue may be fixed in one browser, but not others; or the issue may be fixed on the INDEX page, but not on the Home, Profile or Settings page).

I think patience is in order really - this isn't a public corporation running the forum but a private individual with limited financial means. He can't just create a million dollar forum over night - bug free and aesthetically pleasing.

And we're back full circle. The old site had less bugs and was more aestheticall pleasing.

Granted, I like the pruning Chopin has done for this new site.

I can see your point. I do think that the tabs at top are good - perhaps we could have more continuity between those and the tabs on the profile? I don't know. It's really hard to say. I mean the forum space is distinctly different (for obvious 'threaded' reasons) from that of the network space.

The tabs I was referring to were the tabs on the profile page, my bad.

We could just have a Search tab. When clicked it could give you an option to search music or search members. Perhaps that would make more sense.

There is already a search box, there's no need for a search tab.

I think the "music" tab is fine for what it does. Simply add music domain search to that page.

And thank you for clarifying how the "wall" thing works. It still feels very sloppy to me. I'm not sure how well the network and forum are gelling together in that way. To me, pinned threads really have no business being in the profile as they are solely forum functions.

Originally posted by: BlackOrpheus

I can't deny that this is one of the most impressive forums I've ever seen, I simply criticize because I want to see it go farther (and get easier for us to use).

After experimenting more with Advanced Search and Browse, I don't have such a problem with them being separate. They could be combined to make things more concise, but people wouldn't intuitively turn to the search feature to browse music so I see why they're distinct. I still hope Advanced Search will be carried through all pages.

Chopin, are there any planned changes for the home page? "The home page needs to go further or the home page needs to be changed to the forum. I don't see any good reason to visit the current home page because Recently Added Topics and recent posts can be viewed in the forum. I doubt many people go to the home page to check out Newest Members."

Profiles... I haven't been able to change my birthday since the new system was first implemented, and clicking on the calendar doesn't do a thing. The order that I put lists in rarely stays (for example, Favorite T.V. Shows: Sex and the City, Xena Warrior Princess becomes Xena, Sex) and capitalization doesn't always hold (when I put "Finale" in for Software/Sequencers I get "finale," unless I add a number after it, like "Finale 2010"). When I edit my profile the privacy options don't seem to stick either, at least visually (for example, if I change the privacy option of Books to Friends then go back in my profile to edit it again, the privacy option will be on Public rather than on Friends).

And if you click on Upload Composition while in an upload forum, you are taken to a feed page and not actually given the option of uploading a work.

Word.

Of minor ones, I would not be surprised if they numbered well into the hundreds. There are still many, and it seems that there are many that HAVE been fixed to a small extent, but only in one instance (for example, the issue may be fixed in one browser, but not others; or the issue may be fixed on the INDEX page, but not on the Home, Profile or Settings page).

Perhaps there are a few hundred minor layout issues, but most (if not all) the things you are mentioning wouldn't even qualify as a 'bug' but instead are more layout issues. The only 'bug' that i'm aware of is the multiple movement problem. That is a bug.

And we're back full circle. The old site had less bugs and was more aestheticall pleasing.

I'm surprised you say that. There were countless complaints on the previous layout (and the one before that) that were constantly brought up in the shoutbox and dozens of threads. Granted, the amount of those complaining was just a small portion of the site (I think mainly like 5 people). But, the complaints were enough to drive new members away from a forum that, from their view, appeared to be collapsing in on itself - you should have seen some of those emails! At any rate, yes, the new layout has some aesthetical issues - that we as staff will devote significant amounts of our time to. The key word there is, again, time - we can't do it over night AND we most certainly won't do it over night. So I ask again, for just a tad bit of patience from the community. We know the issues exist - and they will be dealt with. That, I promise.

There is already a search box, there's no need for a search tab. I think the "music" tab is fine for what it does. Simply add music domain search to that page.

Well, we could do that BUT surprisingly, not many people used the search box. I lobby we get rid of the search box altogether and direct searches a different way. I can't say much though - virtually every page, forum, and social network site I go to has redundant search options. I guess the mainstream view on it is the more search options you have available the more it will be used?

And thank you for clarifying how the "wall" thing works. It still feels very sloppy to me. I'm not sure how well the network and forum are gelling together in that way. To me, pinned threads really have no business being in the profile as they are solely forum functions.

The forum and network are gelling quite well. We have lots of members who mainly use the network to browse works and avoid the forum proper. They provide a lot of traffic for both the network and forum. Pinned threads are really kind of an internal 'watched' thread option - which was one of the most called for options. You still have the option to watch a thread or topic and receive an email when a new post is created in that topic. The bind option works similar to this except you can view it from your profile without having to worry about digging through lots and lots of posts - which was a problem (and if you don't use watch or bind your topics, still is.) I hope that explains it more.

To close my book here, I want to state that I do have a few problems with the site. I write a lot of multiple movement works AND have posted a lot of multiple movement works - I think that is a very major bug that shouldve been worked on prior to launch. The layout of the site, to be honest, has grown on me. I spent a lot of time learning how the new site worked - which is probably why I don't have much problem with the various tab issues you dislike. I don't care much for the fecal brown color. And, as mentioned in previous posts in this thread, the Signed out text below the picture. That's about it really.

Perhaps there are a few hundred minor layout issues, but most (if not all) the things you are mentioning wouldn't even qualify as a 'bug' but instead are more layout issues. The only 'bug' that i'm aware of is the multiple movement problem. That is a bug.

Truth.

But issues that behave in different ways because of a lack of attention to detail or inconsistency IMO qualify as a bug.

But enough about semantics.

So I ask again, for just a tad bit of patience from the community. We know the issues exist - and they will be dealt with. That, I promise.

Eventually. That was the source of my rant. There are still a ton. And the scope of the amount is quite large.

Well, we could do that BUT surprisingly, not many people used the search box. I lobby we get rid of the search box altogether and direct searches a different way. I can't say much though - virtually every page, forum, and social network site I go to has redundant search options. I guess the mainstream view on it is the more search options you have available the more it will be used?

It's all the same to me. Three is too many is all I'm saying.

Pinned threads are really kind of an internal 'watched' thread option - which was one of the most called for options. You still have the option to watch a thread or topic and receive an email when a new post is created in that topic. The bind option works similar to this except you can view it from your profile without having to worry about digging through lots and lots of posts - which was a problem (and if you don't use watch or bind your topics, still is.) I hope that explains it more.