Comments on: Blog update

By: Shep

Shep — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:01:21 +0000

Hi Phil

…I hope you still keep track of comments on old entries, as there didn’t seem to be anywhere more appropriate to post this … but, I’ve recently noticed that your RSS feed no longer displays the full article text – just the first paragraph… which makes it a bit of a PITA to keep up with your stuff via an RSS feeder.

Is this an unavoidable consequence of writing for your new paymasters? (which would be understandable – if immensely annoying) … Or something that can be fixed??

By: StevoR

StevoR — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:20:33 +0000

CORRECTION : (Because I have to – there’s no other way because I can’t @$@!##!@$@# EDIT! *Sigh*)

But most of all .. & I’m sure y’all se this one coming … :

Yegods! Please Dr Phil Plait, please, please, can you let us EDIT here!

Surely it can’t be that hard to give us all the ability to edit ..?

By: StevoR

StevoR — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:17:12 +0000

Sorry but I still prefer the old version / server /BA blog /way you used to have things by far.

I hate having everything squashed to the far left of screen.
(Even though some here reckon I’m far left myself – which I reckon shows they’re wa-aay too far into the political Wrong wing! )

I hate the colour and format of this site. (& no it ain’t growing on me, sorry ‘Discover’ people but you need to change your site. You badly need to change your site. In My Humble Opinion Naturally.)

But mostof all .. & I’m sur ey’all se this one coming … :

Yegods! Please Dr Phil Plait Please, please, can you let us EDIT here!

Surely it can’t be that hard to give us all the ability to edit ..?

Even still & despite all these complaints –

Thanks for an awesome blog

I’ve still gotta add -you are my favourite blog!

By: redx

redx — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:15:25 +0000

“I still want prev/next buttons at the end of the responses, much quicker than scrolling all the way back to the top…

But I agree that so long as the writing keeps up, we can deal.

Dennis”

It would also be just awesome if they included the little ‘»’ and ‘«’ in the actual hyperlink. Then I wouldn’t need to scroll anywhere to find them, because my dumb little browser plug-in would be able to figure out that they are next and back links, and open them with keyboard shortcuts or mouse gestures.

By: SourBlaze

SourBlaze — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:41:52 +0000

Phil, in case you’re reading this and wanting feedback, here’s mine:

My only real concern about text-related stuff is that link text is brown and doesn’t stick out enough. Red, orange, or even light blue would be better for link text.

The only other thing I can think of is probably a better way to “link back” to your old site, or even link back to the various portions of it (Pantry, movie reviews, etc.) instead of the generic “oh it is still online” link text…

By: SF Reader

SF Reader — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:20:31 +0000

I still want prev/next buttons at the end of the responses, much quicker than scrolling all the way back to the top…

But I agree that so long as the writing keeps up, we can deal.

Dennis

By: justcorbly

justcorbly — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:17:28 +0000

The “little two word verifications” and “string of random characters” approach to stopping spam has been busted. There’s code out that can beat ‘em.

By: byron miller

byron miller — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:43:19 +0000

How about first of all removing the digg, stumble and reddit buttons from the main page and putting the small blog-o-sphere buttons on the actual articles? Lots of wasted screen space on the home page mostly because of those buttons.

By: Don Snow

Don Snow — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:22:21 +0000

Gee, it’s always been good enough, for me. I can learn the petty stuff (italics, etc) as I go along.
Uh, I think date and time stamp OK, the way it is.
Nevertheless, do what ya gotta do.

By: Tom Hill

Tom Hill — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:22:12 +0000

Dang! Somebody beat me to the first Starcraft joke!

By: Quiet Desperation

Quiet Desperation — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:47:06 +0000

Ew, no, I hate those verifications where it’s a word or string of random characters obfuscated to foil OCR software. Too often *I* can’t figure out one of the characters, and I have excellent character recognition.

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:45:59 +0000

Some of the blogs here require the little two word verifications, some don’t. Is there a way that folks can create an account here (free version) so we can possibly upgrade to things like being able to edit horribly typos and the like?

By: Freiddie

Freiddie — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:17:51 +0000

Coincidence? Or did someone read my email?

By: TheBlackCat

TheBlackCat — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:58:33 +0000

Another vote for previews. And make sure people can’t screw up the formatting of every subsequent comments like they did a few days ago. I also lose the left margine if I make the page too small, but it is rarely that small so I hadn’t noticed. Otherwise it is fine for me.

By: Jewel

Jewel — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:27:42 +0000

Personally, I think everything looks fine. It isn’t as though I come here for the fonts anyway and the colors don’t make my eyes hurt, so I’m good.

By: justcorbly

justcorbly — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:13:36 +0000

Fonts, color, et al, look fine from here. Users can change fonts and font size if they learn to use their browser. Overall design is fine.

Comment previews would be welcome. Reduces typos, and also gives folks a chance to tone down intemperate remarks. It entails some degree of server load.

The left margin does indeed disappear somewhere around 968 pixels. The margin seems to shrink gradually, but then vanishes instantly as the sie of the browser window is reduced. (Checked here with Safari and Firefox on a Mac.) The Hive Web People might take a look.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:11:34 +0000

Hey Phil… Have you seen the new “end of world” nuts videos? They’ve left the concept of Nibiru/Planet X and have gone down the path of “The Dark Rift”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdNbtuHHoyU

What is your opinion on this nonsense?

By: Seamyst

Seamyst — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:49:23 +0000

Hey, one thing at a time… at least we know further changes and improvements will be made!

Phil, adding the time stamp is good. Thanks!

By: Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum

Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:43:26 +0000

I’ve got no problems with the layout here, works for me!
Time & date stamping the posts is good, yowza!
Rich

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:36:49 +0000

Just the tiniest bit of padding along the leftside of the text would make a huge difference. Right now, if your browser is smaller than about 968 pixels, the text is entirely flush with the very edge of the browser window, looking unfinished.

OSX 10.5.4
Safari

All the best…

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:30:19 +0000

@ Todd W. & QD – this site is powered by WordPress, and there are comment preview plugins available.

By: Libraryguy

Libraryguy — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:27:46 +0000

The Zerg don’t upgrade. They Evolve.

By: OtherRob

OtherRob — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:10:46 +0000

Will no one think of the italics?

By: Todd W.

Todd W. — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:53:17 +0000

@QD

Previews? I do not know these “previews” of which you speak. I find it difficult to believe that such a thing exists.

By: MattGS

MattGS — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:52:48 +0000

But … you’re PRESIDENT Phil now! Can’t you make them go faster?

Sorry, couldn’t resist