Adverts.ie Changeover: Part 2 | posted in: Technology |
CuLT
Administrator
Entry No: 62 |
After some reflection, I made the following post on boards.ie:
Personally, I'm having "change issues" myself with the move; a part of me prefers the old system because I was fairly used to it, but another part likes how clean and bullsh1t-free the new system is.
I would also note that part of the reason why it seems "harder" to use (at least, I feel) is mostly because the optimal method of finding things to buy has been altered.
You'll notice the "tag cloud" as well as the advanced search system. Adverts.ie has lost some of the "bric-a-brac parish fete" nature of FS, meaning people are more likely to buy what they're looking for rather than just hitting refresh and waiting for something interesting to pop up.
Knock up "items to show per page" to 24 and you can refresh away as much as you like, so not all lost on that front.
The "sense of community" thing is a different matter. I'm pretty ambivalent about this because FS was a bazaar (as I mention at the start of the charter), but this is a bit more organised and impersonal, though I feel some cosmetic changes could fix this (more emphsis on the user who is selling it, avatar, their title, postcount, join date, etc immediately visible). It's already pretty close with the comments, but I think avatars are necessary.
I think many people aren't giving it a fair chance; but I also think it was a pretty bad idea to just sort of spring this on people saying "btw, you're using this now!". Fortunately there's been a bit of backpedaling done, and the FS section is still up and running.
Unfortunately, it would seem the damage is already done, and I had predicted this sort of backlash from people; but hey, I'm just a mod, I don't run the site. I don't call any shots.
From a moderation perspective, it's rather nifty, though it could do with a few more tools.
Plus I'm not really looking forward to rewriting the charter, I'll be waiting until next week sometime before I tackle that (exams will be over then).
I would advise anyone who think that boards.ie is going to start charging for this service to relax. It's not going to happen for the simple reason that people will go elsewhere. The Internet is useful like that.
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