Monday September 16th chat

I don't even go to the home page. I just have the NDR linear page booked. I haven't even looked around much at the other threads. I'm bummed that not many people are posting much anymore. Even if I didn't post every day, I tried to keep up with what was going on.

Hi both - Thanks for your opinions first of all. sharismom - what is it you don't like specifically about the home page/sticky view. Is it the approach or the content people are posting?

@janobano - what would get you guys more comfortable with the grid/sticky format?

Thanks

J

Tina, if you put the local time in your post for my benefit, thank you!  :-)  I think I'll do the same at the end of my post, too!

I wish we could all be sitting in a room looking at one big screen of the forum and talk about our likes and dislikes.  It would be really helpful to see exactly what we're all referring to and complaining about.  If I correctly understood what you were referring to, Tina, I agree with your comments. 

What I like about what I think has been referred to as the "linear" format (I get there by clicking on "The Forums" in the darker blue heading section near the top of the screen) is it's MUCH easier on my eyes.  However, it doesn't provide enough information for me to know what I want to click on once I get there, without clicking on each and every sub-category one at a time.

What I think folks are referring to as the "grid" or "sticky" format is the page I see when I just click "Home" at the top left area below the darker blue headings.  While this grid page provides a lot more info about threads than the linear page does, I agree that it's very cluttered with all the photos appearing with thread headings, all the different things on the sidebar to the right, etc. 

My preference for the "sticky" or "grid" format would be to eliminate the photos as part of their headings, as well as so many lines of text from the initial post.  What I'd like to see is the thread title and who started it (I think the original poster's avatar photo shows up, but their username might be nice, too).  Seeing how many views and replies is nice, but I'd also like to see who was the most recent person to post, as well as the date and time that most recent post was made.  I think some of that could be included in the "sticky square" if fewer lines of text were displayed from the original post. 

I think we all have personal preferences, depending on what our eyes and brain react best to.  So, I know there's no format that will please all of us.  My personal preference (for ALL my surroundings, not just this forum!) is to have as little clutter as possible -- clean, organized appearance -- not too many busy graphics, symbols, distractions, "decorations," etc.  I get overwhelmed otherwise (which could also be my advanced middle age!).

I've rambled on too much in the daily chat thread about this, but I thought I'd put it out there since I related to what Tina posted and I saw that you posted, too, Jonathan.

As for my chat contribution today, I'm only at work for a couple hours to catch up on a couple important tasks, then it's back to some puttering around town with my Mom and our friend.  So, I best get back to work.  Hope everyone is having a decent Monday!

It's 11:44am, Pacific Time!

Jonathan, I don't like the clutter. The posts and thread count as well as who is online clutters the right side of the page. I liked it better at the bottom. I liked when only the username was displayed when we were logged in. Seeing who is online as only the avatar picture is sort of useless to me, especially since so many of the "old" members haven't come back.

Perhaps all the posts that appear to be spam are planted to generate interest, but it clutters up the page and makes it difficult to find the threads I want to read. It looks like spam. I don't understand why we can't just have the hot topics and unanswered topic posted to the right for viewing right off the bat. I don't care about Twitter posts, which also appear to be planted.

I also agree with a lot of what Tracy said.

I understand the forum is a side bonus and dog.com's purpose is to sell products, but the flashy, cluttered look is totally unappealing.

3:25p EDT

I agree, Tina.  All the clutter is annoying.  I also don't like so much of a post being visible in the sticky note format and it's made me much more mindful of what I share in NDR.  Feels much more exposed and public.  Callie, you should take note of that when you're sharing info here. Just saying. The background is also the same color as the user name and the username sort of blends in and is lost in the clouds.  I think Jan mentioned this before.

I agree that some of the new posts from new members seem sort of planted to increase traffic but I see no real harm, other than it adds to the cluttered look to have the pictures appear at the top of the sticky note post format.  I may go back to bookmarking the linear format rather than the Home page of the community section of the site.  Maybe the younger crowd is easier to attract with pictures and silly graphics.    

It's raining here and that's a good thing.  We're getting some moisture influx from Ingrid and we can use a lot more.  Gabby doesn't like the rain much but she isn't nearly as bad as Twister was about it.  

Sad to say that Belle killed a cat in our back yard on Friday.  I didn't see it happen and I didn't recognize the cat. We have a lot of strays around but I haven't seen this one. I hope it died quickly and didn't suffer.  I don't really feel mad at Belle but I was kind of shocked though that's being naïve.  It could have been Rex but Belle is the more likely suspect since she's very, very much a high prey drive type dog.

Sad to see there was a shooting at a Naval facility in DC.  

OK fair enough.

So we (Dog.com) do like the potential of the grid or sticky view, but it is cluttered, we agree with that. What we're going to do is improve it and check in with you guys again. Sometimes it can be more the way something is done rather than the thing in principle, you know?

