Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Do you like what we've done with the place?

386 Responses

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  • Sacha,

    Matt, can someone please tell us the reasoning about using relative time rather than absolute. A couple of us have raised it, just not addressed yet.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Okay, website guys. A question for you. Why, when I go to edit a comment, and then save it, it just disappears, and the only comment that appears when I post is the original? When you’re as longwinded as me, I can’t be faffed rewriting the whole bloody thing.

    Yep. Like Sofie said, you probably took long enough conveying your most excellent thoughts the that the 15-min window for editing comments expired.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan, in reply to Rowan Crawford,

    Nice addition Rowan, we'll look at doing something similar. The pagination size for comments was upped to 50 in the past and there was outrage from the readership, so we left it at 25.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan, in reply to Sacha,

    Sacha, just a preference on our part as it's visually less cluttered and (for me and others) easier to digest without having to perform any date calculations. We'll talk further with Russell on it.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to matthewbuchanan,

    Thanks, Matt. Finding it harder to match latest comments on threads with the main listing, but aware there are bound to be different ways to use this place.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan, in reply to 3410,

    It is simultaneously more complicated and less usable.

    Displaying all page numbers doesn't scale to 20, 30, 40 pages of comments (the previous site didn't behave that way either). We may be showing a couple less either side of the current page now, which was partially to save space on smaller screens. What's your use case that requires all page numbers to be visible?

    Why not the link from the words “Last Post” which is what the user wants?

    Good call, this is in the works to be changed and standardised on all views.

    Where the link, on PAS, that used to say “Read Original Post” (or some such) used to be, it now just has the title of the post.

    There's also a "Read Post" link right up there by the date. :)

    Once again, apologies for the apparent negativity; I’m just trying to make note of issues that are performing sub-optimally, so that performance can be made better for everyone. :)

    Loving all the feedback! We've addressed a great deal of it and will continue to monitor and improve where we can. A permanent fix is now live for when the Reply To is on the same page.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • HORansome,

    I have a suggestion for the whole navigating through pages and pages of comments malarky; why not have an input box for choosing a page to go to? So rather than:

    First ←Older Page 1 … 9 10 11 12 13 Newer→ Last

    you would have:

    First ←Older Page 1 … 9 10 11 12 13 [input box] Newer→ Last

    That way, if I want to go back to page 5 (which I can't currently do without clicking three times), I can just enter "5" into the box and go there immediately.

    I'd also get rid of the "Older" and "Newer" links because they don't seem very necessary.

    Tāmaki Makaurau • Since Sep 2008 • 441 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Oh, yeah. Fair point, Guv'nor.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Any way of making the "Older" link to the previous page go to the bottom of the page, not the top?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • 3410, in reply to matthewbuchanan,

    Hi, Matthew.

    Thanks for addressing some of my issues.

    Displaying all page numbers doesn’t scale to 20, 30, 40 pages of comments (the previous site didn’t behave that way either).

    Pretty sure that it did. I remember seeing at least three rows of page numbers on threads that got up to 60 or 70 pages.

    What’s your use case that requires all page numbers to be visible?

    Nothing specific; just that it's a no-brainer to click the page number one wants, whereas it takes a slight bit of mental shuffling to map out First / Older / Newer / Last in ones head.

    Allowing two rows would at least allow all of the first, say, 20 to be displayed, but anyway, not my call, and my point's been made. :)

    There’s also a “Read Post” link right up there by the date. :)

    True. I hadn't noticed it until you mentioned it. I still think that it's anti-intuitive to have essentially a headline that links to a different page but, again, not my call. :)


    Cheers. At some point I'll definitively collate all my outstanding complaints [; )] but I've not yet found the time.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Okay. Having used it for a few days now, I'm pretty happy. The place looks good, and it functions well. I think the reply function is excellent, I like the fonts, I'm loving your responsiveness to suggestions. I think the one thing I would like to have is a quick and easy and obvious way of getting back to Public Address System from a comments page, like this one. I like to flick back to PAS once I've read a comments page, to see which other threads have been active, and go read them if I'm interested. I've found the appropriate linky-clicky thing on this page, but it's so damn discreet that it's easily missable. Maybe a huge button / footer under the last comment / post your response box, saying "Back to the PAS Cafe", or some such thing?

    Also, Russell, I'd still like to have that hatched / matched / dispatched page if possible, 'though it would probably take up some moderation time...

    And as Geoff Lealand has been saying, anyway that those of us who want to and are able to could make a few donations to keep the place running? I know that lending you my eyeballs for the ads helps, but I'd be happy to come up with a few $ from time to time too.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Deborah,

    I keep the front page open in another tab, lined up to the top of the Active Discussions list (which seems to do pretty much the same as System used to).

    I refresh it every now and then and try to figure out what’s changed, then either open the last post or if that thread’s still open, refresh it.

    Not sure how others keep up. RSS?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Apologies if this was mentioned in previous 13 pages but it lays out differently based on iPad orientation - swank!

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan, in reply to Gareth Ward,

    The credit for that little piece of magic is due to Mike Harding, one of my deputies. It uses CSS media queries to rearrange page elements based on the device’s screen width. Will only work in so-called “modern” browsers, but support is increasing all the time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan, in reply to 3410,

    Pretty sure that it did. I remember seeing at least three rows of page numbers on threads that got up to 60 or 70 pages.

    Perhaps initially, but I seem to recall we reduced it down to a single line after you guys extended yourselves in a few threads. ;)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    yes the slowdown is likely due to the fact that we’ve moved the site from San Francisco to Auckland during the changeover.

    Awfully polite you are. Nice. I'm not noticing it now, either it sped up or I slowed down. I like the login at the bottom of the thread, but chances are (I think someone mentioned this) if I'm logging in it's because I want to post, but after logging in I'm back at the top of the page and need to scroll to the bottom to input data.

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • tarlen, in reply to chris,

    Logging in should now return you to the post box. :)

    Also, the system would have sped up considerably once the DNS records were updated around the country (24-72 hours after launch), as traffic is no longer going through San Francisco.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2010 • 19 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Speaking of "return", after logging a Report, I'm returned to first page of thread, rather than the originating comment.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan, in reply to Sacha,

    Sacha, that’ll be improved shortly.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Any thoughts about us contributing to the upkeep, Russell?

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • chris,

    Logging in should now return you to the post box. :)

    Thanks Tarlen, that's great.

    Also, the system would have sped up considerably once the DNS records were updated around the country (24-72 hours after launch), as traffic is no longer going through San Francisco.

    Actually I'm offshore....

    Any thoughts about us contributing to the upkeep, Russell?

    lol, it's the third time you've asked. Ever get the feeling your money's not good enough?

    Mawkland • Since Jan 2010 • 1302 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Bug - post count showing as zero for this first post

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    How come only hard news shows up on the front page Recent Posts?

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan,

    Sacha, there’s a timeout on post counts being calculated to provide better performance.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan, in reply to Angus Robertson,

    Angus, this is due to a change from the old site where we only listed one post per blogger. We now show all posts chronologically (with featured posts moved to the slideshow at the top). Russell is dominating the homepage due to being prolific, rather than a bug. :)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

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