Comment icon discovered

December 12, 2006 9:21 PM

Clever
posted by timeistight to MetaFilter-Related at 9:21 PM (33 comments total)

Unnecessary cruft. Just my opinion, of course.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:23 PM on December 12, 2006

heh. mine old-y eyes thought it was a mistake of some sort. now I see.

but why, mathowie? why??
posted by carsonb at 9:24 PM on December 12, 2006

Also (woke the kitten up for the other hand), I think the 'g' in 'give' should be Capitalized.
posted by carsonb at 9:27 PM on December 12, 2006

With the image tag blocked, it's now impossible to fake a post by someone else by adding it to your own.
posted by Bael'Gar at 9:27 PM on December 12, 2006

So, what is the (post) anchor going to look like?

(and yeah, why is this necessary?)
posted by yhbc at 9:29 PM on December 12, 2006

With the image tag blocked, it's now impossible to fake a post by someone else by adding it to your own.

testing in MeTa? it's not showing up around the rest of the site. damn that weapons-fucking-grade plutonium.
posted by carsonb at 9:31 PM on December 12, 2006

What possible good could come from adding the comment icon? In my opinion, it just adds clutter to the page.
posted by garypratt at 9:36 PM on December 12, 2006

Ugly!
posted by The God Complex at 9:37 PM on December 12, 2006 [1 favorite]

it's not showing up around the rest of the site.

*crosses fingers, prays Matt realizes it's a mistake*
posted by mediareport at 9:38 PM on December 12, 2006

I am reminded (although I thought as I was searching for it that it was a little more relevant here) of la kottke's metadazzle overfizzle.

Christ, that post was hard to google up.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:39 PM on December 12, 2006

It draws my eye to the last line of a post while I'm trying to read the first. It needs to be dark grey at the very least.
posted by cillit bang at 9:50 PM on December 12, 2006

I don't get it. What are they for? They go to the same place as the other timestamp. Are they replacing the timestamps we already have, or what?
posted by interrobang at 9:51 PM on December 12, 2006

Is this an elaborate attempt to break comment spoofing? I'm not sure the uglification is worth it.
posted by Galvatron at 9:51 PM on December 12, 2006

Couldn't the "posted by" problem be solved by giving the 'posted by' div a negative margin (relative to the comment div) of a few pixels?
posted by dobbs at 9:52 PM on December 12, 2006

did anyone else see "give a metafilter gift account" in the tippy top toolbar for a brief period when this errant little graphical prependix started showing up? It's gone now, but I swear to gosh that it was there, man.

I bet some Ponynukkahmas gift is coming early.
posted by boo_radley at 9:55 PM on December 12, 2006

Seriously, though. One of the greatest things about Metafilter has always been the lean, spare simplicity of the design. There's always been strong resistance to changes in the way threads are presented, and only part of that has been resistance to change. Another, big part, is that the simplicity and efficiency of the design has been tight, man.

Cruft has accumulated int he form of the [+] and [!], but at least they have been the UI side of added functionality, functionality that has (arguably in the case of flagging) added a lot to the site.

A cute little word balloon adds no functionality that I can see (we already have the timestamp for permalinks), and is actually disruptive and jarring, as cillit bang mentions, to the movement of the eye down the page. It could be argued that it's only jarring because it's new, but that doesn't address the question of why it's necessary in the first place.

Unless there is such a reason. In which case: whazzat?

(boo_radley: I still see the give a gift link. It's actually something Matt made a couple of weeks ago (and only just showed up as a top-menu link).
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:57 PM on December 12, 2006

I clicked on it when it was there, boo_radley, trying to get to MetaTalk.
posted by carsonb at 9:57 PM on December 12, 2006

did anyone else see "give a metafilter gift account"

I see it now.
posted by cribcage at 9:59 PM on December 12, 2006

stav: It was in line with Metatalk, at the very very top.
posted by boo_radley at 10:01 PM on December 12, 2006

also, unless it lets me change my password already I don't care.
posted by boo_radley at 10:04 PM on December 12, 2006

stav: It was in line with Metatalk, at the very very top.

I still see it after a CTRL-Refresh.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:06 PM on December 12, 2006

stav: It was in line with Metatalk, at the very very top.

previous to where you see it now, "give a gift account" was located along the very top of the page, to the very right side, in the spot the link to MetaTalk now occupies. it was only there briefly, having been quickly moved to the "Home Archives FAQ MefiWiki Search" level menu.
posted by carsonb at 10:10 PM on December 12, 2006

Weird. I still see it at the very top. I must have some caching issues going on. But there's nothing wrong with that, wherever it might appear. It's still the word balloon icons that are making of the suck.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:18 PM on December 12, 2006

Hew! I thought some extension had went fandango on the core or something.
posted by Mitheral at 10:18 PM on December 12, 2006

I'm just trying stuff out, and yeah one reason was the comment spoofing.

Geez, you people are like a bunch of women at the senior center going off on me for grabbing the wrong tea today.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:20 PM on December 12, 2006

did anyone else see "give a metafilter gift account" in the tippy top toolbar

I asked Matt to move it. Thanks, Matt!
posted by dobbs at 10:20 PM on December 12, 2006

Geez, you people are like a bunch of women at the senior center going off on me for grabbing the wrong tea today.

Earl Grey, damn your eyes, you whippersnapper! I've had the Earl Grey while I watch my programs since... since before you were born!

*fans self*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:25 PM on December 12, 2006

Geez, you people are like a bunch of women at the senior center going off on me for grabbing the wrong tea today.

Or in the morning, the fat, hobbled, old men at the mall who complain when they move the couches around.
posted by carsonb at 10:26 PM on December 12, 2006

Geez, you people are like a bunch of women at the senior center going off on me for grabbing the wrong tea today.

BITCH I SAID OOLONG, THIS IS EARL FUCKING GREY
posted by loquacious at 10:26 PM on December 12, 2006 [2 favorites]

Also Metatalk: I thought some extension had went fandango on the core or something
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:28 PM on December 12, 2006

Confused!
posted by Effigy2000 at 10:37 PM on December 12, 2006

Confused!

I should've taken a screenshot -- Matt tried out little word balloon icons to the left of the 'posted by' under each comment, then took 'em out again.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:45 PM on December 12, 2006

Effigy2000 is acting like an old lady too. WHERE ARE MY PILLS. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

I'll close this up.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:50 PM on December 12, 2006