Beta Testing New Thread Layout

[John Robinson]

I'm testing a new thread layout. On latest posts, you will see a "beta" link for each article. Click it to read the article in the new thread style.

"Why fix it if it ain't broke?"

Well, it is broken, and it needs to be fixed. The old style Free Republic threads on average consumed 65 kilobytes per view. Multiply that by 600,000 articles served per day and that adds up to a big chunk of bandwidth.

I believe this new format will consume less resources. An eyeball estimate would put that average at about 15-20 kilobytes per view. You may have noticed how bandwidth starved Free Republic has been lately. It's been real slow during the morning. This new software, when fully implemented, should alleviate that problem.

[2Jedismom]

FWIW, I like it a lot! I really like the grouping of replies. Loading goes so much faster and will make the warm and fuzzy threads and Rintense's day in the life posts so much faster!

OTOH, the only time I can pull myself away from FR is when I'm loading a really long thread. When am I going to make coffee? ;-)

[Silly]

I use Lucida Sans a lot; a bit bolder without the frills.

Beta -- who knew! John, this is weird, wild wacky stuff, man! What a pleasant surprise! Can't wait to see what the place looks like tomorrow...

By the way, I also like the Lucinda Sans, particularly 1983 and 1985. A classic finish with a bouquet like an Aborigine's armpit; it has a kick like a mule. Great with venison, or my famous duck and fennel omelette over a bed of scallops and Hollandaise sauce and truffles and sweetbreads.

[RnMomof7]

A rose by any other name JR..we will adjust :>)

[B Knotts]

Yes. The moderator thing, and the flexibility of how you can view replies (e.g., highest-rated first, threaded, nested, flat, etc.) are the neat features I long to see on FR. That's the only reason I asked about it. As far as it handling the FR volume, I don't know...Slashdot does get a lot of traffic (so much so that links to other sites from there often result in the linked-to site becoming unusable).

[liliana]

i just tried the beta format. it's wonderful, now i can read posts to me which were unreachable on my webtv. great going. you're so clever. thank you.

[francisandbeans]

the threading options, while great for us technical folks...makes the slash coding sites difficult for the novice user. It also clutters the pages quite a bit.

[John Robinson]

By traffic, I mean articles and replies. Slashdot gets more views than FR, but FR gets more replies, and certainly more articles.

[Styria]

How about having a button to bump a post without actually displaying an additional reply in it? That would cut out plenty of traffic, though I wonder if a bump button would be abused.

Could there be something in our personal settings to download the entire thread as one file?

[JerseyHighlander]

I understand why you're doing this, and being here have to add my two cents. The blue font color is too strong, it needs a more subdued color. That or the font needs to be changed for replies and the command bar, there isn't enough definition on the screen.

[msgt]

I only have one suggestion - I would prefer the "view replies" link opened a separate window. I know, I can right click and use the menu, but I'm lazy :-)

[Texas2step]

Overall, I like it. Very clean. The only thing I would change is the appearance of the links. I like the old thread with the links in a dark (not bright) font, not underlined, not the standard "I'm a blue link, please click me."

Keep the white, keep the black, it'll be even cleaner. I've always liked the way the links show up as a dark red when someone posts a link in a post or reply. But I'd do away with the underline for the standard links, and keep a dark, muted color.

My two cents, FWIW.

[Texas2step]

While I'm making suggestions (not that it matters, it's your site), I'd also get rid of the bright blue links on the "Latest Posts" and "Latest Articles" pages.

As a matter of fact, I'd prefer not to have any bright blue links. ;-)

[DrNo]

It ain't pretty, but it works.

[oldvike]

I'm not too keen on the fact that it does not load up the whole thread. Other than that, I can live with it.

[TechJunkYard]

It's not working for me. I click on the "beta" tag and it just reloads the list of articles. I've tried both Netscape and IE. Something I'm missing, obviously.

[Merovingian]

I especially like the "in reply to #__" feature, spares me all that scrolling back to see what is being responded to!

[white rose]

To be honest, I hate it. I mean, really, really hate it. The blasted system confuses me, but as I live in a semi-permanent state of confusion anyhow, I suppose that matters not.

[packrat01]

and I complain about my 60Mhz Pentium 1-with-the-divide-error. I shouldn't complain!

how DO you manage?

JR
We'll get used to the layout, or go away. Simple.

[white rose]

And, since I'm already making a fool of myself by revealing my computer ineptitude, what is the difference between "post reply" and "post comment"???