ASK A QUESTION Feedback, summary of detected problems , please add!
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This is a summary of proplems on the site that did not work when the site was launched "live".
Please add to the list and give more feeback!
1) Comments, edits, accept on any thread or post bump the thread up to beginning of "hot" questions. FIXED
2) Codes and formatting do not work, please add a way to format post on the thread for solutions to the problems , thanks
(solutions to problems on the new site)
3) NO emoticons on threads or posts
4) , The streamline design is too bright in colour. The "blue" hurts your eyes after a while.
FIXED, colur pleasant to look at
5) Graphics are not possible and old graphics disappear from posts when you edit the post or thread.
6) The colour and font schemes (although improved from the beta version) are still very poor and not at all pleasing on the eye. The old design looked neat and professional. FIXED
7) "How do I format my post?" link under the edit window, some help text appears below, and suddenly vanished.
8) Dictionary is NOT clearly marked, even older members thought it was a google search.
The search box description pop up (when you hover over the search box), is partially under the site header area. (please look at webdunce's screenshot)
FIXED
9) Display of date of thread start, edit, etc should be at least more marked, the writing is light gray, one can hardly see it.
FIXED
10) To sign in on the site you are only asked for username, e-mail and password. All username information, which took me along time to achieve, gender, language proficiency , location, are completely gone! 
11) Quizzes have not been corrected.
12) No accent can be added from below the answer box.
13) Display of "Latest activity" is missing Will not be restored
14) The double click translation feature isn't working correctly.
15) Reference section is difficult to find and should have a special tab.
16) No easy way to find out how and why you receive badges and reputation.
17) FEEDBACK button does not work properly. FIXED Ian
- wow, the numbers are working now, that is a good improvement:) - Heidita Feb 4, 2012 flag
- I think you meant bump the thread up :) 3rd line - ian-hill Feb 4, 2012 flag
- Good summary, thanks Heidita. I hope the staff see this.. I do appreciate all their hard work but some of this stuff is going to hurt them, not just us (like uncorrected quizzes - which will turn off native speakers and teachers sending students here). - Jadey7 Feb 4, 2012 flag
- I appear able to add images to posts...so perhaps that is fixed??? - webdunce Feb 4, 2012 flag
- I sent the link to the staff members, thanks everybody - Heidita Feb 4, 2012 flag
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30 Answers
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Several people said they miss the latest activity box.
This was Christopher's answer, posted by our dear friend sonrisa del sol
When we looked at the stats for the site, it was seldom used -- so there is no current plan to bring it back. But we are considering other sidebar widgets that may be even more interesting.
Thank you very much for your attention, Chris, but I think what people say is that they miss to watch the latest activity box on the right side of the screen. This is because before, this box was visible on the main page, and users used to look at it, even when they didn't click on it. That the system says the box was seldom used has nothing to do with the fact that the box was not useful.
However, if you are about removing it and considering to add more things that nobody asked for, why do you ask for feedback?
- Why? - arrogance comes to my mind. - ian-hill Feb 4, 2012 flag
- I will agree with the logic in Cogumela's post here. It could be difficult to use stats to get an idea of how liked or useful the feature was...as it's mere presence was enough without needing interactions to provide the stats. - webdunce Feb 4, 2012 flag
- What I mean is, is that the interactions with the widget likely provide the stats upon which the determination to cut it were based, but the widget didn't necessarily need to be interacted with to be used/enjoyed. So, the stats may not be very meaningful. - webdunce Feb 4, 2012 flag
- You're so right cogumela. The latest activity box makes the site more lively. - ianta Feb 4, 2012 flag
- I used to look at it too. :) - Amor_y_paz Feb 4, 2012 flag
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Please remove the "Feedback" button - especially because it does not work anyway and it is an annoying reminder of what the SD team thinks of its members.
- It's right in the way when you try to correct your answer by' 'edit' and the Spanish letters have vanished.. - annierats Feb 4, 2012 flag
- Its on the right side of the screen now vice the left for me. - Gregory84 Feb 4, 2012 flag
- It's on the other side on mine too... but it still does not work. - Jadey7 Feb 4, 2012 flag
- Now fixed thank you. - ian-hill Feb 5, 2012 flag
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I really think the label "Q&A" should be changed to "Forums." Everyone in the world knows what forums are (where a site's users interact). Q&A sounds like something else, like maybe we can read some questions submitted to the site owners that they decided were worthy enough to answer and publish.
It took me several minutes to locate the forums and I am an established user who knew we do have forums somewhere. With such a misleading label, new users may never realize there even IS a forum.
I was never fond of the label "Answers" either (as was used on the old version of the site).
I am not talking about changing the URL structure of the site (users don't usually really read the URLs), just the actual label (or image, as the case may be) that now says Q&A.
- Still, it is better than when it was called "Answers". When I first joined I had no idea what it was never went there. I might have if it had said "Q&A" - Jadey7 Feb 4, 2012 flag
- Neither is as good as Forums, which is widely recognized as, well, forums. - webdunce Feb 4, 2012 flag
- excellent idea web - Heidita Feb 4, 2012 flag
- Indeed, Webdunce, just sayin' though... - Jadey7 Feb 4, 2012 flag
- good idea :) - MaryMcc Feb 4, 2012 flag
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The search box should persist on ALL pages. There is not a good reason (not a design reason and not a coding reason) to remove it from any page -- even though some pages (such as the home page and the search results pages) offer a different (and much larger) box with similar functionality.
I'm not saying get rid of the larger boxes on those pages either. It's actually good sometimes to have different ways to do the same thing.
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The search box description pop up (when you hover over the search box), is partially under the site header area. At least in Google Chrome.
- Yes, I mentioned that, thanks web, I am going to use your wording for that. - Heidita Feb 4, 2012 flag
- It is not underneath it on mine... because nothing shows up. I'm using IE, if that makes any difference. - Jadey7 Feb 4, 2012 flag
- Okay, I just did a more thorough test. In IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, *nothing* pops up at all if one is not logged in. If logged in, all these browsers show the "tool tip" partially hidden behind the site header. - webdunce Feb 4, 2012 flag
- Opera is the same as all the other browsers. - webdunce Feb 4, 2012 flag
- It is the same on mine (I'm using IE8). - hollyjollybe Feb 4, 2012 flag
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The New Avatars are tiny, they are not useful
You barely can tell when someone edited a post: this text is ridiculously small and in clear grey on white. Useless
Edited by webdunce 34 mins ago
You barely can tell when a post was posted. The same goes for this text:
35 mins ago
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We are all SD addicted and we need the Word of the Day Threads
"Every day"!
- I agree, princess. I miss la palabra del día. :( - hollyjollybe Feb 4, 2012 flag
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Feedback button is not working at all for me.
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We've lost a feature I really used to like a lot...
When typing into the dictionary input box, the site used to match what you typed with a short list of possible words you are after, and you could click it if it showed up.
It was not only nice, but it helped to ensure the word you were looking for was not based on a misspelled input.
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Today is better than last night. Seems to have cleaned up some and easier to read the posts. Last night they all seemed so globbed together that I gave up.
I liked the old feature at the top right where you could check points count easily. Now I have to leave the page I'm on to go to the profile and then go on the specific points I want. I see the drop-down box when I go over the avatar in the top right but if there was a way to click on the drop=down box to check stuff, it would sure be easier. I use this feature mainly to see if I need to go back and check for comments and corrections, because usually the points reflect that. I try to get to my corrections as soon as I can. It would be great if there was a button the moderators could just click to alert us that the corrections are ready for us to change our posts. I know they get frustrated when they go to the trouble of making corrections and then we miss them.
I haven't been able to use the feedback button, something I really like... did we all overwhelm the button?
I really miss the box at the right that helped to see the latest happenings.
It would really be helpful to have the letter accents and punctuations available in the comments section somehow too.
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Feedback button appears only in IE (and doesn't do anything in that browser). In FF, Chrome, and Safari, it doesn't appear at all.
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For a more complete discussion of the whole search box UI....click here.
To see my favorite solution...click here.
Below are my original thoughts on this matter...above are links to more current discussion.
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I think a persistent label for the search box might be better instead of the pop up tool tip. The tool tip relies on the user hovering over the search box, which may or may not happen. A persistent label will allow the user to determine more easily what the search box searches.
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I also think that the forum search should be consolidated into the main search box. (In this implementation, I would leave the normal forum search box that is just above the forums.)
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Even better, I think we should have a small interface on the search box that will quickly let us decide what to search. By default they could all be checked or only "dictionary" and "translators" and "phrasebook" could be checked.
Even if you stick with the pop up tool tip, I think it would be a good idea to merge forum search into this main search box...and maybe a "search options" link under the search box to change what parts of the site we search (i.e., dictionary, translators, phrasebook, or forums).
I realize consolidating the search functions might not be "trivial" coding...might be a long term goal.
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After some more thought...
Another option (since my above suggestions do require moving stuff around and making the header taller) would be to add a drop down options box next to the magnifying glass, which is also very common for search boxes.
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Also, the colors are darker now, not as gray and a darker blue. - martha3
Martha, please post in a POST not in comments as the comments are often overlooked, or edit the thread directly and post what has been fixed, thanks.
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