OK, everybody, let's all just take some deep breaths. I've been looking at टिप्पणियाँ within the last half घंटा about the new फैन्पॉप layout that has thrown all of us for a loop.
There was a similar outcry of disbelief over, what I am choosing to call, the link. I am here लेखन this to gather everyone's collective panic and misgivings into one place, as well as to try and look at the positives of these हाल का changes, in an attempt to placate some of your fears.
First of all, let's get the obvious out of the way. AH! OMIGAWD! फैन्पॉप LOOKS WEIRD AND IS ALL DIFFERENT! It's like फेसबुक and YouTube had a baby and named it Fanpop! It's FaceFanpopTube! Danger Will Robinson Danger! FREAKING OUT! PANIC ATTACK! TROWING MOLOTOV COCKTAILS INTO फैन्पॉप HEADQUARTERS!
*Hyperventilates.*
*Calms down.*
OK. There. Some of आप may still need a paper bag to breathe into, so go get one and then finish पढ़ना this लेख because now I'm going to try and address these new changes in a rational way, and try to be as impartial as possible.
First of all, yes, the above was (somewhat) close to my first reaction to the changes. DarkSarcasm can attest to that. Not that I would ever consider throwing Molotov cocktails into the फैन्पॉप office, because that's blasphemous... But still, it captured my sentiments. So I do empathize with everyone who is freaking out and has automatically decided to hate all the changes. I want to hate all the changes. I fear change. Change is scary. I was afraid of the new ratings system four months ago, but I've swallowed my pride and, for the most part accepted it. From past experiences, I have a feeling that four months from now, people will be used to these changes, as drastic as they are.
सेकंड of all, let's just remind ourselves that फैन्पॉप is a labor of love. It was made for the प्रशंसकों and for the community. And running any sort of society, even a simple online community, can be tough and decisions will be made that will not be लोकप्रिय with every member of that community. So my hat off to the great फैन्पॉप Four, who do their best to make फैन्पॉप as awesome as possible for the rest of us. They did not change फैन्पॉप to ruin your online life. They did it to try and make it better.
Let's look at some of the new features, OK? Like the new walls that exist on spots and profiles. A टिप्पणी दे wall, such as those on फेसबुक and MySpace, has been suggested द्वारा users in the past (link). And, based on that example, और people कहा they would LIKE a टिप्पणी दे दीवार than WOULDN'T like it. So आप can't say that this wasn't in demand.
Also, let's think about the benefits of the टिप्पणी दे दीवार for a minute. Several of us, mostly the grumpy old fogey users, complain about how जवाब is used to make link. I can only hope that this दीवार feature will eliminate the need to abuse the जवाब feature as much. Secondly, it may stop बिना सोचे समझे and/or pointless props, and perhaps get rid of that dreaded holiday "props day!". So those are two things the दीवार could be good for.
So the टिप्पणी दे दीवार seems like not a bad idea, right? या at least not as bad as आप first presumed. Hopefully.
One qualm I do have is all this clutter. I kind of wish the boxes were organized in a different order, so that I could put my own टिप्पणी दे दीवार on the bottom of my page, या maybe disable it alltogether. The option to enable या disable your personal टिप्पणी दे दीवार should be provided. That's my first critical suggestion about the new lay out. Keep in mind that for a टिप्पणी दे to be "critical" it should mention something that could be improved, and suggestions for how that could be done. "This sucks" या "Fanpop is Fail" are not examples of critical comments. They're just complaints. But complaints have their place in a public मंच as well.
Thinking critically about these changes, I'm wondering why certain categories (like तस्वीरें and videos) were grouped together. If आप want to group things together under tabs like that, why not put them all (images, videos, answers, forums, picks and questions) all in ONE box with several tabs? Also, where are the links? They seem difficult to find. Should they be paired with the लेखाए section? Perhaps if these things took up less space, it would feel less cluttered. Somehow, it feels और cluttered than the layout before it. These are just some critical notes I've made.
Back to the positive! (Compliment सैंडविच yay!) This new layout provides opportunities for अंतरिक्ष saving. And yes, I know I JUST कहा it feels cluttered, but hear me out. The tabs are actually kind of helpful. I think they categorize content fairly well.
Also, not everyone is upset about the new change. Some people are excited about it:
"I really like how the spots look. The अपडेट्स section took up too much unneeded अंतरिक्ष at the चोटी, शीर्ष of the page, so i like that they moved it to the right and made it smaller. I like that तस्वीरें are on चोटी, शीर्ष because that's the first place I always look and i like the condensed picks/links/articles." - link
Others accept the change with a grain of salt, realizing it's not the end of the world:
"I guess we'll get used to it. Just hope people will use this दीवार function for decent things, not spamming and bashing." - link
"Actually, it might not be that bad. At first glance, it seemed aweful, but maybe it's the type of thing that just takes a bit to get used to, then आप प्यार it." - link
Still others have jumped right into the new features with reckless abandon (and I do mean RECKLESS):
"Team Rosalie For Life! =D" - link
My best सलाह to those of आप with less-than positive attitudes about the change is this: Try and be flexible. आप may not like it immediately, but give it a chance to grow on you. In a month, आप might not even remember what आप were so upset about.
A few other suggestions I've heard/seen.
"[The फैन्पॉप 4] could have doubled [links] up with the लेखाए like [they] did with तस्वीरें /videos and जवाब /forums and picks/quizzes." - link
"Wall posts should have a रिपोर्ट button..." - link
"I don't exactly like the new प्रोफ़ाइल layout... with the दीवार & everything because it's totally uneven, the right side is way longer...they need another section on the left. My only other problem with the दीवार is that the text is too big... but other than that i really like the new additions/style" - link
A personal suggestion from Yours Truly would be to allow users to use the "old version" of Fanpop, at least until they are ready to accept the new version. I am not an HTML wizard, या adept at running a website, so if this is too difficult to do, then apologies. I only know that this is what some websites and programs do to help sooth the savage प्रशंसक beast - I mean, base. I know when फेसबुक transitions, it does that. Then again, a lot of people are complaining that it's too much like Facebook, so maybe that would be kind of paradoxical. But whatever.
Actually, just लेखन this लेख has helped me, personally, calm down a lot about the changes. I no longer need my paper bag. I'm coping. I'm moving on. I hope a lot of आप are calmer now, too, and maybe even looking at these changes और positively. Have a great rest of the week everybody and link because I hear that only TWO PEOPLE have voted. So get your butts in gear! </FGT plug>.
There was a similar outcry of disbelief over, what I am choosing to call, the link. I am here लेखन this to gather everyone's collective panic and misgivings into one place, as well as to try and look at the positives of these हाल का changes, in an attempt to placate some of your fears.
First of all, let's get the obvious out of the way. AH! OMIGAWD! फैन्पॉप LOOKS WEIRD AND IS ALL DIFFERENT! It's like फेसबुक and YouTube had a baby and named it Fanpop! It's FaceFanpopTube! Danger Will Robinson Danger! FREAKING OUT! PANIC ATTACK! TROWING MOLOTOV COCKTAILS INTO फैन्पॉप HEADQUARTERS!
*Hyperventilates.*
*Calms down.*
OK. There. Some of आप may still need a paper bag to breathe into, so go get one and then finish पढ़ना this लेख because now I'm going to try and address these new changes in a rational way, and try to be as impartial as possible.
First of all, yes, the above was (somewhat) close to my first reaction to the changes. DarkSarcasm can attest to that. Not that I would ever consider throwing Molotov cocktails into the फैन्पॉप office, because that's blasphemous... But still, it captured my sentiments. So I do empathize with everyone who is freaking out and has automatically decided to hate all the changes. I want to hate all the changes. I fear change. Change is scary. I was afraid of the new ratings system four months ago, but I've swallowed my pride and, for the most part accepted it. From past experiences, I have a feeling that four months from now, people will be used to these changes, as drastic as they are.
सेकंड of all, let's just remind ourselves that फैन्पॉप is a labor of love. It was made for the प्रशंसकों and for the community. And running any sort of society, even a simple online community, can be tough and decisions will be made that will not be लोकप्रिय with every member of that community. So my hat off to the great फैन्पॉप Four, who do their best to make फैन्पॉप as awesome as possible for the rest of us. They did not change फैन्पॉप to ruin your online life. They did it to try and make it better.
Let's look at some of the new features, OK? Like the new walls that exist on spots and profiles. A टिप्पणी दे wall, such as those on फेसबुक and MySpace, has been suggested द्वारा users in the past (link). And, based on that example, और people कहा they would LIKE a टिप्पणी दे दीवार than WOULDN'T like it. So आप can't say that this wasn't in demand.
Also, let's think about the benefits of the टिप्पणी दे दीवार for a minute. Several of us, mostly the grumpy old fogey users, complain about how जवाब is used to make link. I can only hope that this दीवार feature will eliminate the need to abuse the जवाब feature as much. Secondly, it may stop बिना सोचे समझे and/or pointless props, and perhaps get rid of that dreaded holiday "props day!". So those are two things the दीवार could be good for.
So the टिप्पणी दे दीवार seems like not a bad idea, right? या at least not as bad as आप first presumed. Hopefully.
One qualm I do have is all this clutter. I kind of wish the boxes were organized in a different order, so that I could put my own टिप्पणी दे दीवार on the bottom of my page, या maybe disable it alltogether. The option to enable या disable your personal टिप्पणी दे दीवार should be provided. That's my first critical suggestion about the new lay out. Keep in mind that for a टिप्पणी दे to be "critical" it should mention something that could be improved, and suggestions for how that could be done. "This sucks" या "Fanpop is Fail" are not examples of critical comments. They're just complaints. But complaints have their place in a public मंच as well.
Thinking critically about these changes, I'm wondering why certain categories (like तस्वीरें and videos) were grouped together. If आप want to group things together under tabs like that, why not put them all (images, videos, answers, forums, picks and questions) all in ONE box with several tabs? Also, where are the links? They seem difficult to find. Should they be paired with the लेखाए section? Perhaps if these things took up less space, it would feel less cluttered. Somehow, it feels और cluttered than the layout before it. These are just some critical notes I've made.
Back to the positive! (Compliment सैंडविच yay!) This new layout provides opportunities for अंतरिक्ष saving. And yes, I know I JUST कहा it feels cluttered, but hear me out. The tabs are actually kind of helpful. I think they categorize content fairly well.
Also, not everyone is upset about the new change. Some people are excited about it:
"I really like how the spots look. The अपडेट्स section took up too much unneeded अंतरिक्ष at the चोटी, शीर्ष of the page, so i like that they moved it to the right and made it smaller. I like that तस्वीरें are on चोटी, शीर्ष because that's the first place I always look and i like the condensed picks/links/articles." - link
Others accept the change with a grain of salt, realizing it's not the end of the world:
"I guess we'll get used to it. Just hope people will use this दीवार function for decent things, not spamming and bashing." - link
"Actually, it might not be that bad. At first glance, it seemed aweful, but maybe it's the type of thing that just takes a bit to get used to, then आप प्यार it." - link
Still others have jumped right into the new features with reckless abandon (and I do mean RECKLESS):
"Team Rosalie For Life! =D" - link
My best सलाह to those of आप with less-than positive attitudes about the change is this: Try and be flexible. आप may not like it immediately, but give it a chance to grow on you. In a month, आप might not even remember what आप were so upset about.
A few other suggestions I've heard/seen.
"[The फैन्पॉप 4] could have doubled [links] up with the लेखाए like [they] did with तस्वीरें /videos and जवाब /forums and picks/quizzes." - link
"Wall posts should have a रिपोर्ट button..." - link
"I don't exactly like the new प्रोफ़ाइल layout... with the दीवार & everything because it's totally uneven, the right side is way longer...they need another section on the left. My only other problem with the दीवार is that the text is too big... but other than that i really like the new additions/style" - link
A personal suggestion from Yours Truly would be to allow users to use the "old version" of Fanpop, at least until they are ready to accept the new version. I am not an HTML wizard, या adept at running a website, so if this is too difficult to do, then apologies. I only know that this is what some websites and programs do to help sooth the savage प्रशंसक beast - I mean, base. I know when फेसबुक transitions, it does that. Then again, a lot of people are complaining that it's too much like Facebook, so maybe that would be kind of paradoxical. But whatever.
Actually, just लेखन this लेख has helped me, personally, calm down a lot about the changes. I no longer need my paper bag. I'm coping. I'm moving on. I hope a lot of आप are calmer now, too, and maybe even looking at these changes और positively. Have a great rest of the week everybody and link because I hear that only TWO PEOPLE have voted. So get your butts in gear! </FGT plug>.