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Admin
Director
Posts: 12998
From: EvC Forum
Joined: 06-14-2002
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 76 of 91 (581927)
09-18-2010 7:20 AM


Activity Meter Clutter
I could turn the activity meters off again, it's just a setting. What's the overall opinion?
I could also give members a preference setting for activity meters so they can choose for themselves whether they want them displayed.
Or I could add a little link to thread list pages where a single click would turn them on and off. It would be instantaneous and wouldn't require reloading the page. I think I could make it sticky so that subsequent thread list pages maintained the setting.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

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Dr Jack
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Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003
Member Rating: 8.7


Message 77 of 91 (581934)
09-18-2010 8:16 AM
Reply to: Message 76 by Admin
09-18-2010 7:20 AM


Re: Activity Meter Clutter
They just want to be smaller, and less obtrusive, I think. Perhaps, if they ran vertically and sat to the left of the thread entry?

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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 78 of 91 (581951)
09-18-2010 10:32 AM
Reply to: Message 75 by cavediver
09-18-2010 4:40 AM


Re: Cluttered activity meters
I agree. And I'd love to see it shorter overall.

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

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AZPaul3
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Posts: 8513
From: Phoenix
Joined: 11-06-2006
Member Rating: 5.3


Message 79 of 91 (581961)
09-18-2010 12:02 PM
Reply to: Message 76 by Admin
09-18-2010 7:20 AM


Re: Activity Meter Clutter
They were just an unexpected change. From the previous scheme they do kinda hit you right in the face if you're not ready for them.
I think we will get used to them over the next few days.
Then you can take them away again and we'll get to complain about how suddenly naked the page looks.

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Theodoric
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Posts: 9076
From: Northwest, WI, USA
Joined: 08-15-2005
Member Rating: 3.7


Message 80 of 91 (581963)
09-18-2010 12:21 PM
Reply to: Message 76 by Admin
09-18-2010 7:20 AM


Re: Activity Meter Clutter
I like the activity meter. Even though I read almost every thread, it is nice to know what ones are hot and active. It is always good to know where the feeding frenzy is happening. I do agree a little smaller may be better.
ABE
On second thought I like it just the way it is. In another week no one will even remember that they didn't like it.
Edited by Theodoric, : No reason given.

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Larni
Member (Idle past 164 days)
Posts: 4000
From: Liverpool
Joined: 09-16-2005


Message 81 of 91 (582045)
09-19-2010 11:21 AM
Reply to: Message 76 by Admin
09-18-2010 7:20 AM


Re: Activity Meter Clutter
I also like the activity meter. It is useful when I view the sight on my i phone as it's quite eye catching.

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Admin
Director
Posts: 12998
From: EvC Forum
Joined: 06-14-2002
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 82 of 91 (582218)
09-20-2010 12:21 PM


Activity Meter Idea
I wonder if the activity meter wouldn't look so, uh, startling if it used colors that fit more into the EvC Forum theme. Right now I'm just using green to yellow to red, but I could use more thematic colors. They'd be settable through the control panel.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

Replies to this message:
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Coyote
Member (Idle past 2106 days)
Posts: 6117
Joined: 01-12-2008


Message 83 of 91 (582219)
09-20-2010 12:27 PM
Reply to: Message 82 by Admin
09-20-2010 12:21 PM


Re: Activity Meter Idea
I like the idea of a vertical bar. It could be in a separate column on the right side somewhere.

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Admin
Director
Posts: 12998
From: EvC Forum
Joined: 06-14-2002
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 84 of 91 (582240)
09-20-2010 1:54 PM
Reply to: Message 83 by Coyote
09-20-2010 12:27 PM


Re: Activity Meter Idea
I like the vertical bar idea, too. The only problem with it in the short term is the amount of work it would require. Implementation of the vertical orientation would be a bit more challenging, and the orientation and position would have to be made selectable through the control panel. I'm putting most of my effort toward productization now, but I'd be glad to do anything that can be done quickly.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

