FPP hogging the front page May 3, 2002 10:54 AM   Subscribe

Hogging the front page. Yes, I can read around this, but it takes up pretty much my whole window. As members don't we have some responsibility to keep the front page looking like a log of the web, rather than a Chinese protest wall?
posted by liam to Bugs at 10:54 AM (13 comments total)

This too.
posted by liam at 11:00 AM on May 3, 2002


it takes up pretty much my whole window... so increase your resolution
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 11:05 AM on May 3, 2002


That's not the point. Say, how about I post the entire first act of Hamlet, with the first line linked to a treatise on Danish history? That would be really cool. And you could always just increase your resolution.
posted by darukaru at 11:13 AM on May 3, 2002


so increase your resolution

Jakob Nielsen would be very disappointed with your attitude. But seriously, usability should be the concern of everyone that provides content, not just designers and administrators.

It took up my whole window on my work PC, and I'm on a 17" with 1024 x768, what more do you expect from us?
posted by insomnyuk at 11:14 AM on May 3, 2002


ok ok. sorry. yow.
as for posting hamlet, id hope no MeFites would lack that much repect.
as for nielsen, i personally never did like much of what he has to say.
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 11:30 AM on May 3, 2002


whats a chinese protest wall?
posted by mcsweetie at 8:36 PM on May 3, 2002


The Democracy Wall Movement - 20 years ago in China. (Update here.)

big-character posters (dazibao)
Posters, limited-circulation newspapers, excerpted press articles, pamphlets, and blackboard news using large-sized ideographs and mounted on walls as a popular form of communication. Used in China since imperial times but more commonly since literacy increased after the 1911 revolution. Used more frequently after 1949 to publicize party programs and as a means of protest. Became ubiquitous during the Cultural Revolution (q.v.); guaranteed as one of the "four big rights" in the 1975 state constitution.

Revolutionary Rudeness:
The Language of Red Guards and
Rebel Workers in China's Cultural Revolution

" ... a striking characteristic of Red Guard language--at least to the native Chinese ear--was its vulgarity. The use of curses and other crude expressions was a conscious effort on the part of rebellious young students to adopt what they took to be the revolutionary language of the masses."

Onward, MetaFilter! Hip-hopping and rapping into a resilient, networked, webcast future!
posted by sheauga at 10:22 PM on May 3, 2002


It would be kind of cool to have an option to enter a first comment along with the front-page posting. It could be well used in cases like these.

I lusted for this feature the last time I made a front-page posting. There were some comments I wanted to make but didn't feel they were appropriate for the front page. So, I raced to try to get them entered as the first comment in the thread.
posted by chipr at 1:00 AM on May 4, 2002


Is sheauga the second coming of Carol Anne?
posted by rodii at 8:16 AM on May 4, 2002


chipr: So, I raced to try to get them entered as the first comment in the thread.

I suggest first writing everything (the original post and the followup comments) in your text editor of choice, and then simply copying & pasting from text editor to the Web form. This should virtually guarantee your comment will be the first. (Be aware that you don't have to utilize the URL and Link Title fields when you post, assuming you know enough HTML to construct a hyperlink on your own.)

I propose a 200-character limit to any given post. This provides ample commentary space without the opportunity for people to write a small novella on the front page. The 'Preview' mode can show the truncated post, with a notice if it's been truncated.

Also, if including images in a post is universally frowned upon, why not simply filter out the tag? Has there ever been an acceptable use of images on the front page?
posted by Danelope at 1:30 PM on May 4, 2002


I suggest first writing everything (the original post and the followup comments) in your text editor of choice

why do you need the text editor? Just write the whole thing in the post box, cut the part that you want as comment to your clipboard, post the front page, & then paste the comment part right away.

posted by mdn at 9:27 PM on May 4, 2002


mdn: why do you need the text editor?

In case the Preview function ends up throwing a server error of some sort, which may result in the loss of everything you've written. This is a technique I began using in the heyday of my Blogger usage, before I spawned my own home-grown system.
posted by Danelope at 10:06 PM on May 4, 2002


Using a text editor also increases the odds that a post goes through a spell checker. This is a good thing for people like me who can’t spell to save their lives.
posted by Gary at 3:23 PM on May 6, 2002


« Older Dreamhost Shut Down My Sites. Help?   |   Everything you wanted to say or ask has been said... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments