Discussions
BlogCatalog 5.0
Posted by thegoodknife • 3/06/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogcatalog, downtime, redesign, update, v5
As you may have noticed there is a brand new BlogCatalog. BlogCatalog 5.0.
Not a whole lot has changed, but there are a whole lot of changes.
We are eager to hear your thoughts, complaints, praises, etc. please leave your comments below. Thanks!
User Comments
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Me likey!
(although, I have to turn down the contrast a bit)-
@Friday
I turned down the brightness on my monitor too and now it's easy on the eyes. -
Your vision seems to mix with a lot of muted colour and depth. B+W with a touch of reality.
This type of fantasy colour probably provides a colour shock
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yeah.. agree with this.. but i think the white space on top is unnecessary..
but everything looks nice..
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It has a very clean look. -
I love both the new look and the fact that the site has all the same functionality and no usage changes. Great job!-
We have more updates to come in the next few weeks. This is phase one... we will slowly be easing you into the changes so you don't get overwhelmed. -
@nine
Slow and easy ... pffttt!
w00t! Bring it on! Overwhelm me ... please.
Ahhhh come on give us a hint of what is yet to come, okay?
BTW if you want a Beta tester I'll volunteer.
I love riding new horses ... lol -
NINE,
Thanks, ahead of time.
Rolling in the changes sounds prudent.
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Hmmm... so far it looks very nice, and interesting how it is set up a little differently. I can't stay long right now to continue to investigate... but will be back tomorrow.. Thanks for all your hard-work BC admins -
well, I used to click on my icon up top to get to my profile quickly. That's my only complaint about the new layout, and I suppose I will get used to having to click on just my user-name without the big picture. -
Yeah - I miss the graphic embellishment. But, the [username] Account Logout set is close enough to the old location, so I think we'll get used to it.
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@intarso & norski
When you click your avatar in the sidebar you arrive on your BC Profile page.
Ditto when it comes to clicking anyone else's avatar too. -
timethief,
Right you are (in the 'recent readers' array, right?)
I feel a bit funny, poking myself in the eye, though. Even if it's just virtually. -
I miss that little bit also, outside of that things look good.
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It has forced me to scamper down from my tower just to remark upon the excellent work.
Excellent work, sirs!
(Returns back to tower). -
Cool background. I'm sure there's more to it than that.
"Not a whole lot has changed, but there are a whole lot of changes."
How very zen of you!
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I absolutely ♥ it. You guys rock!
[***** She throws kisses ******]
I can see better too on this background
I'm now going to torture test it ... lol
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Actually, my browser crashed when BC5.0 loaded the first time - but that's almost certainly due to another website. It doesn't play well with others.
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@Norski
What browser and version of it are you using?
I'm using FF 3.0.7 and IE7 in two windows.
There are zero cross browser compatibility problems with these two browsers.
I haven't tried Opera yet.
Is anyone using Chrome? I uninstalled it. -
timethief,
I'm using FF 3.0.7 - it's an issue with one website ( www.runescape.com/ ) - It's a game site, graphics-intensive, and became a tad unstable on older systems after a recent upgrade.
Thanks for asking - and what you suggest is an idea! -
@timethief I have Chrome installed but I don't really like it so I only use it to test is a page loads in that browser.
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BC 5.0 seems to be faster - or is it just my imagination?
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just for the record. I noticed. But not making a list. Is there a reader's digest version of all the changes?-
Besides some color and layout with changes there really aren't any NEW features at this time.
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@Nine
The expanded layout is great. I like the clean graphics at the top and particularly like the silver lettering in "blog catalog"
(1) Would you consider removing that period [.] after "explore the blogosphere" ? IMO it looks out of place.
(2) I clicked the "Home" link at the top of the page and thought I would arrive on the front page but instead landed up on my profile page. I've gt it now. If we click on "blog catalog" we arrive on the front page of BC.
(3) I like the drop down menu under "Account" - nice. It's cool being able to access my own dashboard from here.
(4) I'm okay with click avatars in the sidebar and arriving on the appropriate BC Profile page too. -
Nine's making adjustments ...
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Is that anti-spam for email new? I've never seen it put that way actually ..
e.g. on your advertising page..
javascript:nospam('ads','blogcatalog','com');
(can anybody use that script on their own blogs?)
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I like the layout a lot more. In fact, I love contrasty and colourful images. So this one works well for me
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Love love love the new design. Great job. -
Huh ... took me about a minute to find the dashboard (the home button). That can be confusing.
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Yes, it was a little more confusing than usual. Still, I am in delirium state
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WoWeeeeeeee! This rocks! -
er, is there any changes? -
@nine & thegoodknife
I'm using FF 3.0.7 and every time I click to navigate anywhere I get a white screen instead of a seamless transfer. It's white for 2-3 seconds before the new page loads and it's really annoying because it's hard on the eyes.-
Mine doesn't last that long, usually less than a second, but it is rather stark. I definitely agree that it would be better gone. -
@thegoodknife & nine
Thanks for fixing the white screen problem. I appreciate it.