You're right these changes are being made for many reasons and we hope you like and love many if not all of them. The good news for you guys who prefer the Forum layout (linear look) is that we're going to bolstering that dramatically in the next round of changes, so if that's your preferred way of consuming the site that's cool with us.

But we do also need to balance that with attracting new users to the site too. That's why we are trying to showcase people's videos and images too.

We want you to have more people to talk to and my hope, and belief is, that we will win you over by making the things you don't like look and work better and by making the things you already like even better.

As for those people who have decided not to post for a while, we'd love them to tell us what they like and don't like too. We look at and consider everything.

Is that fair enough?

Jonathan

I go away for a week and come back to an NDR section, very cool.

I am so sleepy.  We had planned to be home by yesterday morning, but it ended up being yesterday evening instead.  Had hoped for a nap but that didn't happen either.

We had a great time and got LOTS of pics.  I'll post a handful of them later w/ a link to see them all.

DH's parents watched the dogs for us, and I am thankful to say it seems to have gone well.  So well in fact that his mom told him yesterday that they are going to look at a puppy (would be a 2nd dog for them) tomorrow   I don't really think that is a great idea, but I continue to remind myself & DH that its their life and they can pick to do it how they want, and many times we just have to accept that its going to be different then what *we* think is right/best.

Seeing "Aunt" Callie and "Uncle" David was fun on Sat.  We went to Planet Hollywood and Hannah was amazed w/ all the tv screens & memorabilia & the crooked bathroom.  I'm pretty sure she thinks Callie is the coolest, since she knew about her age group books and movies and cartoons and had stuffed animals and a Kindle.  Aaron was a little contrary at lunch, definitely not showing Callie & David his best side, but we figured out why the next morning... he popped out another tooth!  Its hard to be charming when you have some gum pain, duh Mom!

When we were going inside to meet them there was a guy taking pictures so we popped the kids' Mickey ears on and got a shot just for the heck of it.  Checked it out when we were leaving and I think it was one of the best pictures from the whole trip, so we ended up buying it.  (The kid's w/ their Mickey ears were just too cute!)

They both did incredibly well last week.  It was hot, the days were long, and to both of their credits there were very very few meltdown moments.  I was very impressed.

I am confused, but that is normal for me.  

Harvest is going well.  My wife put up 9 qts of the worlds finest flavored grape jam-enough for us, with a few to use for xmas gifts to the kids.  The two old vines (Alexander and Oz) did very well.  Next year, the new vine (Katherine) should add to the harvest.  Tomato harvest was good, and the Honey Crisp apples are really looking good.  One of lifes' pleasures is an apple picked fresh and eaten while still warm from the sun.  Still a few fresh beans, and the squash are just about ready.  We may be through with the BTL sandwiches though.  Our local butcher shops bacon took a prize at the state fair, and it really goes good with tomato and lettuce.

Piper and I both are doing better healthwise now that the temp is lower.  Nothing like sleeping under an open window in a wool blanket when the temp drops into the 40s.

We actually had rain.  I haven't started the mower for over a month, but may have to now.  The grass actually stopped being crunchy.

One of lifes' little pleasures: I drive through 10 miles of farms to get to work.  The sun is rising about the time I drive, and I get to watch the farmsteads looking like islands in a sea of corn.  Very pretty with a light fog filtering the sunrise.  Centers the mind, and you see the true America.

Keep well.  I may be able to find my way back to this spot again, God willing and with the blessings of IT.

Is there a way to set rich text as default? I would rather not have to browse to another screen to post if I don't have to (posting from phone is cumbersome enough so keeping it simple is appreciated. I like the little box at the bottom of each thread where I can just start typing. I don't really want to have to click on Rich text format then get redirected

Is a not read function going to be added? Are you all looking into the log in problem so we don't have to re log in each time? Btw I typed in the quick add reply box then in the middle clicked on use rich text. It redirected me to another page then added a bunch of symbols and junk as you can see in my first paragraph. Jackie I here you about our Mindless chat showing up on the sticky note page with a preview of the thread. I would rather not have the ndr section pulled to the sticky note page at all if possible. But then again, I plan to avoid the sticky note page at all costs so hopefully I will never see it and will just be more careful about what I share (not that on wasn't before but you know what I mean) The active shooter situation in DC is not cool. Our dc office was in lock down today as it is located next to naval yard. It really drives home the fact that we live in a culture with fanatics that have really easy access to guns and who also believe the government is the enemy. It makes normal people who just work to bring home a pay check targets for mass murderers. Very sad and very very scary.

Ok so when I switched to "use rich text formatting" The paragraph breaks stopped going in automatically. Gah. That is super frustrating