Pinning/sidebarring mod posts?

November 2, 2009 10:03 PM

Request: could important posts about the site be pinned to the top of MeTa for a little while? Or sidebarred? Or something? They tend to get lost in the shuffle, and then you have those "Hey, whatever happened to [whatever]?" posts that get closed.

I guess these kinds of posts (like the changes to the favorites system) aren't made all that often, but when they are, it would awesome if they stuck around in a visible place for a few days. For example: I honestly thought the favorites system was broken when I first noticed the change, and it wasn't until I saw a closed thread with a link to the original that I realized it wasn't. I can't be the only one! or CAN I?

posted by katillathehun to feature requests at 10:03 PM (39 comments total)

Ugh. Okay, so I see the tiny little bar at the top *just now*. So I guess I'm changing my request to... can we make that a little more obvious?
posted by katillathehun at 10:13 PM on November 2

If you go to the front page of MetaTalk, you'll see a banner at the top of the page that says: "We're trying a favorites experiment in November. You can disable the experiment in your preferences." We know folks are looking for that information and we're trying to bring it to their attention there.

Maybe a top banner across the page is too subtle, but these situations are fairly rare. So I'm not sure we need a new feature to handle this case. Perhaps another MetaTalk thread is in order, but probably not a new feature for MetaTalk.
posted by pb at 10:15 PM on November 2

Not even sidebarring it? Maybe I really am alone in this, but I almost never notice that bar across the top until it's probably been there for a while.
posted by katillathehun at 10:18 PM on November 2 [1 favorite]

This sideblog keeps track of site news and noteworthy posts

OR DOES IT?
posted by dhammond at 10:22 PM on November 2 [2 favorites]

I almost never notice that bar across the top until it's probably been there for a while.

A small animated pony running along it would probably capture people's attention.
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:27 PM on November 2 [3 favorites]

FLAMING, ROTATING SKULL GIFS!
posted by Jofus at 11:59 PM on November 2 [3 favorites]

Aw, Joe, you never fail to lighten my day.
posted by ocherdraco at 12:13 AM on November 3

LIBERAL USE OF THE BLINK TAG
posted by iamabot at 12:13 AM on November 3 [1 favorite]

Lesson 1 of Web Design: Users are idiots.

Lesson 2 of Web Design: There is no way possible, no matter how obvious you make something, to get every user to notice something that is important for them to notice.
posted by strixus at 1:12 AM on November 3

Lesson 3 of Web Design: denigrate and insult your users.
posted by jouke at 1:33 AM on November 3 [17 favorites]

Maybe it would be a good idea to put this notice on the main page (Filter, not Talk), since that might be the place most users first land on?
I can only speak for myself, but I've hardly ever even visited MetaTalk until recently (couple of months at best), and I've been on the main page almost daily. I wouldn't assume that every user knows to go to MeTa to discuss the mechanics of this site.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 1:56 AM on November 3

Over in the Monster thread, a few people, including myself, suggested sidebarring this on the front page of the blue.

Mods, can you explain the reason or reasons for not sidebarring?
posted by marsha56 at 3:34 AM on November 3

PontifexPrimus writes "I can only speak for myself, but I've hardly ever even visited MetaTalk until recently (couple of months at best), and I've been on the main page almost daily. I wouldn't assume that every user knows to go to MeTa to discuss the mechanics of this site."

I'm starting to think the occasional shake up is a good thing because it encourages people to see how the site actually works.
posted by Mitheral at 4:13 AM on November 3

Mitheral: "I'm starting to think the occasional shake up is a good thing because it encourages people to see how the site actually works."

That might be; I had only heard "Take it to MeTa" in threads that tended to get too personal / too far from the actual topic of the thread.

The name "MetaTalk" also implies discussion, talk, not necessarily solving site-specific bugs and implementing features. I even read the FAQ (yeah, I'm one of those guys) and they only mention this aspect of MeTa in the context of reporting a bug that might affect the users of the website, and even then offers an alternative link to a contact form for bugs that might not invite public discussion.

My point is that not every user might immediately go "oh, there are changes on the site - let's head to MetaTalk and look for the discussion there".
posted by PontifexPrimus at 5:32 AM on November 3

That top bar doesn't work as notification for me, at all. It's there, but I didn't even see it. Why? On this site, all new content goes directly below the date on the left. So that's where I've been trained to start reading. Content above that line is generic site navigation, content below that line is site-specific and new. You can't ignore that and put a new site-specific message above that and expect people to see it.
posted by smackfu at 5:32 AM on November 3 [2 favorites]

And wow, I didn't even realize it links to the 1500+ comment MetaTalk thread, like that's any use to anyone. Better to write a FAQ entry and link to that.
posted by smackfu at 5:34 AM on November 3

I can't even read the 1500+ MetaTalk thread anymore, it keeps freezing my browser.

