What are the problems? What’s not working? What could be improved?
And … who here can do anything about it? Remember, we’re all admins (though it seems as though wp’s “must be logged in to comment” applies to wp users, not registered KRAUThors), so … if there’s something you can fix/improve — go for it.
Off the top of my head:
– Widescreen format
– Better way of seeing new comments
– Boobies
Okay, maybe not that 3rd one so much, but it never hurts.
As far as formatting goes, a certain other site does a great job (except that the main articles take up too much vertical space).
In our email discussions, we wanted to set up something scoop-like (e.g. scoop…), and decided to go with wordpress for the time being since none of us have the skillz to pull that off. So if any of you have an idea of how to pull that off/know someone who does, that would be good…
What both mikes said.
Also, we own the freekraut.com domain to migrate to eventually.
Any possibilities for us autists, who tend to think in pictures? (Just read a book intro by Temple Grandin, who is autistic, and calls her mind something like “a giant Google Image Search”). I tried posting the famous “dynamite monkey” photoshop image earlier, but no go, using standard coding.
I vote no to avatars.
Really glad that the text appears on my screen as Verdana, instead of the screen-unfriendly Helvetica that we suffer on SB Nation.
I’m not real invested in the rest of the layout, but wow that masthead is shit-ugly. To quote Kelli Taylor from Beverly Hills 90210, “OK, first of all, orange isn’t anybody’s color,” and then it goes downhill from there.
Even if this is the best theme for other stuff, someone needs to figure out how to replace that masthead background image with something else.
Re widescreen format: Just because your monitor is wide doesn’t mean it’s smart to have the text line stretch all the way across it. Once you get past about 80 characters per line readability is severely impaired. Then again, the tiny narrow columns are no good either. The problem is trying to get both when the thread nests too deep. If the main comment is a reasonable width, the sixth-generation comment is too narrow; but if the sixth-generation comment is wide enough, the initial comment is too long.
You’d think some designer would have the sense to recognize this problem and introduce a feature that abandons the uniform right margin when appropriate, but I can’t recall ever seeing that on any blog. Does the HTML theme coding resist this, or are blog-geeks just design-stupid?
Superficial research suggests that Blogger.com allows images in comments and modifiable templates and comment preview. Also, even though I have no plans to post anything ever again, I resent that I have not been made superuser. You fascists!
http://pulsed.blogspot.com/2007/07/blogger-wordpress-chart.html
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42399&ctx=sibling
I type, I press “submit comment”, I do not see my comment…
How do I post pics…
is there some code in the template that’s limiting # of krauthors displayed in the sidebar? that’d be nice to have fixed. though there is some value to keeping grover’s name out of sight …
How sure are you that the invite-only restricted feature posting works? I created my own wordpress username, then headed here and started posting without the benefit of the promised individualized invite from monkeyball. Perhaps you had pre-approved my username. Wonder what would happen if I tried a different one?
WE’RE ALL GONNA DYNAMIC PRICING!!!
I’m extremely pleased that Mark Ellis in the new header image happens to be standing on the word “unicorns.” That was not intentional.
Do any of these do the unread comments stuff? That’s easily the biggest thing missing.
I got this note from a trusted, tech-savvy friend this AM, and since it’s not yet April, I am assuming he may be serious. He’s not generally one to cry wolff, so, at the risk of looking foolsh, here’s his note. Comments?
If you use a Windows PC, today or tomorrow are really good days to double check that you’re fully patched. The Conficker worm (that was on 60 Minutes) is supposed to activate on the first and even if it doesn’t, it’s a good idea.
Here’s how:
Run Internet Explorer, choose Tools, Windows Update. Use the Express option if you don’t know what you’re doing. The process may very well require you to reboot your computer, so be prepared for that. If you do reboot, repeat this process once it boots back up until it says there are no more critical updates.
Do this even if you use Automatic Updates. It’s the only way to be sure.
Sometimes an update like a Service Pack can make the automated process get stuck.
Is there any way to to create a green site color scheme, instead of bluish?
CAN WE MAKE IT SO PEOPLE CAN REPLY TO REALLY OLD POSTS AND MAKE IT SO THAT PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE READ REALLY OLD POSTS
No. STFU.
Soviet That Former Union?
Only if That Former Union doesn’t Soviet YOU first
Why the fuck are you making me look at posts that are almost a year old?
I have more important things to do.
I drive a Dodge Stratus!
Funny story. Dodge doesn’t make the Stratus any more because of that.
Reason #690 to love nevermoor and Reason #45 to love LB.
you could at least spell his name right.
Your name is too damn long to spell out. Deal with it.
tricky tricky dmoas…you lock your windows at night?
Nope. The little ones like the fresh air.
I’ve been wondering… why are you in caps at AN but in lower case here?
HE HAS TO YELL TO BE HEARD OVER THERE
EITHER THAT, OR HE’S A CAR-DRIVING ANTI-LIBERAL OVER THERE
Maybe he should be quiet here.
For inconsistencies sake? I’m not very particular as some about the capping of it.
Why are komments klosed on sal’s kuote of the day?
Kause Kool Kats Kan’t Kuote Komments, ‘Kay?
I have not idea why. Dang.
Opened.
Sal, check your preferences/user settings. I think this has happened before to one of your posts. You might have comments closed as a default.
It did the same thing to LB’s swag post. I wonder if wordpress hates us and finds us stupid.
Really?
And here I thought you were all just ungrateful dickholes.
Nah, I unlocked it.
wait, does that make you more grateful or less?
Whoa. Weird (and apparently unnecessary?) two-page comment formatting.
It was an old experiment. Long since abandoned.
So why doesn’t this show up, for instance in recent posts?
Did for me.
It did for me.
Because you wrote it, thus not new.
Right. Missed that.
Your posts are excluded. For those curious, here are the gritty details:
When you load a post, the DB spits out three datetimes: Your registration datetime, the last datetime you hit “mark all read” and the last datetime you loaded that post. It then finds the most recent of those and counts the number of comments not by you that are newer than that.
While spitting out comments, it marks the new ones specially for z-keying.
Afterwards, it slaps down a new datetime for your load of that post.
It’s hardly the most efficient design (for example, ** forgets all posts more than 2 weeks old so conversations like this can’t happen) but we’re a small enough group with few enough posts that we’re probably ok for quite awhile.