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Nice design, way to go Nine and Daniel. Is tony cracking the whip over there? -
Wow it looks really different on the wide layout. It's clean and more spacious. Looks great and I really like the change. -
nice and bright easier for me to read , nice job -
Whoa!!! (my first reaction)
I'm adjusted (10 seconds later)
The arrangement of everything is splendidly organized! (ok, too wordy)
Wonderful design! (final thought) -
It is so clean! Felt like I was taken out of the country style kitchen to the state of art workbench. -
W.O.A.H.
It's like 6 am, I wasn't ready for all this.
Must get coffee.
Wait, where's the dashboard button? -
I was wondering WTF is wrong with BlogCatalog
Lovely, I appreciate the professional look of BC -
the modern, clean but yet not too edgy look. nice! -
Not attractive. Its Dull.. a bit. -
I like the fresh look. BC should do this yearly -
So far so good. A much cleaner interface. -
Can I ask for one thing...pleeeeeaaasssee?
Could you put the link for the political board back on the main board? I found the link, but i had to click "blogcatalog" be brought to the home page, then find the link for political discussions.
Unless the link is hiding somewhere?-
It's coming, we changed the width of the sidbar and the old graphic didn't fit any longer. That's one of the things on my to-do list.
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Excellent! You don't want us politically inclined to be stumbling about the main boards with a terrible urge to discuss the latest stock numbers or war statistics.
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Thank you, Anok! I just noticed the political discussions were "missing" from the main discussion page. I was about to make myself feel really dumb by starting a thread on "where are the political discussion." Good thing I read this thread first
Now, if we can just get the revised political discussions widget thingy moved up to the top of the do-list...
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Oooh, pretty! I really like the new layout. I was a bit confused when I found that the label "Discussions" had been changed to an order ("Discuss") but the sidebar is much more user-friendly at this size and the new background is very attractive.
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Yeah - DISCUSS you heathen blogger! Discuss!!! Arrrgrghhhhh.
I'm off for more coffee -
[sips her own coffee and ponders more disussing]
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Overall .. I think this is a positive step - moving to a 900px or so wide theme ... to ween the newbies who are still at 800x600 screen resolution status
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Whoa! Looks cool but where is the dashboard? I wants it
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Your dashboard has gone "Home".
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Like ET? hah.
I have not had any coffee yet, its too much for my brain. -
LOL, no, it's under the label "Home" at the top. Go get some coffee, woman!
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Yes I know! I was being funny
Sheesh you have coffee! -
Hey, now it says "dashboard" and we both look like idiots!
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Looking good,
Great job team! -
Very nice and very clean look ! I like it and it blends well with modernist designs.
Can you point us to a full new features list ? -
I think this thread should be a sticky...
Also I am being haunted by my own face
The curse of the avenging avatar.-
The curse of the changing avatar is getting on my nerves too.
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The new layout is great! Very easy to navigate. I especially like the new dashboard tab. It took me almost two weeks to figure out I had a dashboard.
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Like the new layout, but I'm seeing some weird stuff. I'm using IE 6.0 (no I can't upgrade - it's a work owned laptop).
1. The menu to the right of the BC logo runs up into the banner ad above it, making it difficult to read and click on "dashboard" and "directory". If I don't click carefully, I go to the advertiser's website.
2. I've got a wide-screen display set for 1280x1024, but the sidebar contents show up waaay down-screen, after the end of the main content. They're in the sidebar column, which lays out right next to the main, but way, way south.
Anybody else seeing any of this? Or have a fix that doesn't involve changing the OS? -
it looks good i like it -
I really like the new look of BC.
But i still want a "Poll Module" for discussions :(((-
@ophase
Do you mind me asking what you mean by a poll for discussions?
As for me, I have thought about voting buttons and rejected the concept.
I wouldn't like to see Blog Catalog become like Stumbleupon, Mixx or Digg.
Is that what you are suggesting? -
No, no, you'r talking about "rating a discussion".
what i want is a "Poll Module" to create a community search or a quiz. It may help bloggers to learn BC members' statistics about the subject they want to post.
for example: Think that you can create the last quiz in your thread without giving any outer links to other pages.
www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/can-you-change-your-life
And then you can comment about the results in your blog.
Wouldn't it be beautiful?? -
@timethief I assume by polls on forums he means something like this
www.cmfads.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1917 -
@libdrone
Yes! -
@libdrone & ophase
Thanks for the link.
Meh ...
I don't have any use for it. Most threads posted to the BC forums here are NOT structured to gain a measurable "yes" or "no" poll type response. They are posted for discussion purposes ie. an exchange of opinion. What integrity would the poll results have in any event? We have 200,00 BC members and most never post to the forum.
But hey, if you want it, ask away.