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Granny Magda
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Posts: 2462
From: UK
Joined: 11-12-2007
Member Rating: 4.0


Message 85 of 91 (582256)
09-20-2010 2:27 PM
Reply to: Message 82 by Admin
09-20-2010 12:21 PM


Re: Activity Meter Idea
Hi Percy,
I think that changing the colour scheme is a good idea. In fact, I was about to post and suggest exactly that. You could have it run from a light pastel blue to mid-blue to dark blue. It would be just as easy to understand yet not interfere with the general aesthetic of the page. I think this would look much less cluttered.
Mutate and Survive

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Omnivorous
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Posts: 3978
From: Adirondackia
Joined: 07-21-2005
Member Rating: 7.3


Message 86 of 91 (582261)
09-20-2010 3:30 PM
Reply to: Message 84 by Admin
09-20-2010 1:54 PM


Re: Activity Meter Idea
Hi, Percy. In the grand tradition of brainstorming, I'll inflict some random thoughts.
I like having an activity meter, but wonder if you need to register activity with both the progress bar and the color change: maybe some other already present element could change color with activity.
I have noticed that the bar sometimes fills completely when a topic is busy, which looks odd; and at the low end the correlation between the progress bar and number of messages/message rate seems unclear. How do you calculate activity for the bar?
How about the third column from the left, showing the topic mood? I frankly don't get a lot of useful info from that column, though I like clicking to a msg index.
Maybe the current symbols in that column could use color changes to indicate activity, without using a bar. If you did later make a vertical bar, that might be a good spot for it, and it could still click to a msg index.
Alternatively, you could make that column display an actual meter (perhaps as simple as just the meter's needle pivoting left to right while changing color), perhaps still clicking through to a msg index, with the column head clicking to a sort by activity level, though I suppose the All Topics list does that pretty much since the most active threads will have recent msgs.
I do like Granny's elaboration of your idea about different colors, though I'd probably make dark blue the low level of activity and bright cyan the high.
NB: I was reminiscing with someone about how difficult it used to be to work with a team when coding database and/or document management software, keeping everyone up to date through countless iterations...I thought of your section, thread and intra-thread msg/reply structure, and it occurred to me that what works so well for a forum could also work well for a project, whether the team be coders, technical writers, or a bunch of perverts writing a new Naked Lunch any sort of text- based collaborative effort could benefit from your structure.

Have you ever been to an American wedding? Where's the vodka? Where's the marinated herring?!
-Gogol Bordello
Real things always push back.
-William James

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Minnemooseus
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Posts: 3941
From: Duluth, Minnesota, U.S. (West end of Lake Superior)
Joined: 11-11-2001
Member Rating: 10.0


Message 87 of 91 (582264)
09-20-2010 3:54 PM
Reply to: Message 86 by Omnivorous
09-20-2010 3:30 PM


Pegging the meter (etc)
The meter pegs (maxes out) at (I believe) 50 messages in the last 48 hours.
Maybe just do away with the color changes and just go by the length of the (pleasant green?) bar.
Or a little digital "x messages in the last 48 hours" box (with or without the bar).
Moose

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nwr
Member
Posts: 6408
From: Geneva, Illinois
Joined: 08-08-2005
Member Rating: 5.1


Message 88 of 91 (582287)
09-20-2010 5:33 PM
Reply to: Message 87 by Minnemooseus
09-20-2010 3:54 PM


Re: Pegging the meter (etc)
Minnemooseus writes:
Maybe just do away with the color changes and just go by the length of the (pleasant green?) bar.
That sounds good to me.

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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 89 of 91 (582288)
09-20-2010 5:36 PM
Reply to: Message 88 by nwr
09-20-2010 5:33 PM


Re: Pegging the meter (etc)+1
+1

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Omnivorous
Member
Posts: 3978
From: Adirondackia
Joined: 07-21-2005
Member Rating: 7.3


Message 90 of 91 (582327)
09-20-2010 8:18 PM
Reply to: Message 88 by nwr
09-20-2010 5:33 PM


Re: Pegging the meter (etc)
I like that.

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