Recent Changes to Free Republic

[John Robinson]

What do you think? Suggestions, comments, complaints?

[BlessedBeGod]

I know you put an awful lot of work into this, but I gotta say it because it’s driving me crazy:

I think the other look was classier. This one is just okay.

And now for the real problems:

I HATE having to rechoose Comments every time I go into another forum. Having chosen Comments or Articles and having it default that way no matter what forum you chose was terrific.

The search: Now the search is worse, more complicated, limited. It was so easy, effortless, and user-friendly before with the drop down. Where’s the search by poster or keyword? And I have to clear out the “posts:news-forum” text every time I want to search? Ugh.

And the screen isn’t rendering well in Opera: I’m missing “Home” and “Forum” across the top because those links are squished to the left under “Free Republic”.

Forcing users to have to click extra times, taking away features that they need, making things more inconvenient, etc. is really annoying. Plus — am I going to be forced to change browsers? (Opera allows you to continue to browse on any page(s) where you were the last time you launched it — even if you were in the middle of a page. I absolutely don’t want to lose that since there are threads that I don’t get to finish reading and want to continue from where I left off the next time I log on to FR. But if it’s not rendering correctly...)

Thanks for all of the work you’ve been putting into it, but I feel like an old, best friend has been taken away.

[BlessedBeGod]

Oh, and one last thing (as if the other stuff wasn’t enough — sorry!):

Not having the article open up in a new window when clicking on something in Breaking News is driving me insane. I keep x-ing out of it like I used to, losing FR entirely, having to relaunch FR, and screwing up the order of the window tabs inside of the browser. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again for working to improve FR, but I’m going to end up in the nuthouse.

[Kimmers]

thank you I figured that out a few minutes after I posted. I looked and looked before my post and right after the post is when I found it....I knew it would obvious but obviously my eyes were not seeing it......I do like the new format...

[TomGuy]

Some critiques:

Why the “popular words” at the top of the forum page sidebar? That just takes up space. Also, some of the words disappear due to the large font and insufficient size allocation for the “popular words” box.

== So does the Browse by Forum. It would seem better to put the selected sidebar groups at the top.

== I hate having to scroll halfway down the page just to see the ‘breaking news’ headlines in the sidebar. That sort of defeats the purpose of having ‘breaking news’ as a sidebar item.

Why the huge font change for the sidebar? My eyesight isn’t the best, but the huge fonts consume too much space, considering the sidebars are just headlines. Is there a way to adjust the fonts just in the sidebar without having to re-adjust the fonts (via browser) for the whole page?

Buttons? I don’t see the need for them. I don’t change my viewing format from one to the other. Were those not originally set in the user preferences?

I do like that allot of the ‘clutter’ at the top of the forum page has been cleared out. Instead of sticking most of it at the top of the sidebar, perhaps place it at the bottom of the sidebar or bottom of the page.

[Sertorius]

I miss the eagle.

[don-o]

I take it that we won’t be seeing Avatars in the near future?

In the name of all that is sacred and holy - no avatars. Never. There's one guy that posts his in a rectangle. He should be banned.

[pollywog]

Honestly Jim, I liked it better old style. It was easier to navigate. I'm here for the news...don't use the "features".

Agreed!! Don't like it at all!

[Clara Lou]

I’m pleased with the changes that I’ve come across. The new tabs are good. I changed some bookmarks as needed. It’s about time FR updated. Good work, so far. :)

[TomGuy]

EDIT WOULD BE WONDERFUL.

I vote for that over the cosmetic changes.

It would be nice to allow the 'original' poster a certain time period to be able to edit his/her own posts.

[fatima]

I like it.I don't fully understand it yet but I like the comments full.I also like that you can see latest articles first because some things get buried.Kinda like reading a book and knowing where the new chapter's start.Thanks John.

[RaceBannon]

good scheme

where is the post button on the “My Comments” page? I only found it on the page of an article..

[restornu]

Thank you very much John

The Brief and Full was find I am sorry I met the combined “Comments” page I was thinking of, elsewise I have to hunt for it in order to leave “my comment” page and go to the combined comments page .

Brief, Full, Comments

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/posts:*/

I really appreciate all yoy do very much!

[restornu]

where is the post button on the “My Comments” page? I only found it on the page of an article..

Try ping at the top

[RaceBannon]

no, that brings me to the MY COMMENTS page,
not “ post an article”

[4yearlurker]

One thing that stays the same is everything changes.

We will adapt.

[restornu]

Look to your right and scroll the list Browse by Forum

[wagglebee]

She is beautiful!

[restornu]

I was also thinking instead a better place could be for the combinded “comments” would be on the “Browse by Forum” at the end you have “Everything” maybe that would be a good place to add the combinded “Comments” than it would be universal.

[Ann Archy]

EXTREMELY hard to read the articles when the Sidebar looks Ghostly!!! Not a happy camper.

[Richard Kimball]

No, it’s not me. It’s a shot I found on the web.