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Love it! -
i feel like i'm scrolling less. i like it -
Well done! Go out and eat some Pizza. You deserve it! -
Daniel, You're brilliant as ever! I just invited everyone on Twitter to come over and see the sharp new look and urged them to join immediately. Well done! -
I think the new layout looks great. Clean and crisp. The only think I don't like is not being able to read the longer discussions titles with the mouse over. Before, you could. Now, you have to click on the link just to see if it is something that may be of interest. Otherwise, great job. -
Thanks for all the feedback guys, we will surely be going over all your suggestions and comments when we get back to the office on monday.
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I really like the glass effect in some of the graphics. -
My first impression: Very stylish and clean. I like it a lot so far. -
Clean,crisp look.Thanks! -
So, square is the new round eh? I like the Google approach here. -
It loads slower... I prefer the blue background though, it was friendlier. -
It looks great! Thanks for the new design ~
Cheers
JC -
love it ! -
very new and nice feeling, i like it a lot -
I like it so far; I have yet to go through all the different sections to see what's changed apart from the design. -
I think it looks great! Good job thegoodknife! -
Cool! I think it's great! -
Great looks!!!
But for ur info. it looks horible in IE 6-
thanks, I think we got most of the IE6 bugs worked out now.
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Very nice. -
Change is good! -
The new look is very stylish and beautiful.Really well done! -
I like the new look Very nice and is just as simple to use as before. -
Me likey, though I find it weird my icon show up differently everywhere. ._.;;; -
wrong place.
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I think its better than before cool background -
Though am a newbie here, it has kept my interest and focus so far. I look forward to experiencing the upcoming innovations. Keep up the good work. -
Love it. Much more modern. -
@thegoodknife & nine
Currently, in both forums and in our shoutboxes, we are witnessing "avatar reversion" ie. old avatars are being displayed, rather than our most current ones. Can we assume this will be rectified when we move into the next phase of 5.0?-
I'm also going to pick up on Anok's suggestion. www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/not-to-nag-the-admin-or-anything
I'd like to see a software solution for the open tag problem that sometimes occurs when we are posting into a forum thread in a hurry and our edit time runs out. I'd also like to see the addition of a quote feature in forum threads. And as good things come in threes I'd also like to see an edit feature added to Admin tools would be a boon.
IMO these additions would be very cool so I hope Admin will consider them:
(1) auto-closure of open tags (forum threads)
(2) quote feature (forum threads)
(3) edit feature added to Admin tools
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This is my first login since the changes. I'm looking forward to exploring around. My first impression is that pages seem to be loading faster. That = awesome!
Thanks for your work, guys. I appreciate your willingness to revamp the site, even if it means there are transition issues. -
Looks spiffy -
Nice job on the look & "feel" - I'll have to spend a bit of time playing to get used to BC 5.0 -
New version looks much better!
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it's so cool!!great job~
all the best -
Damn.. Im seriously liking this... -
nice layout -
Everything is new and big and different and it jumped out at me... 0.o
I like it though -
Everything looks neat, the things that looks odd is the ad placement at the Top- Centre, i have not seen such bad ad placement in ages, totally spoils the page, even top-right would be good. -
I'm getting a "Reported Attack Site" message when I click on my username and icon. Why? I can move around the site on all other pages but my own.-
I'm getting the same thing. It shows up on every profile page.
Click on Ignore this warning at the bottom left to get around it (but you'll have to do that every time).
This is what I get from the safe browsing Google page thingy:
What is the current listing status for blogcatalog.com/user?
Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer. -
Ya, now I realize I get that message on every profile page click as well.
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Some angry ex-member must have reported it!
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how's having your site reported as an attack site - for feedback?
I hope you fix it soon. -
it's a good design but I get this when viewing in Firefox.
"
Safe Browsing
Diagnostic page for blogcatalog.com/user
What is the current listing status for blogcatalog.com/user?
Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.
What happened when Google visited this site?
Of the 411 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 10 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-03-11, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2009-03-11.
Malicious software includes 10 trojan(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 1 new processes on the target machine.
Malicious software is hosted on 1 domain(s), including 82.98.193.0/.
This site was hosted on 7 network(s) including AS33070 (RMH), AS22822 (LLNW), AS8075 (MICROSOFT).
Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?
Over the past 90 days, blogcatalog.com/user did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.
Has this site hosted malware?
No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.
How did this happen?
In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.
Next steps:
* Return to the previous page.
* If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center." -
I hate to be a wet blanket, but I don't like the changes
Wider sidebar=bigger and more obnoxious ads
Increased contrast=eyestrain
Missing buttons/icons=time wasted hunting for them
And I hope it is merely coincidental that all the difficulty with getting on BC...and all the security software going bonkers over the last couple of days...is happening immediately after this unfortunate "upgrade."
It wasn't broke...so what was your motive in "fixing" it??
(Wait...don't tell me...bigger ads in the sidebar mean more $$$ to BC, right?)
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