I have no clue how anyone ever manages to read, say, a 5000+ thread.
posted by Ms. Saint at 6:06 AM on November 3

Yeah a temporary FAQ entry might be a good idea in this case.
posted by jessamyn at 6:13 AM on November 3

I added it to the FAQ which mostly just pulls out the post with some minor edits. If people search the faq for favorites, they'll see it.
posted by jessamyn at 6:19 AM on November 3 [4 favorites]

Awesome.
posted by smackfu at 6:27 AM on November 3

The user is not an moron. He is your five dollar n00b.
posted by slogger at 7:24 AM on November 3

I would like sidebars in MeTa and Ask.Me, pointing out useful and awesome posts and comments that I might have missed.

The faves experiment? No big deal, one way or the other.
posted by theora55 at 8:01 AM on November 3

Heh, even after being told there was a small bar with that info at the top, I couldn't find it. Took me three tries of going back and forth.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:49 AM on November 3 [1 favorite]

The grey-on-grey with tiny text didn't catch your eye?
posted by smackfu at 10:18 AM on November 3 [4 favorites]

At the very least, it would be helpful if that bar were a different color. I don't see the point of using it for announcements if it's camouflaged.
posted by katillathehun at 10:53 AM on November 3 [1 favorite]

Replace the Metatalk posting page with the FAQ and/or something about the faves change. it will answer 50%+ of the questions and even better will prevent MetaTalk posts about other topics.
posted by GuyZero at 10:53 AM on November 3

We've talked about rolling out something more site-wide (whether it's a banner across the top of all the front pages, or a sidebarring, or or or) once the initial rollout has settled down some, and I feel like we're getting toward that point, so doing so in the next couple days might be in the offing.

Replace the Metatalk posting page with the FAQ and/or something about the faves change

Putting a note on the New Post page for metatalk is a decent idea, yeah. We'd have moved on that sort of thing sooner if there'd been a rash of such posts, but it was only the one so far which is nice. But as things roll off the page, it may become more important.
posted by cortex at 11:25 AM on November 3 [1 favorite]

No, I mean completely replacing the MetaTalk posting page. Like, get rid of the "post" button and the textarea. I mean, really, what has that textarea done for you lately, cortex? Nothing good I wager.
posted by GuyZero at 11:28 AM on November 3

LIBERAL USE OF THE BLINK TAG

Goddamn blinking commies.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:36 AM on November 3

That top bar doesn't work as notification for me, at all. It's there, but I didn't even see it.

Hell, even after several people had mentioned that there was a notification on the top of the page it took me over a minute to find it. It just blends in with my tab bar as a place where there is no content. I kept looking for something in-between the MetaFilter logo bar thingy and the line that is part of the recent posts/my favorites/etc tabs.
posted by aspo at 11:40 AM on November 3 [1 favorite]

Can we copy from StackOverflow.com what they copied from us? Featured/Hot/Etc
posted by blue_beetle at 11:53 AM on November 3

Another thing from StackOverflow is that their header bar (you see if it you aren't logged in) is pinned to the top and doesn't scroll. I'm not sure it's any better to be honest but it's a thing.
posted by smackfu at 12:11 PM on November 3

it makes no sense that this isn't sidebarred. it's site news, no?

if the answer is something on the line of 'the new way we display favorites is the way we want it and we don't want to inspire more conversation about it' so be it - but i agree with the people in this thread that said they didn't notice the bar on the top even after it was pointed out.
posted by nadawi at 1:12 PM on November 3 [1 favorite]

Lesson 3 of Web Design: denigrate and insult your users.
I think, for some people (not the people in charge here), the main reason for building things is so that they can point and laugh at people who can't work out who to use them properly because of design fail. How else do you explain Microsoft?

To me, the sometimes obscurity of new features/changes/other stuff is part of the attraction here - if you really care about how things work, you'll figure it out. If you can't, then you're just a user, rather than a member. Yes, I know, that speaks badly about my personality but, you know, too old to change, to bitter to care. Plus, there is some sense in not shouting changes from the rooftops, because that just invites people who don't really care but who dislike change and/or like arguing to weigh in where they would otherwise not notice.
posted by dg at 1:54 PM on November 3 [2 favorites]

I suggest you put the information on a banner sporting people with bad teeth, former fat people which now sport unrealistically defined abdomens, a dog with his head outside the car, people doing funny dances, all at the same time.
posted by qvantamon at 1:58 PM on November 3

it makes no sense that this isn't sidebarred. it's site news, no?

I feel badly sending someone to an 1800 comment MeTa thread saying "See? This explains everything!" But yeah after a few days we should definitely work something out for people who are less regular users.
posted by jessamyn at 2:12 PM on November 3 [1 favorite]

I got it! Let's have a pony on fire, running back and forth while blinking and rotating at the same time!
posted by deborah at 3:59 PM on November 3 [1 favorite]

But if the notifications aren't camouflaged, how will they avoid predators?
posted by kaibutsu at 5:58 PM on November 3

I can barely count to 1800, never mind read that many comments without my head asplodin'
posted by not_on_display at 6:28 PM on November 3