Posted on 09/25/2007 5:05:31 PM PDT by ReignOfError
I love FR. I like the fact that the user interface remains clean and that the pages load fast. I can use it from the big screen on my desk, the small screen on my desktop, or even from my cell phone; on fiber or DSL or dial-upfrom Timbuktu.. But I have a suggestion that would make it easier to use for me, and maybe for some other folk.
What I'd like to see is a "My recent threads" red-text up where the posts to/from and the new mail are.
Here's how I use FR: First thing I do after loading the page is look for red type top right. That's key information at a glance, a near-perfect user interface. Then I scroll down the first page of headlines. Then I check the "my comments" page, which I have as a separate bookmark. Just to check on the threads I've posted to recently. Then I skim the right-hand boxes.
For example, I see my last post to the Ken Burns thread is #289 of 289. Nothing new there -- no need to check. My last post to the Internet sales tax thread is #25 of 27. Couple new ones there. I'll want to check that out.
If there isn't a new post directly to or from me, it's still a conversation I'm interested in. And what would be handy, in addition to the new comments to/from me flag, would be a flag to alert to new activity on threads where I've posted recently -- a thread per line, not a post per line, so I don't have to scroll as far to get to the ones that have new hits.
Rather than threads where I posted recently, if that alert is for threads I choose to add to a favorites list, that would be pretty darn cool. Because again just my experience, a lot of threads pique my interest for a day or a week, but then trail off into a head-butting contest, or devolve from the broad ideas that first caught my eye to minutiae I couldn't care less about, and then I'm done. So if I want to follow a thread, I can flag it; if there's no activity on it, or the activity on it is boring, un-flag it.
I can get that info with a little work on the My Comments page, but ti would be nice to have a flag on the main page. I don't think it would add visual clutter, confusion, browser incompatibility or slow load times -- the hobgoblins of little Web pages, by which I mean about half of the Web -- and 85% of the pages that have been updated in the last five years.
If you want an incredibly frustrating experience, try going to the official Web site of almost any entertainment TV network, movie studio, or movie.
A friend of mine coined the term "flash-f---ed," which I think sums it up perfectly. They're big and loud and there's a lot of blinking and flashing. but if you're looking for any useful information at all, you're going to Google or IMDB in three minutes' time. And if it takes you the full three, you're a more patient man than I.
I'm ducking now.
Mount what?
I am joking.
Maybe you but not me...I was feeling pretty whole, but now I’m diminished. I must go live some life for a while now.
Are you sure you’re a conservative?
You know. Like, keep it simple and direct.
Kinda like another document people want to change to make it more ‘convenient’.
I think that one is called,,umm,,oh yeah. The CONSTITUTION.
:0)
That was just a little sarcastic ‘humor’.
In case you missed it.
;0)
Do you really want to know?
Hehe, I like flash web pages, especially for entertainment sites. Mostly because the makers of the site put the entire site in a single flash document on the index page. You hit a ‘download’ link with a longer URL, chop the file name off the URL for the download, and you usually wind up inside the unprotected server, which on an music or video site is a treasure trove of everything that is or was on the site, and a bunch of stuff that wasn’t, all available for direct download =)
I didn't think anyone would give a good damn about me. My point was to sketch out my FR life and invite others to agree or differ. I use FR in the way that makes the most sense to me.
If I'm the only person who uses FR that way, and the only one who would benefit from the change I suggest, than it's obviously not worth the effort. If enough other folks agree, then it might be worthwhile. Just raising the question. Jeez, just how many "my opinion" disclaimers do I have to include?
It might help if you pinged Jim Rob to this. He could probably tell us how much more money it would take to make the changes and support it.
It’s only money....
No. I don't believe that the universe was created in 168 hours 6000 years ago. That is one of the many ways the definitions where "conservative" differs.
Kinda like another document people want to change to make it more ‘convenient’.
I think that one is called,,umm,,oh yeah. The CONSTITUTION.
What the ever-loving hell are you talking about? When did the Constitution enter into things? I suggested nothing about suppressing any opinion or advancing any opinion. Just a tracking option. I cannot begin to imagine how my suggestion favors one side of an argument over another. Any argument.
I swear, some FReepers are so barkingly hysterical than I cannot how they have ever slept a night in their lives.
Not a bad point. He knows the systems better than I, FR has strong servers, and this seems like a fairly trivial processing task to me, but I don't know enough to tell the folks who know. Obviously, if I wanted a change, I should have pinged the Big Kahuna at the beginning.
I really oughta write right after I sleep rather than right before.
Here’s a suggestion for ya’. How about you create your own Forum and leave ours alone?
Cool?
I cannot begin to guess what you mean by that. I am not a mollusk or a gastropod or a turtle. I don't row for a crew team. Where's my shell? I didn't know I had one When you find out, please let me know. Ity might to be kind of a cool thing to have.
I said what I said.
Good suggestions IMO
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.